Friday, September 23, 2005
March of the Republicans
After a great day at the high school today, I got in the car and heard this on the radio. Between this and the 18/20 on my assignment involving the dreaded drawings , its been a pretty decent week...

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Even if you haven't seen it yet, you've all heard about March of the Penguins, the gorgeous, riveting and incredibly successful new documentary.

It shows thousands of the penguins in their incredibly grueling, incredibly picturesque annual winter migration as they cross Antarctica to reproduce. It is an amazing film.
Well, according to the New York Times, March of the Penguins has become a huge favorite of social conservatives. They (the conservatives, not the penguins) consider the movie to be a profound parable celebrating blind human faith and monogamy and sacrifice on behalf of one's children – family values, in other words.

As the conservative cultural critic and radio host Michael Medved says of his comrades on the Christian right: "This is the first movie they've enjoyed since 'The Passion of the Christ.' This is 'The 'Passion of the Penguins.' "

One Christian magazine is claiming that the movie makes, quote, "a strong case for intelligent design." Intelligent design, of course, is the new improved name for the biblical story of Genesis.
And a minister in Ohio has taken his congregation to the local theater to watch March of the Penguins. Here is what he said about the movie to the Times. "The circumstances they experienced seemed to parallel those of Christians. The penguin falling behind is like some Christians falling behind."

Mmmm....OK, if that's your take.

But, not only that, some conservatives say, the whole movie takes place on an entirely frozen Antarctic terrain...thereby, it kind of refutes the liberal propaganda about greenhouse gasses and endangered polar ice caps.

I'm almost surprised they haven't found an anti-tax message in there somewhere, and arguments for prayer in public schools and tort reform...

Hey come to think of it, these loyal, brave, monogamous, self-sacrificing penguins don't show any support for the United Nations.

I do wonder if all these people embracing the film as the ultimate Republican movie know where it came from. Because although Warner Brothers is distributing it, and Morgan Freeman does the voice-over, the film was created by a man named Luc Jacquet and a team of his compatriots.

The piece of cinema was originally called Marche de l'Empereur.

That's right, March of the Penguins is....French.

Freedom fries, anyone?


- Kurt Anderson Click here to read, send, and hear the 3 minute commentary


4 Comments:

Blogger Scarlet Hip said...

Yes, they love the penguins. However, if clubbing them to death brings them a tidy little profit, then clubbing will soon be very Christian as well.

Blogger Knitty Kitty said...

WWB, thats why I listen to NPR.. I've also heard the movie argued as a defense against same-sex marriage! In the brox zoo however, there are two male penguins in love and they gave them a baby and they raised it perfectly

Blogger Ubermilf said...

Even scarier is this concept that everything in the world either supports/ drags down their twisted take on "Christianity."

So, everything is either supporting their "virtues" somehow or "evil."

By the way, they may consider me a "Christian falling behind," but I think they don't consider me a Christian at all.

Blogger Maddie said...

That is just pure crazy. What a bunch of nuts!

The movie also shows a penguin mother attempting to steal another baby penguin when her own dies. How does that fit into their Intelligent Design?

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