Q. Cupcake Shamalamadingdong

[napoleonherself]

Well, we just saw The Village. It isn't as abysmally bad as Ebert says it is, we think, but it's still pretty bad.

If you want to have fun discussing all the logical holes in it for the hour after it's over, I heartily recommend seeing it. There are also some good performances, but the real treat is all the stuff that makes no sense. Like, where the hell do all the farm animals poop in this tiny, tiny valley?

OMG MY CURRENT MUSIC IS THE BAD COLOR

Now if you'll excuse me, I've just taken my half-Ambien (more like a third because I can't bite them exactly in half, but eh), so I should brush my teefs and get me ready for bed.

Edit: Spoiler warning on the comments to this post kthx. RUN AWAY IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE OHSOEXCELLENT MYSTERIES SPOILED

Comments

[wing-zero-ew.livejournal.com]

Actually, it *is* murder. You do not have the legal right, in most jurisdictions, to deny live-saving care and certain governmental administrative functions to your children. Further, you absolutely do *not* have the right to give birth without filing a birth certificate, to live without paying or at least filing for taxes on a yearly basis, to refuse to submit to local governance and regulatory processes, or, for that matter, to construct residential properties in a landed area zoned as a wildlife preserve instead of a residential zone.

For the record, the Amish are required by law and court rulings to submit to local governmental authority; among other requirements, they must allow their children to attend school until the 8th grade, where they will of course be watched for abuse, malnutrition, and medical observation as are all children in the public school system. While it is true that they are given a remarkable, and unreasonable, amount of leeway to construct their little dystopian existence, they are neither unfettered nor autonomous.

These people are murderers and lunatics, and they've killed their children out of selfish, irrational fear of the modern world. Most separatist societies in fact hypocritically, and humanely, take medical care for their people in spite of it being an obvious violation of their moral codes, for precisely these reasons.

Finally, it is hardly nitpicking to point out the huge, ridiculous, glaring problems with both the plot of this film and the actions of its characters, including their laughable and obviously criminal, immoral conduct. We are presented with a story that lauds, through facetious and blatant methodology, a flawed and critically unbalanced moral philosophy, whether as a joke or as propaganda, it is hard to say. It is only natural as thinking people to reject this philosophy as the sort of mind-virus that it is.

[jen-aside.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I seriously had to rethink that one. I certainly don't condone their actions, but regardless of possible criminal activity*, it's undeniable that the scenario is NOT impossible--however improbable or logically foolish--which was the original intent of my argument. Remember they're running from these envious psychotics that kill people over a bit of money... perhaps they prefer the risk of being imprisoned over their lifestyle choices to being prisoner to greenbacks and fear of murder. Obviously they didn't think everything out, from Edward's dialogue with the other elders.

*The "settlement" began in the '70s, presumably, when such laws possibly weren't in effect, and whoever overseeing the project may have neglected to notify them and say, hey, you guys are gonna get it if you ever bust out of there. I'm tempted to look up exactly when everything would have had to happen to minimize their own criminal convictions, but I'm not sure where to start, since a quick search turns up nothing relevant. Also, it might actually be located in some ignorant backwater country similar in landscape to Pennsylvania that ultimately doesn't give a dime about its citizens... or on some foreign planet perfectly like Earth where no one questions Hollywood scriptwriting.

It's by and large a thinking exercise. As unlikely as it would be for the average person to concoct such a scenario in the first place [most people would just hire bodyguards and such if they were so concerned about getting bumped off over a bit of money], it certainly is a surprising plot twist... I imagine it to be the world's most elaborate witness protection program, as no one would imagine the heir to billions renouncing all monetary wealth and living in a wildlife preserve.

Besides, it's a movie! I don't mind if you hate the movie because it didn't entertain you, but you can't deny it's something to think about, even if it's inherently counterproductive. I admit I liked thinking of how the settlement could occur, despite the intentions behind it.