My SO and I saw 9 a week or two ago. It as an enjoyable movie, had some fun elements, but was weak in some areas. The SO mentioned an anti-science
bias message she noticed that troubled her a bit (feel free to beat me if I misrepresent you, babe). We sort of waved it away and accepted the movie as a mixed bag, visuals alone worth seeing, but that sort of puts it in the level of impressive experimental film or proof of concept rather than a truly great animated masterpiece like Up. We still loved 9 as an alternate time line alchemy story, but I have to admit I was disappointed that the twist revelation was 'the soul' and 'alchemy' over something more unique. It's not like the harder sci-fi hasn't presented more than enough actual technological stand ins for the soul or magic that you couldn't have made something surprising. I can't help compare it to The Secret of NIHM which added mystical elements to the story but wasn't virulently anti-science when it came to it (least not as I can remember), or Full Metal Alchemist where the story setting is a place where the magic of alchemy works as if it was scientific (ie has set rules and principles stated or at least implied).
He Fried for Your Sins
Anyway I thought I'd link to this article sort of bitching about the ascience in it as well. I'm not really knee jerky about this sort of thing, it doesn't bother me too much as I can accept fully psionics and the soul showing up in Babylon 5 or the force in Starwars, but for some reason the message of 'science is bad' keeps seeming to regurgitate back into my craw when I think about 9. Not NEARLy as much as it did in the Bones premiere but...still. I want to know what do you think? Did 9 have a strong "SCIENCE BAD" message? Can you think of any other kid movies that did? What's the line between soft sci-fi and pro-mysticism propaganda?
Hey! Glen Beck's in this movie!
Mysticism in Sci-fi?
2 comments:
You got me right on the vague antiscience thing. I'm not sure how much I should charge up my outrageometer, since it's essentially a fairy tale, but still, it is there.
Mysticism does seem to fulfill soem drive in us - for me it's ok to have around as long as it's clear that it's fantastic. Neither mysticism or science has to be all-or-nothing, at dreadful odds with each other as is our common narrative....
That being said, I'd have wanted more background for the whole disaster, the scientist, the experiement. It could have been done in such a way as to not take the movie away from the poppets...but it *is* for kids, not kidults like us ;) so I say it's good training wheels!
Totally agree. I have no real rage against the movie and liked it. My biggest complaint is a story telling detail.
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