Of Myth, Man and Movies
A few years ago I read Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur," which I have discussed in this blog before. What struck me about the "original" Arthurian compilation (Malory patched together a lot of oral tradition and some written tradition into a coherent whole) is that Arthur was not a nice guy, not much of hero (at least in modern Hollywood terms). He effectively killed all children, three and under, after he learned of the birth of Mordred, his son, the product of an incestuous union with his half sister. It was prophesied that Mordred would kill Arthur, and the kingdom would end disastrously. So Arthur launched his own "slaughter of the Innocents" by launching an unmanned ship with all the children aboard into the sea. Although this seems absolutely barbaric, it was in keeping of the times. Sacrifice children to save the community.
So I have to laugh when I see the recent spat of Arthurian movies, such as "Arthur" and "The Legion," which is yet to be released. Although they claim to portray the historical Arthur, an Arthur that serious historians don't know if he actually existed, they portray a heroic man, a man that kills only his enemies, and respects the honor of the women and the sanctity of children. Right. That's what we want to happen in war, but that 's not reality. Malory is closer to the truth than the movie biz. War is brutal, and brutality is not just an attribute of the 'enemy,' but anyone who engages in it. There is little chivalry in Malory's 15th century account, and there is little chivalry in actual war. So, Hollywood, spare us the "300"s and all the other "heroic" tales. Give us something real. Give us an "Apocalypse Now," not "The Legion." Give us "The Deer Hunter" updated; give us something real and gritty. Give us an Arthur that is willing to ship the progeny of his kingdom in order to "save" the kingdom (he ultimately fails, of course). If I see one more glorified legend released during the time of an inglorious war (all wars are inglorious), I'm boycotting the studio that produced it.
A few years ago I read Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur," which I have discussed in this blog before. What struck me about the "original" Arthurian compilation (Malory patched together a lot of oral tradition and some written tradition into a coherent whole) is that Arthur was not a nice guy, not much of hero (at least in modern Hollywood terms). He effectively killed all children, three and under, after he learned of the birth of Mordred, his son, the product of an incestuous union with his half sister. It was prophesied that Mordred would kill Arthur, and the kingdom would end disastrously. So Arthur launched his own "slaughter of the Innocents" by launching an unmanned ship with all the children aboard into the sea. Although this seems absolutely barbaric, it was in keeping of the times. Sacrifice children to save the community.
So I have to laugh when I see the recent spat of Arthurian movies, such as "Arthur" and "The Legion," which is yet to be released. Although they claim to portray the historical Arthur, an Arthur that serious historians don't know if he actually existed, they portray a heroic man, a man that kills only his enemies, and respects the honor of the women and the sanctity of children. Right. That's what we want to happen in war, but that 's not reality. Malory is closer to the truth than the movie biz. War is brutal, and brutality is not just an attribute of the 'enemy,' but anyone who engages in it. There is little chivalry in Malory's 15th century account, and there is little chivalry in actual war. So, Hollywood, spare us the "300"s and all the other "heroic" tales. Give us something real. Give us an "Apocalypse Now," not "The Legion." Give us "The Deer Hunter" updated; give us something real and gritty. Give us an Arthur that is willing to ship the progeny of his kingdom in order to "save" the kingdom (he ultimately fails, of course). If I see one more glorified legend released during the time of an inglorious war (all wars are inglorious), I'm boycotting the studio that produced it.
posted by mariestaad at 2:54 PM
1 Comments:
It's interesting, because I find that times of war tend to have all one or the other. Very few in-the-middle pieces, all uber-heroism or uber-futility.
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