Salt Lake Comic Con: Day 3

When I saw the HUGE crowd surrounding the Salt Palace on Saturday morning, I felt completely overwhelmed.

We had tried to leave the motel early and we were still behind this whole horde of people! The sight was so discouraging, all I could think to myself was, “There is no way I'm going to get inside, let alone see anything today.”

I left my group for the solitude of Ensign Bookstore. It was nice, even though they didn't have anything really interesting for sale.

A while later I walked back. The line was still super-long, but I was able to get inside pretty quickly with the help of my sister.

We didn't feel like cramming ourselves into the workshops, so we went to the Center Stage.

• The Power Rangers were going to be there!

Unfortunately they were not the Power Rangers of my childhood, but the “Power Rangers Samurai”.

(WHICH ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT!!!)

Fortunately, these Power Rangers were still really cool! And the experience definitely had nostalgia value for me. I watched the original series as a kid, when you're small they are your Superheroes...the kind of person you want to be when you “grow up” and become a teenager.

The kids in the audience absolutely adored their Power Rangers. Multiple times, a little kid would come up to the microphone to talk to his/her heroes and say:

“I LOVE POWER RANGERS!!!” (Too loud!! But I guess you can't control the volume on a child.)

Without fail, the actors would say, “And we love you too.” Then one of them would run and give the kid a hug.

It was very touching, I could tell it meant a lot to the little kids to see their heroes.

(An added bonus: Steven Skylar looks very much like Alejandro Sanchez.)

• I went to the Vendor area and picked up my comic book

(I'm quite pleased with the way it came out, Edward even got one of his fangs knocked out!)

I got to briefly meet the mormonmovieguy and got an autographed copy of his book.

(Which is really good, btw. Gives a content overview, summary, discussion guide and applicable scripture for each of the 250 entries.)

• Manu Bennett
  
  
  
  
  

Going into the Q and A session all I knew about this actor was that he plays the White Orc (who should have been a Goblin), Azog (who should have been Blog) in The Hobbit Trilogy.

Almost soon as he sat down someone (I believe it was the announcer) said:

“I just want to address the elephant in the room. When are you going to take off your shirt?”

Mr Bennet obliged, removing his black, long-sleeved shirt and posing momentarily, displaying his ripped upper-body, before retreating behind a table/curtain set to put his shirt back on.

It was a surprisingly modest gesture and he explained, 'I did that because I'm a performer and it was for you. I'm not trying to be Magic Mike.'

OK...so that was the first surprise, a really hot guy who also demonstrates modesty (to some extent, at least). He's also really thoughtful and expressed his belief in the importance of cultural heritage. He gave a shout-out to the native peoples of Utah (the Utes) and the Mormon settlers of the area.

“I'm a Maori boy.” He explained, “Of course, I'm also Scottish and Irish..”

He even shared the traditional Maori greeting.

Mr Bennett discussed some of his roles. The most interesting sounding one is Crixius in Spartacus I hope that one isn't too violent, a lot of the people in the audience were very impressed by his performance in that role and I'd really like to check it out.

(He did a few character impressions of Crixius on stage, it was pretty funny.)

He also discussed his role in The Hobbit.

 "Azog has a son, and he's a really tough on him. And his son makes a lot of mistakes, so he's not a very good father."

I for one am very pleased at his confirmation that they have at least filmed this aspect of the story; it not only shows a side to the orcs/goblins that we haven't explored before, but it is also a concept that is original to Tolkien's work.

He also says he named the White Warg that Azog rides “Daisy”. ;)

“I wanted Azog to have a relationship with him; 'When I get those hobbits, I'm feeding them to My Warg!!'”

Then he started talking about his personal life, and why he became a performer.

I personally met a lot of people who have a “defining moment” in life, or an event that set them on course in life. For Manu Bennett it was the death of his mother, and subsequently his brother, in car accidents.

The interview got really intimate (in a psychological way!) it was evident that he felt that the performing arts were a way to connect to his mother and brother.

Afterward our whole group got together and sat on the floor and ate lunch.

Then waited in line....... ...................................................................................................................

(For a long time)

And then sat down in Center Stage. And waited some more....

• And then William Shatner came on stage!!

The whole performance was extremely awesome. Mr Shatner as a reputation for being conceited (He does sound like he was the practical joker on the Star Trek set...The Lenard Nimoy Bike Prank was pretty cruel XD.), but he was hilarious! And a lot of his insights on geek culture and humanity in general were really thoughtful. It really seems like he was puzzled with the geek culture and went to lengths to come to an understanding of it (even trying to go incognito to interact with geeks).

 He was able to articulate his growing understanding of the “geek movement and culture” in the most cohesive way I've ever heard. (I will never hear the phrase "Get A Life" in quite the same way again.)

If you want to watch what we saw, check out these youtube videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3J2iIddMcw (There are two of them.)

After the performance, we were about to leave the stage when the announcer told us to “Stay in your seats if you want to see Stan Lee” so of course I totally didn't need to use the bathroom any more!!

We waited for an hour, and Stan Lee was only on stage for twenty minutes. He didn't give a lot of insight or anything, it was just mostly sass. But it was electrifying to be in that packed room with so many enthusiastic people and Stan Lee being his sarcastic self.

Also, we got the most awesome picture:

(Me and Stan Lee!)

I also got to see Stan Lee up close; when he went to sign autographs, his go-cart stopped in front of me and walked behind the black curtain to his booth.

Later on, we got back together for a last hurrah!

Went out to eat and started a plot to invade the next comic con!

Conclusions on Comicon:

I had a lot of fun. I liked spending time with my brother, sisters and friends. I enjoyed meeting the Comicon attendees and looking at the cosplayers. A big part of the experience was the last day, and being able to see Will Shatner and Stan Lee.

You kind of have to got into the experience expecting that you will miss a lot of what you want to see, because you probably will. If I ever go to a Comic Con again, I will probably :binge" and buy the VIP tickets.

(His sign says it all)

Salt Lake Comic Con: Day 2

A large part of Day 2 is still a blurr. I dressed as a casual Radagast the Brown from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In the books, he doesn't quite fit in with the social classes of organized society, and that's pretty much how I felt that day.

• It was so crowded when we got there, I just stood on the second floor of the building listening to the geek fest around me and looking at the people below. I got into conversation with a legit Wonder Woman cosplayer. It was nice just to stand there and watch people together, point out some of the interesting costumes and talk about the type of manga we liked.

• Then we waited in line for “The Hobbit-Desolation of Smaug” preview (The one that was advertised to be in the previous day's panel by theonering.net. The preview was filled to capacity and most of the people standing in the general admittance line did not get in. That was a big disappointment for me because it was a special event and I missed it not once, but twice.

Nice thing though; Tinkerbell recognized I was cosplaying as Radagast. :D

• We found a Steampunk workshop with Tracy Hickman (the same guy who did the lecture on “Four Stories in LOTR” He discussed the principles of the genre and ideas to get inspiration for writing. He suggested looking up old sci fiction and real-world science theories that didn't work, or didn't work the way they were intended to and “make them work”.

Heres' a few Notable Quotable's from this workshop:

“Steampunk is about imagining the future as it never was.” (Which is basically what I love about it. I'm not as enamored by the vivid descriptions of leather and lack of character development in some of the short stories though.)

“I get a lot of hate mail from Science Fiction crowd telling me, 'that couldn't really happen.' Guess what? I don't care!”

• I browsed through the vendors. Salt Lake City Strangers are a group of comic book Superheroes based out of Salt Lake and, apparently, the superheroes in the story are of the Mormon faith. The story starts out with something like a Bloody-Mary ritual in a graveyard that summons a zombie. It was pretty good. The vendor had a special offer: buy the comic book and get the cover illustrated for free. That sounded pretty good to me. I decided to have one of the “Strangers” punch Ed Cullen in the face.
• I tried to get into a workshop concept art for my favorite Disneyland attraction, “The Haunted Mansion”. Unfortunately, like the Hobbit preview, I ended up waiting in line only to be turned away at the door. :(

• I went to a workshop about design in movie sets and costumes. They discussed the importance of sharing the directors vision for the film in order to communicate the themes in the movie visually. They also discussed authenticity with period films.

“The worst culprit is Pirate movies.” One of the panelists said, “It can be set in the 1700 and cover 100 years of fashion.” Including designs that hadn't evolved yet.

• One workshop titled “How to Win Writers of the Future” (Which is an amateur writing competition) had a group of panelists who pretty much gave conflicting advice. One illustrator said he won by submitting stuff that was all similar (Dragons and girls...sur-prise, surprise, surprise) the one panelist who was an actual judge said that they look to see that the illustrator can do all different types of objects, humanoids, plants, environments.

The rest of their advice was common sense: “Don't submit porn”, “don't let your cat pee on your manuscript”, “do your research”...because we sure aren't going to give you any concrete information here.

What I learned most about this competition is that there is no “right” way to win. The judge either likes your work, or he doesn't. It was a nice place to sit, though.

• We also saw Ray Park, he's a stunt actor who played Darth Maul in Star Wars, Toad in X-Men, and Snake Eyes in G.I Joe (which I haven't seen yet). This was probably the best part of Comic Con so far. He was a really amiable guy and did a good job connecting with the audience, especially the kids.
  
  
  

I've always imagined it would be hard for a “James Bond” type character to explain to his kids why he's kissing all these girls in movies. Mr. Park had to do the same sort of thing with Darth Maul when his kids were young. (He is arguably the most frightening character in the prequel Star Wars series, apparently one of his kids saw a picture of Darth Maul's face and started screaming.)

“I never wanted to be the bad guy, the bad guys get beat up, and they lose.”

He did seem proud of his work, though. And fortunately for him, he did eventually get cast in GI Joe as a good guy. He says he likes sending his children to school in merchandise with characters he has portrayed on them. The best part? Because he's a stunt actor (and usually wears prosthetics and makeup), he can maintain anonymity as well.

I have to admit, that would be really, really cool.

At the end he brought all the kids up from the audience and taught them a power stance. Oh, how I wish my nephew was here!

• I went back to the vendors to see if my illustration for "Strangers" was done, it wasn't. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

• The last workshop I attended was with Anne Sterling, daughter of Rod Sterling: writer and host of “The Twilight Zone”. Anne Sterling wrote a book about her father in response to public opinion that her dad was this really morbid, tortured soul.

She explained, “My dad wasn't like that at all.”

Here's a link to the book on Amazon if your are interested.

From what she shared with us, it sounds like Rod Sterling was a really passionate and thoughtful guy...who wasn't above playing the occasional practical jokes on his fellow writers (The “Nightmare at 10,000 Feet” prank would have been HILARIOUS!!!! Oh! If only the airlines would let people do that today!!).

Anne's parent sheltered her from the show as a kid, so when a classmate teased her with “What are you?! Something out of the Twilight Zone?” she had no idea what it meant. She watched an episode of the show with her dad for the first time and was shocked to see her dad appearing at the beginning and end of this really freaky story.

Later in life, she got more and more interested in why her father would want to write using that show as a medium.

A part of it was to address his views on political and social issues that he thought were important:

“An alien can say things a Republican or Democrat never could.”

Another reason was to come to terms with unfulfilled dreams and unexplainable longings that really didn't have any other outlet. Anne pointed out that a re-occuring theme in his stories; a longing to return to simpler times, childhood, and a state of innocence.

Rod Sterling knew some of his work was controversial for his time, but felt like it was important for people to hear. I personally think that's kind of the magic of writing and reading. The messages in “The Twilight Zone” wouldn't be as intriguing if they were explored in a different genre. “The Twilight Zone” doesn't really explore answers or solutions as much as it offers questions.

After that event, me and my group went to Carl's Jr for dinner.

Comi Con Salt Lake: Day 1

After years of trying to get tickets to Comic Con/BlizzCon, we finally got to go to the very first Salt Lake Comic Con.

The event was held at the Salt Palace, which I'd been to before for a nursing convention. Its within walking distance of Temple Square, so I was able to stroll down there and see the Latter-Day Saint Temple. It was very nice, one of the most beautiful parts of one of the prettiest cities I've ever been to.

When we got to the convention enter, there wasn't a whole lot going on. Vendors and some events open up early for VIP ticket holders. (Which we weren't) And that the schedule of event's had been revised updated COMPLETELY CHANGED!!

So we had about two hours of leisure time before events even started up at 2pm.

We ate at a restaurant called the Blue Lemon. (It's one of my favorites, and it's right across the street from the Salt Lake Temple and adjacent to Ensign books. No one else I've been there with is crazy about it though.) If you ever go there, try the Butternut Squash Soup. I can't guarantee you'll love it, but I do. It's my favorite soup ever. Then we went back to the Salt Palace Convention Center.

I read that Salt-Lake Comicon was the most successful “First” comicon to date. And it was VERY crowded once the event's got started. It was hard to even find a place to sit down. Next year, they will probably have a five-day comicon instead of 3 days next year to accommodate those kind of crowds.

• I really love looking at costumes. So even just watching people walk by is a lot of fun at comicon.

The first day of Comicon, I dressed up as my favorite criminal, Light Yagami. And my friend dressed up as L, the detective out to capture me.

We would be standing right next to each other and people would come up and identify my friend instantly, make a geek connection, and sometimes take a picture.

Normally I don't mind not getting attention in social situations. But it hurt me in this instance. I mean, we would be standing RIGHT next to each other...IN HAND CUFFS!! The two most iconic character's of this series and only L got recognized.

When people did guess at my identity, they usually got it wrong.

Guy: “Are you Mello?”

Me: (hears are you Male, though?) “No, I'm female”

Friend: “She's Light.”

Guy: (Laughs) “Oh, well Mellow and Light look alike”

This is Mello.

(If by "alike" you mean "they are both anime characters" then yeah I kind of see what you mean. But no...not really.)

Another mis identification:

Lady: “Are you Near?”

Me: “No, I'm Light”

Lady: “Oh, Near and Light look alike”

(Now, Near and Light look nothing alike. Near is albino. AN ALBINO WHO WEARS WHITE!!!)

It's fun when you just dress up with the expectation of having a good time, no matter what someone else thinks. Its not fun when you have to compare your costume to someone else's. And its not fair that L got recognized and Light didn't.  It reminded me of how people see me. I felt like a piece of shit.

(Lost respect for my own body image.)

If there was one thing I could change about this day, it would be that I didn't dress up as this character. Or if I did, that I did it by myself, without a partner and without the expectation of being recognized at all. Being compared like that was painful. I never want to go through that again.

• There were some really disappointing panelists from theonring.net 

Disapointment #1 “I know we said we'd be showing a preview of “The Hobbit-Desolation of Smaug, but we're going to save that for tomorrow.”

Disapointment #2 (and this one is worse, really) “Peter Jackson is better then Tolkien because when I was 11 and first tried to read the book I couldn't get past the first 50 pages.” (They weren't joking about this...most of the people on the panel weren't at all interested in the literary aspect of LOTR at all. The moderator tried to get the Peter Jacksonists and the one (ONE???) Tolkienist on the panel to get in an argument with each other. Which was very irritating; a moderator should know better!)

(I really lost respect for theonering.net.)

• Ghost Hunting in Salt-Lake

This panel was pretty good. Not everyone agreed about the origin of ghosts, the focus was more on keeping an open mind. Some cool stories were shared,l and everyone on the panel respected each other. They were even comfortable poking fun at themselves.

(I have gained respect for crackpot ghost-hunters)

• At some point, I was able to walk about the vendor area with L. They didn't have anything really special and all of it was overpriced, but the Weta set up was awesome. I saw a guy at a booth in front of the Weta booth, and his picture blown up behind him. I recognized him from an Entertainment Magazine interview I read. He played Bifur! I got to shake his hand. He was very polite, and asked us how we managed the bathroom with our handcuffs ;)

• The last workshop was with Tracy Hickman deconstructing the “Four Stories” in LOTR using the Cambell Monomyth (which is something I've been studying on my own). Mr Hickman explained how each of the four main story arcs could be their own stories independently (and still be freaking awesome!)

The “Four Stories” he discussed were the stories of Frodo, Aragon, Faramir, and Eowyn.

He broke each “story” down from the literary perspective. The Objective Journey (The struggle of the Free People's of Middle Earth against the forces of Mordor) and the Subjective Journey (dealing with the emotional journey of the main character and his or her role in the struggle against the forces of Mordor). He explained that the emotional resonance of the story comes from the journey that the Main Character and Impact Character (the character who's life is most effected by the main character), take together.

I was surprised when Mr Hickman named Smeagol as the impact character in Frodo's arc (not Sam, which is what most of the audience...myself included...was expecting.)

“In Smeagol, Frodo sees what he will become, and in Frodo Smeagol sees who he might have become if not for the influence of The Ring.”

Although not an entirely new revelation (I wrote a research paper on Gollum in college and his relationship with Frodo is certainly an important aspect of the story) The level of significance was an eye-opener for me and makes me want to re-examine my own writing a bit more.

M: Moderation

In Biology 101 my teacher explained the metabolic principles involved in the Atkins diet, which was becoming popular at the time. She explained the diet involved in cutting carbohydrate intake, which affected how the body metabolizes calories and uses energy. She explained that the Atkins diet was effective in weight loss, however, it was ultimately bad for your health in the long term.

"Don't do the Atkins, it's not a good idea. I believe in all things in moderation." She concluded.

The sentiment surprised me, because the teacher was obese.

(If this observation offends you...you have every right to be offended. It was the observation of a 15 year old kid trying to make sense of the world around her. I apologize for my thoughts...which I have never before voiced...and ask that you hear me out as I try to explain something that's on my mind.)

It was evident to me that this teacher didn't really know what moderation was. Or, if she did, she ignored the principles of it...which is basically the same as ignorance. I thought,  "Well, obesity isn't good for your health, either."

So which was worse?

1) Excluding a whole food group to get your weight within a healthy range, or
2) eating in excess in the name of "Moderation"?

(Yes, I do realize that some people have metabolic, psychiatric, or other health-related disorders that contribute to an increased body weight and that it is unfair to assume that they are all "eating in excess". I believe those individuals should seek medical attention and that the rest of us should pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY...)

Lately, I've been thinking of another question:

WHY are those the ONLY two options?????

I think the reason is because they're the only two options people feel comfortable with. We are perfectly capable of cutting things out of our lives completely, just as we are capable of over-indulging ourselves in something that we find desirable. But there is no middle road. We have no concept of what healthy (moderate) behavior actually is.

So, here is a little run down on the term.

The word "Moderation" is an action word, it refers to a process of lessening extremes.

To act within a realm of behavior that is "Moderate" we must be able to define what "excess" is and what "deficit" is.

 Dictionary.com defines moderation as-"keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense"


Wikinary defines it as-"the process of eliminating or lessening extremes"


But my personal favorite definition for this word comes from Urban Dictionary- Moderation: A virtue that permits all vices

Some examples of what moderation is NOT:

• An excuse to have another cookie/slice of bacon/soda because you had an apple this morning.

• Sampling a wider array of unhealthy things at the buffet. 

• Moderation is not a justification for stupid behavior because, "Oh, I haven't tried cannabis before."

• Dismissing or cutting people out of a group conversation because they aren't interesting enough. (Or alternatively, keeping your mouth shut when you have something to say because "no one will listen to me anyways".)

It really bugs me how people use this word as an excuse to do stupid things just because they aren't able to control their own appetites for a particular behavior such as eating, gaming, communication, or drug/alcohol consumption.

I watched this video thinking the point was going to be that one type of excess is "better" then the other, but they make a good point towards the end of the video. 

A principle that is important in the practice of moderation is restraint, which is something that I believe Western Civilization (and humanity in general) knows very little about. Moderation means making little choices that seem inconsequential but ultimately have a huge impact our health/well-being, relationships, and even our personality. 

Another principle is awareness. In interpersonal discussion, I've noticed that many people really do have a knowledge deficit regarding healthy behavior, resulting partially from culture they grew up in. 

I've heard people say "It's their choice how they want to live their own lives" but I don't think it is really "their choice" if they don't know any better. 

Here's to knowing better, here's to doing better, here's to being better.

Drifting

 

Four years ago, I got introduced to a science fiction book series about people in big suits fighting aliens.

(I even made a blog post about it)

It is not the sort of book series I'd expect to find myself interested in.

It's dark, chock full of it's own mythology and vocabulary (which it doesn't bother to define or explain right away). And the narrative is way intense; even leafing though the first few pages in the bookstore was intimidating as I tried orient myself to the story. However, I found it really rewarding to pick up on themes throughout the series.

After a while, I started to realize, "Wow, these books seem like they're all about fighting aliens, but really, they're are basically about brotherly-relationships."

(And that, dear friends, is how a fangirl is born)

Last month, I wanted to see  a movie because it visually it reminded me of the Warhammer 41K prequel series.

(because, ya know? People in HUGE robotic suits fighting aliens...kinda similar)

I was surprised to find that my reaction after seeing the show was pretty much the same as when I was reading the Horus Heresy series.

"Oh, my gosh! This whole show is all about relationships and getting along with people who are different from you." 

(Note: I realize not everyone cares about these themes in movies or books. Those people who went in to see an action flick (like me) but came out without an appreciation for how this story portrays relationships (not like me), might want to stop here before I fangirl your eyes off.

(Ahem)

Surprisingly, in science-fiction, relationships can actually have have a purpose other then for creating drama.

(^I am looking at this guy) 

Unlike Star Trek (or even Horus Heresy), relationships in this story are not the source of the problem; they are the solution to the problem(s). Emotional ties a are the basis for humanity's survival both on a global scale and an interpersonal scale.

In the story, the only way humans are able to control the Jaegers (giant robots) is to create a neural circuit between the two individuals. This creates a collective consciousness called, "the Drift" That allows them to control the Jaeger.

In the book version, Raleigh (the main character) likens the Drift connection to two people listening to, and enjoying, the same song.

NOT to sex. 

In today's world, sex is primarily associated with the fulfillment and gratification of self, drifting is about a connection between people...whither romantic or platonic in nature.

Drift partners:

• Jaeger Co-pilot teams

Herc and Chuck Hansen (Parent and Child)

I found it interesting how this duo shows affection for each other though caring for their dog, Max, rather then saying "I love you dad/son." Which would sound pretty weird coming from two, tough Australians.

Raleigh and Yancy (Siblings) 

This relationship explores grief at the loss of a family member. When you loose a loved one, you loose a part of yourself.

Raleigh and Mako (Friendship)

Mako and Raleigh hit it off almost instantly. They share the same interests, they have similar life experiences, they communicate in the same ways and they support each other unconditionally. 

Sasha and Alexsis Kaidonovsky 

Married couple, the ONLY romantic relationship in the film. They are flirtatious and work as a team.

Cheung, Hu and Jin Wei Tang

A reminder that relationships are not always healthy, the triplets suffer from Drift-hangover. They finish each other's sentences and play basketball in synchrony. 

While this seems pretty cool (at least to me it does), it makes it difficult for anyone else to interact with them and they beginning to loose their individuality.

• The science team: Hermann and Newt (I'm sorry this next entry is pretty long, I just found it more interesting because these "Drift partners" don't get along at first, and I think that's how it is in life sometimes. We don't have that instant connection, but we can form it over time.)

These two don't pilot a Jaeger, but they do use the drift to mind-meld with a Kaiju (The aliens who want to kill us all) in order to send a bomb to the Kaiju homeworld

(They're basically the heroes of the story, come to think of it.)

At the start of the story, these two character's are archetypal nerds, which kind of annoyed me.

They're antagonistic, selfish, and egotistical (Which is probably why it intrigued me so much; forming a friendship is sometimes difficult merely because of the barriers we create for ourselves.)

Of the duo, Hermann is the more reclusive. He has difficulty relating to people in general and is more comfortable solving logical problems then emotional ones. Even though he has a lot of family-drama going on during the impending apocalypse, he never confides his concerns with anyone. (He does, however, file several complaints about his co-workers disruptive work habits).

Once he enters the drift, however, his mind is open and his whole character arc gets dangerously close to being emo

"numbers are the language of the universe and they will hide me

I can hide behind them because they are never angry they are never wrong

they choose no sides and expect nothing

they are are purely themselves and will never betray me."

At the start of the story, Hermann is on track to becoming an emotionally distant, authoritative father and husband...Repeating a pattern created by his own parents.

Then he volunteers to co-drift with the Kaiju with Newt, breaking his character mold of detachment and intellectualization, becomes a hero (and also, a better person).

Newt is the POV character.

In the book version, his narrative is written in a rapid, hectic style and it's hinted that he might suffer from a mental disorder. He's impulsive, not a very well grounded individual. The only reason he is able to put his intellect into practical use is because of the positive influence of a family member.

While he openly disrespects Hermann, Newton acknowledges that Hermann is the one person who gives him focus in life and directs his drives in a productive direction.

It struck me that he wouldn't be the easiest person to be friends with, but that he's probably the one who needs it most. 

On Gods and Superheroes

It was shortly after the first Spiderman movie came out (The one with Toby Maguire). I developed an interest in “The Types of Christ”

It's a subject that fascinates me and I've wanted to write about it for a while.

“Types of Christ” are people, either real or fictional, who share characteristics with The Savior. They are prevalent in Holy Scripture, Pagan script, and popular literature. They have captured the interest and imagination of people for thousands of years.

Examples of Type Christs:

• Superman (and virtually every other superhero)
• Star War's Luke Skywalker
• Lord of the Rings' Frodo Baggins
• Harry Potter
• Spock
• Aslan
• Mufasa
• Aang
• The Doctor
• Isaac
• Joseph
• Moses
• Boaz
• Paul

If you are familiar with these figures, you may be able to see how certain aspects of their lives mirror the Savior's. Virtually anyone who saves someone else, lays down their life, suffers for someone else, sets an example, exhibit self-sacrifice, love, compassion, supernatural power, courage and strength can be considered a "Type of Christ"

The idea that the world would be so enamored with these types of figures is fascinating to me. Even people who aren't at all religious idolize Superman. I believe that it is because humans are fallen beings who seek redemption; therefore, it is a natural response to seek a savior. These figures can help us envision the true Christ and his love and sacrifice for us in a way that we wouldn't be able to normally.

Types of Christ have become so prevalent in our culture they affect the way we think and our perception of right conduct.

However, there is a downside to “Types of Christ”.

A long time ago (in microbiology class), someone said that "religion is a crutch for people who need an excuse to do the right thing." To which I responded, “No, people don't do the right thing even when they are religious.”

His view was, If you are really a good person, you don't need Christ. (This person was a superhero fan, however, I'm unsure how this influenced his moral reasoning.)

This discussion is a reminder to me that types of Christ can lead us theologically and morally to Christ, but sometimes they just lead us in circles. People can be enamored with a "Type of Christ" (or, of the idea of someone saving someone else) without having a good idea of who Christ is and what his sacrifice means for us.

Because of this over-simplification, Types of Christ and they give us a poor idea of what His atonement means.

People start seeing Jesus as a 'Type of Superman'. He might have flown down from the sky, stood on the roof tops and told everyone “OK, now you need to get your shit together.”

(And then, He died.)

This misunderstanding is unfortunate. Christ coming to earth was more about changing our hearts then telling us what to do.

I was going to write more, but it kind of went off topic. The topic of the atonement is too much for me to cover in this little blog. When I have more to say on this subject, I'd like to write it here. 

If you'd like to read more about this type of literary figure you can check out the following. 

• Popular Culture Types of Christ: (A better version of what I just wrote, minus the critical evaluation of people's perceptions of Christ)
• In scripture: (This source is kinda dry, but it's pretty comprehensive) 
• and Finding Christ in the Old Testiment (This link gives you the option of downloading the article as a PDF or audio file, so if your like me and too board to read you can just listen.)

Death Note: In Review

I was introduced to this series though a podcast I listen to called, “The Narrative Breakdown”. 

“Death Note” was used as an example of how authors can use certain storytelling elements to make a story more interesting.  It sounded intriguing, and after reviewing some christian reviews on content (here) , I decided to give it a try.

I was surprised at the reaction I got from some people when I mentioned I was interested in watching an anime series. One of my sisters said, “Well, just make sure you don't let people know you watched the english-dubed version”.  Apparently “true anime” lovers are opposed to that.

Well, I tested it out on some anime/manga fans, and it's...accurate...unfortunately.

Also, "Avatar: the Last Airbender" is not a true anime series (...apparently), so this is my first excursion into the cartoon-style. 

Anyway, here is my review:

“Death Note” is an animated Supernatural Crime/Thriller series about the rise of a ethically motivated serial killer (called Kira) out to eradicate all evil-doers, and the detective(s) out to stop him.

A lot of the intrigue in this story centers around the two main lead character's trying to outsmart each other. Their intellectual battle brings a lot of tension to the story, even in the scenes with people just standing around asking each other questions

(...and their lips barely moving...because its anime)

there's so much happening under the surface, you—the viewer—really feel like you are watching a fight scene. It's really fascinating to watch. The fact that they are able to do this without it becoming too repetitive or boring is a monumental achievement.

Kudos!+2

Another novelty of this series is its seamless incorporation of fantastical, supernatural elements into a seemingly organic reality. Unlike Harry Potter going to Hogwarts, where you feel you've escaped the real world, you--the viewer--can become convinced that the god's of death (AKA Shinigami) are part of the world...You know, somewhere in Japan, but still...

                                                             (No one will notice...)

The story plays out as you might expect from a crime-thriller, so it still feels rooted in reality. However, later in the series, this becomes a bit compromised as Shinigami take a more active role in the story and do things that it wouldn't actually make sense for them to do. Kudos +1

About three/fourths into the series, the story-line takes a turn from which it never fully recovers. The ending is still fitting, but the means to the end is a bit disappointing.

Kind of changes the moral of the story to "Greed Will Win When Good Won't."  

I am convinced that the storytellers could have avoided this by putting a little more thought into introducing and developing the background characters more effectively. 

 It's like having the last 1/3^rd of your chocolate shake replaced with strawberry.

                                            (Which. Is. UNFORGIVABLE!!!)

(Fortunately, there is a live action version with a better ending! Yay for alternate cannon!!)

Although there is significantly less violence compared to many American crime series (I'm thinking of Criminal Minds), the level of intrigue will likely to make the show an unenjoyable watch for kids. Also, because of the dark ethics, (and because of this) it will probably not be a good thing for an immature teenager to watch.

Do not let your kid's watch this show if you wouldn't let them watch Criminal Minds.

However, if you want something to stave off the boredom, and make you think, this series is excellent.

I would like to thank my incredibly mature 16 year old sister for watching with me!!