This was one of the reasons I wanted to see Mary Poppins again - I don't remember any indication at all of the source of her power and I'm surprised that the CAPalert guy would let that slip past. I would have expected his attitude to be that if it's not made clear that the power comes from God then it's bad.
I think that power is a good topic for films to be addressing as long as the consequences are also addressed. In LotR they clearly are and the Fellowship is created precicely because it is decided that the consequences of the power of the ring for anyone are too terrible to accept. HP is less clear on consequences but is interested in the responsiblity that comes with power - here the good guys are the ones who are interested in protecting muggles and think that they too have rights (including the right to be left alone) although there is still a strong paternalistic element in their attitude.
I agree that peoples behaviour can be influenced by movies but I'm not sure that I agree that an example of bad behaviour with the consequences shown and considered will necessarily encourage that bad behaviour. Indeed, I would have thought that properly handled it could provide a disincentive for that behaviour, encouraging empathy for the victims of the actions.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chiming
Re: On Mary Poppins...
Date: January 16th, 2002 07:36 am (UTC)From:I think that power is a good topic for films to be addressing as long as the consequences are also addressed. In LotR they clearly are and the Fellowship is created precicely because it is decided that the consequences of the power of the ring for anyone are too terrible to accept. HP is less clear on consequences but is interested in the responsiblity that comes with power - here the good guys are the ones who are interested in protecting muggles and think that they too have rights (including the right to be left alone) although there is still a strong paternalistic element in their attitude.
I agree that peoples behaviour can be influenced by movies but I'm not sure that I agree that an example of bad behaviour with the consequences shown and considered will necessarily encourage that bad behaviour. Indeed, I would have thought that properly handled it could provide a disincentive for that behaviour, encouraging empathy for the victims of the actions.