  What better for a rainy weekend and house full of sickies than videos! So I went to Blockbuster for the first time in probably over a year (because I got cable this year!). My son was pretty excited at all the choices, so I just had to pick fast and go. I picked Veggietales' Jonah and Spirited Away. So here's the reviews: I haven't bought any Veggietales since the original few two years ago because they come across as pretty misogynist. All the main characters are males and when an occasional storyline involves a female, as in Esther, the girl needs a man to come bale her out of the every little problem she has from the little life lessons to the climax of the plot. I'm not saying our beloved of all films, Shrek, is any better at this, but at least Shrek has good music and jokes entertaining for adults, too. Jonah certainly fails on both these counts. And then there's the whole religious thing. We're barely tiptoeing back into the waters of organized Christianity, still pretty wary of passing on to our children a bureaucracy-laden, self serving myth progenitor of a faith and this movie has Jonah prophesying to the Israelites in a song, "don't do drugs, stay in school" right along with actual biblical holy advice like be clean and treat others well. Here's one little gem in the whole movie, though: good or bad, and you know where I stand here, you're basically looking at the religion of George W. and the gang. Literal scriptural interpretation, Israel's God's chosen people, etc. It's good to see, in this context, God telling Jonah to give the Ninevites a second chance in spite of the way they have treated the Israelites in the past. Sounds like sound Clinton-era diplomacy to me! Now, Spirited Away was utterly unexpected and breathtaking.
Remember that I don't believe in censoring my children's entertainment, and know that it was difficult for me to watch him tense up in the scary beginning. At one point I rubbed his back to divert his intense attention and reminded him it was only a movie. Similarly, when John was worrying about Aidan at a different point, he asked if Aidan would like to go sit with him on the chase. Aidan said his cute little sure! like nothing at all was up and got up. But he chose to sit in his dad's lap rather than just beside him.
I don't want to ruin the plot for you, but I will tell you a little about the film's background. I rented the film knowing only that it won an Oscar last year for best foreign film. Aidan loves foreign films, animated or not, he sat through all of Amelie for example. Spirited Away is Japanese, it's animated in japanimae style. I didn't know anything about the plot and it was exciting to see it unfold without knowing anything, so I'm not going to tell you anything either! The main characters are depicted as American, which provides an interesting bit of cultural critique from a foreign eye. This too was part of the fun. The only female protagonists I've been able to find in animation have been in Japanimae. I first discovered this when complaining about the absense of girls in kids shows that don't need a boy to come save their day and my sister suggested Power Puff Girls. Shortly after that, my sister-in-law, Amanda filled my order for an Aidan gift of a Power Puff Girls video. It's a screwey plot that I still don't have nailed down, but I do appreciate the girls who save the day on their own.
Shakiro, who is the protagonist in Spirted Away, does have a lot of help from the boy Hacu, but he's more of a sidekick and she saves him at least as often as he saves her. Plus, ultimately, her own actions save herself. That's a message I greatly prefer delivering to my son in his delicate formative years over the religious patriarchy of Veggietales. Aidan sat through all of Spirited Away, and only most of Jonah so I think that alone tells which movie I would go so far as to get, maybe even buy.
It's intense, the plot kept us all on our seats, but that sure beats yawning your way through stupid one-dimensional kiddie humor. Let me know if you've seen these movies and what you thought! By the way, if you ever do want to comment, you can do so by clicking on the comment button below any entry. My other blog gets comments, but this one never does, so give me a shout out! 
