Movie of the day was 10,000 B.C. Ok so ... some interesting recreations of the ancient world to put into my database of visuals for teaching World Civilizations I but ... I have to say ... there are times when one gets tired of the HUNTER-Warrior ALWAYS getting "the girl" who needs do little but get abducted to attract buff young men to come to their thousand mile rescue mission aid. 10,000 B.C. is basically Helen of Stonehenge instead of Helen of Troy: The face that launched a thousand spears. Does anyone brave blizzards, mountains, deserts, man eating bird infested swamps, impossible odds, slavery, and battle axes for ME? I don't think so. In 10,000 B.C. it is predicted that the hunter who kills the next wooly mamoth will get the blue eyed stranger girl that everyone adores. I ask you, why can't it be the young man who draws the best wooly mammoth on the cave wall? Or the kid who saves the almost extinct wooly mamoth from certain death? Or the chemist who comes up with a substitute for wooly mamoth meat (like fake crab-meat)? Or the genius who puts a wooly mamoth to work in an agricultural endeavor? OR the idiot savant who figures out that a place that attracts wooly mamoths is TOO COLD for humans anyway? I mean seriously, Why does every epic in every age have to look like the Helen of Troy story? Why must Achiles, no matter what you call him (and in 10,000 B.C. the heroe's name is D'leh ... an anagram for "held" the Germanic word for "hero") ALWAYS be the best young buck with a sword or spear or weapon of some kind.
Its exactly this that makes me love movies like SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL where the ARTIST gets the girl. Honestly, it is fine with me for the hero to have military aptitudes some of the time but "ALL" the time? Its demoralizing to people with communication skills - to guys who can talk their way out of conflict. Sigh. Though I will grant you this. D'leh isn't really a huge fan of wooly mammoth killing. He just wanted the girl ... and later in the movie, he sets a saber tooth tiger free from a trap at the risk of his own life and his attempted coup hinges on his ability to "influence" a wooly mammoth. In other words, he a sensitive animal loving sort of Beowulf. Progress? OK. But those of us who are nerds have been waiting 12,000 for the change of which I speak. At what point in time do we get to say "enough already"? Grin.
Question for Comment: If you made an epic movie, what sort of guy would get the girl? OR visa versa??
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