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Reviews
Joan of Arcadia (2003)
2020 Update: Horrible example for children regarding bullying and assault
Okay, its an old show. If you find it, avoid it. My girlfriend really likes it, and I did more than I do now. We're in the middle of Season 2 and the bad examples just keep getting worse. If you see it, just avoid it. There's a lot of wisdom in it, and the topics it deals with are relevant. But the messages are there: If you defend someone who is getting bullied, then you get punished and the bully goes free. If you stand up for your rights, you will be torn down. If a-hole students attack you there is nothing you can do. All the characters seem okay with all that: school officials, parents, even students. Bad show for anytime in the 21st century.
The last straw was when a girl stood her ground defending a garden against a bulldozer crew on school ground, in front of a teacher and other students who were cheering her on (but not joining her). A maintenance worker physically picked her up and moved her, while she smiled **in triumph?? because she stood her ground for a minute. The man just assaulted her with contempt for any propriety or rule of law. There were no police nearby. She should have yelled for him to get his grubby paws off her, and charged him with assault. Yet the incident passed as if it was a joke.
This show could not fly today, and should be destroyed. It provides very dangerous role models. Don't let your children see it; they will learn to be victims.
I Origins (2014)
Excellent, thought provoking, with a harsh twist
I am a hard-core materialist scientist (physicist) yet am open to evidence that could threaten my world-view--as any good scientist should be. I am therefore not quite as arrogant about my view as the protagonist in this movie, a molecular biologist who is both atheist and rejecting of any kind of understanding of an imagined spirit world or possibility of reincarnation. Yet, his scientific openness and his injured heart get the better of him.
Having just attended a week-long seminar discussing (with scepticism) and contemplating the existence of gods, spirits and the afterlife, I was primed for this movie--it was amazingly apropos. It is well acted, well developed, any predictability does not detract from enjoyment. Other than the one harsh twist, I would recommend it without reservation. See the Parental Guide and my comment below.
The movie is in two parts: First, our scientist hero is with his passionate lover where heart and head are in conflict, since she is a believer and he is not. Her explanations and attempts to get him to open to possibilities are cogent and thought provoking. Then the harsh twist.
Slight Spoiler Alert--but necessary to avoid too much pain: The ParentalGuide says: A person is cut in half due to faulty machinery. When our hero and his lover are stuck in an elevator, with a small opening out of which they could crawl, we are now prepared for the worst. Yet, there is enough suspense about it that when they finally come out of the elevator, we think it is okay. But it is not. I advise that once they get into the elevator an even slightly queasy viewer (like me) simply skip over. It is too much to take.
More slight spoiling, but not much: Then the second half of the movie takes up with his heart and head together: he is (predictably) with his lab partner wife as years pass. Now they are led into a discovery of reincarnation. However, they are both scientists, hence the discovery is evidence-based, not mere speculative philosophy or religion. The first half was good, and this half is great--although a scientist is writing. Highly recommended for anyone open but sceptical. Stay open, stay sceptical.