There are a ton of ads for new movie releases lately. Most have loud, grating soundtracks and lots of destruction and violence at their core.
One new one is an adult version of the old story, Hansel and Gretel. Most of us probably never thought of an oven in quite the same way after hearing that story. Being lost is always a trigger fear for people, and children lost in the woods is horrible to conger up.
As most of the "fairy tale" movies in the last year or so, this one has turned to the dark side. The movie about Snow White and the Woodsman did the same. The Batman movie (where a shooter interrupted one showing of it) was also a darker, deeper exploration. The new Superman promises more of the same. There's a pattern here, isn't there? Darker, deeper, creepier, louder, more destructive, more depraved. Who says art doesn't imitate life?
The story that just haunted me as a child, though, was The Little Match Girl. It's a story by the famous Dane, Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1845. A little poor girl lives with her family but they send her out to sell matches on the streets and she is afraid to go home (she hasn't sold any) because her father will beat her. It's winter and cold and she can see through the windows of some of the homes -- a view of a fire in a fireplace, food on the table, and children safe from harm. On the other hand, she is very vulnerable. She lights one match after the other, trying to stay warm. With each match, she sees a vision of her grandmother and she tries to keep the matches lit to continue this vision. Her grandmother was the only person ever to be kind to her. During the night she dies, and is carried to heaven in her grandmother's arms.
The next morning they find the little girl frozen to death. The story still makes me tear up. It is a dark story, but its meaning far surpasses the gratuitous noise, destruction, and violence of today's movies. The little ones need us.
Stay warm, my friends. It's snowing like crazy outside right now.
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