It’s official, I’m jaded. This realization struck me as I sat in a sold-out theater with an overabundance of prepubescent middle schoolers watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The matter of how I found myself stuck between elbowing youth watching such a film is another thing entirely. Nonetheless, there I sat, aghast at their enjoyment of this cinematic dribble and wondering if at some point in my distant past I was exactly like them.
And I think I was. This made me wonder if critical thinking skills are over-rated and films, and perhaps life, would be a bit more enjoyable if I just let things like second-rate CG and mediocre acting wash over me. You know, just go with the flow and have fun. Everyone else around me seemed to be doing just that and having a perfectly pleasant afternoon at the movies.
Perhaps I’m just rehashing that age old question of “What is the purpose of art — to elevate or to entertain?” Certainly, when you’re a kid all you seem to care about is whether something magical is happening on screen or if a furry creature has just caused a person to drop a hammer on his toe. And you smile and laugh. Or, at least that’s the way it seems. What changed me?
For one, Avatar has ruined me. Watch a spellbinding film like that one and then watch Percy Jackson and you come to recognize that Chris Columbus hasn’t grown as a director. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The first Harry Potter was released almost ten years ago and here I was watching the identical film all over again. Everyone complains that Avatar has a formulaic script, and while that may be true, Percy Jackson is far worse because it also has formulaic directing and a seeming lack of heart.
And there it is. That is the real burr under my skin. Percy Jackson may have beautiful actors, loads of special effects, gods, demigods, and some punchy lines of dialogue, but there is nothing behind it all — a seeming lack of passion or interest in exploring the depths of these parentless characters. Instead, we are forced to suffer some soggy road trip tale on our way to all the Greek-inspired hot spots in North America chasing after glow-in-the-dark marbles.
I take nothing away from those kids in the theater who relished the spectacle of it all. Truthfully, how different is that than adults loving the film 300? Yet, as I’ve probably said all too often, shouldn’t we desire more for our children and ourselves? Yes, perhaps it’s “just the movies” and doesn’t matter very much; but if story matters (and I think it does), wouldn’t we do better to feed our kids deeper tales — myths that have some meat to them and that will stick to the bones? Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief will not only steal 120 minutes of your life, it may just rob your children of their appetites for richer stories.
