Saturday night, I went to see "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy".
I've never read Douglas Adams' book, but have heard the book-on-tape. I was excited to see the film, especially since two of my favorites are in the film (Martin Freeman from the UK's The Office, and Zooey Deschanel from "Almost Famous")
I loved the movie, but as each scene went by, I wondered "why the heck hasn't the right-wing and the fundies been ALL OVER this film"??
More after the fold.....
For the benefit of those who haven't seen it, and to refresh memories of the rest, here's the "controversial" parts that I was positive would get blasted over and over again......
- The main character is described as "an ape descendant". Kinda obvious in it's evolution-leaning message.
- The main heroine (Deschanel) dresses up like Charles Darwin at a costume party.
- The President of the Galaxy is a complete idiot, and he has a southern accent. He tries desperately to appear cool, but he's actually the one responsible for the destruction of the Earth.
- The actual Hitchhiker's Guide is described as "more controversial than the books 'God's Greatest Mistakes', 'More of God's Blunders', and "Who Is This God Person Anyway'". I assumed the fundies would freak out over the mere possibility that someone doesn't know who God is.
- Earth (and every planet in the galaxy) is created by man, and not God.
- An entire religion is based on the belief that the galaxy was created by a giant sneeze and that salvation was coming in the form of a huge handkerchief.
- Man is not the dominant species. We're third. Mice are the dominant ones, followed by dolphins.
So where are the attacks?? Why are the fundies behind on this one?
My theory is two-pronged.
One, the film is way too deep. Philosophically-speaking, it's not easy to grasp. It takes a mind that has the capacity to understand gray areas in life. No black-and-white here.
Two, the attacks will come....the film is still fresh and they weren't prepared for it because it would mean actually having to READ THE BOOK before it came out (and what are the odds of that?)
Any thoughts???
Jeff Seemann