Life, Movies, and the Gospel: The Emperor's New Groove

Okay, let's start with the fact that I love movies.  Movies in general.  I especially love Disney movies, and I lean more towards animated movies than live action.  Comedy, especially satiric and smart-aleck, has a special place in my heart.  (By the way, if you ever need to identify a stand-up comic, I've probably listened to all of them.  Eddie Izzard and Jeff Dunham are some of my favorites, in case anybody was interested.)

Anyway, if you put all these facts together, you'll probably arrive at a movie called The Emperor's New Groove.

I just love this movie because it doesn't take itself too seriously.  It's got an obvious family flick turn to it, mixed with teenage sarcasm, goofy animation, and a good message.

Enter Kuzco.  He's that brilliantly smiling guy in the picture above.  Also, he's the Llama in the video.  Yeah, long story.  As you can see in the picture, this movie is all about HIM  He's the emperor, and his way goes.  Incredibly self-centered, he doesn't really care about anyone else.  After all, why should he?  He can do whatever he wants to whoever wants on the slightest whim.  Unfortunately, his ex-Vizier, Yzma, doesn't exactly see it that way.  After he fires her, she turns him into a llama in an attempt to kill him.  He's lost in the kingdom, and is found by Pacha, a peasant whose land Kuzco tried to seize to build his summer house.  He agrees to lead Kuzco back to the palace, on the condition that his land is not seized.  With Yzma and her muscle-bound assistant Kronk in hot pursuit, comedy ensues.  Along the way, Kuzco learns that he really isn't all powerful.  He can't do everything himself.  What's more, his heart is softened a bit, and he really learns the value of friendship.

As the movie goes on, one message stands out.  We're not really important. Sure, we all have problems, but with the power of friendship, we're able to defeat them.  With our friends, anything can be defeated.

However, I think there's an even more important lesson to learn, that of humility.  Instead of being stuck-up and full of ourselves, being proud, we should just let go and be humble.  If Kuzco had not been so proud in the first place, he would have had no problems. 

But then again, if he hadn't been proud, we wouldn't have a lesson.  Or, for that matter, one of my favorite Disney films.

The Three Pints

By Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein

An Irishman walks into a Dublin bar, orders three pints of Guiness, and drinks them down, taking a sip from one, then a sip from the next, until they're gone. He then orders three more. The bartender says, "You know, they'd be less likely to go flat if you bought them one at a time." The man says, "Yeah, I know, but I have two brothers, one in the States, one in Australia. When we all went our separate ways, we promised each other that we'd all drink this way in memory of the days when we drank together. Each of these is for one of my brothers and the third is for me." The bartender is touched, and says, "What a great custom!" The Irishman becomes a regular in the bar and always orders the same way. One day he comes in and orders two pints. The other regulars notice, and a silence falls over the bar. When he comes to the bar for his second round, the bartender says, "Please accept my condolences, pal." The Irishman says, "Oh, no, everyone's fine. I just joined the Mormon Church, and I had to quit drinking."

 
I told that joke to Elder Bingham last night, and it made him bust out laughing.  It kind of reminds me of some times back in Redmond.  I used to work at a grocery store called Top foods, in Redmond.  People always used to invite me to drink with them, assuming that I was an adult.  (That only happened a few days ago.)  I'd have to explain to them that not only was I a minor, I was a Mormon.

There's a lot of evidence for why people shouldn't drink.  It doesn't really do anything for a person, it slowly kills a person's liver, and it makes you do things that no sane person would.  As Elizabeth Swan puts it, "It is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels." 

However, the biggest reason why I don't drink alcohol is because God has told us not to.  In section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, God revealed that " inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good...again, strong drinks are not for the belly."  I know that so long as we obey this law, we will have fewer health problems.  I've yet to drink alcohol, and I don't plan on changing this fact.

Wouldn't you think about it?

Life, Movies, and the Gospel: The Lion King

Let's play Name That Movie!  A young prince is cast into exile when his uncle kills the king.  There, he makes friends with the local-yokels, and grows to adulthood.  Eventually, he realizes who he really is, and comes back to combat his evil uncle.  An epic battle ensues, wherein the evil uncle is killed, and the prince gets the girl of his dreams.

Nope, not Hamlet.  Hamlet dies, and Simba doesn't.

I think that the Lion King might have been one of the first Disney movies that I ever saw, and is still one of my favorite 2-D classics.  (Some of the others are Robin Hood and the Sword in the Stone.)  It came out in 1994, so that's only 4 years difference between this movie's birthday and mine. 

 A lot like other movies, I see myself in it.  We are all children of a Heavenly King, and have been sent to this world where we can't really see our father.  We have to make do with what we have, here in the jungle, and for the most part, we just go about our lives.  Eventually, we come in contact with God, whether that be through a ranting baboon or a personal experience.  Either way, we start realizing who we really are, and what we have the potential to become.  If we will follow the path that our Father has indicated, we have the potential to become kings. 

Let's go to it.