"A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge." -Carl Sagan
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Insecto-rama
Mothra of All Heroes Stars in Japanese-themed Insect Fear Film Festival
SciFi movies about insects teach us good family values:
...What most attracts University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum to Japanese culture, however, is its cinematic insects. Berenbaum, the head of the entomology department at the Urbana campus, will showcase Japanese insect movies at the 24th annual Insect Fear Film Festival on Feb. 24...
Many of the films feature insects in a good light, like the "The Ultimate Teacher", where the main character is a human-cockroach hybrid, who fends off bullies in a tough highschool. In the film "Mothra", although she is destructive, the giant lepidopteran's intent is to rescue twin fairy priestesses, and return to their native island. On the other hand, some insects (or entomologists) are caste in an evil light:
...And there are occasional evil entomologists in Japanese anime. In “Read or Die,” the late 19th century entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre is reconstituted from his DNA and recruited into an evil scheme. He commands the insects to do his bidding...
Heh, I read somewhere that Fabre was a Creationist. How ironic! This sounds like a great film series.
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