Word: mythicize
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...emotional resonance, nor does his bland romance (if you want to call it that) with the emperor's sister (Connie Nielsen). And as wonderful as Crowe is, the detached nature of his character (mostly the fault of the script) hinders his ability to turn Maximus into a truly mythic hero. The great Hollywood epics all had a sense of sweeping emotional grandeur (when the rebels all yell "Spartacus!" it's a cheesy yet uplifting scene) which is noticeably absent from Scott's film, which is more of a relentless, almost mechanical, exercise in blood sports. The end result...
...these two are only the vanguard of an ever-broadening consensus: everyone, it seems, has kept harbored in their heart of hearts a secret crush for these hang-outs--until now. The evil forces of capitalism have conquered the beloved Tasty, vanquished the mythic Wursthaus and seem destined to continue their merciless route of all the aged and unique businesses that make the Square quirky (hence lovely). In the case of the Bow, the tears shed--or revolutions plotted--by fuzzy-hearted communitarians may be justified...
...portray Tom Ripley as a gay man is risky, and not only for Matt Damon's career. As a man capable of murder on a bad day (don't worry, I'm not really giving anything away), a gay Thomas Ripley might become some terrible variation on the mythic self-hating homosexual serial killed--a queasy Andrew Cunanan done up in old-fashioned clothes. But the change actually produces all kinds of new tensions that deepen the emotional weight of the story. Tom's confused sexuality is just another expression of his place outside the privileged world of golden boys...
...endure. After his death, his son-in-law (and perhaps son) Tutankhamen moved the political and religious capitals back to Memphis and Thebes respectively and reinstated the old gods. Egyptian art returned to its classic, ritualized style. And like Camelot, Akhenaten's once bustling capital became only a mythic memory. "Pharaohs of the Sun" will remain in Boston until February, then travel to Los Angeles, Chicago and Leiden, the Netherlands...
Creationism has no part in the serious curriculum of any serious country. Still, I see no reason why biblical creation could not to be taught in the schools--not as science, of course, but for its mythic grandeur and moral dimensions. If we can assign the Iliad and the Odyssey, we certainly ought to be able to assign Genesis...