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If you wonder what happened to the top navigation, and where you can find the pages that have been there, give me a little more time and everything will make sense again. This is what you need to know: the top navigation is now the categories of the posts, and the pages that used to be in the top navigation are available in the right side column just below "Friend Me." Let me know if you have trouble finding your way around the blog. Thanks for reading. — Joseph

Ethical Vampires and Readers are Misunderstood

2009 October 27

Vampire DiariesI don’t have to tell you what’s clogging up the young adult fiction section at Barnes & Nobles these days. Everywhere you turn, there is another display with overloaded stacks of books of teen vampire and werewolf stories. Apparently, they’re selling, and all the publishing houses want in on the profits. Culturally centered media outlets are saying all sorts of things about how this reflects on American youth. It’s assumed the vampire craze is a trend that is repeated every time monsters stories — especially vampire related ones — rise to the forefront of pop culture (as they have in the past with the introduction of classic monster stories like Dracula).

Fascinated by the living dead we are, so it seems. Who doesn’t like living forever — even though vampires are not really “living?” Superpowers thrown in to boot for these immortal beings… their stories are soul-searching, introspective, and sucking the life out of, well, the readers’ interest in the living. Escapism takes on an infinite number of forms. This escapism into the dark of night surrounded by bloodsuckers is just one form that’s grabbing pop culture. So why are we captivated by them now? For that matter, are we captivated by them, or something else in their stories more specific we’re not finding in other fiction and real life?

Seems most news sources have an opinion about this. Most writers credit Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga for precipitating the cultural enthusiasm for the living dead. I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve gathered from many sources that Twilight is to thank for the vampire craze. Seeing as how Twilight came out and became popular just before most of the rest of the contemporary vampire stories hit the new arrivals, I’d say there is some merit to this position.

If this is the case — Twilight (read my review here ») started the vampire craze — something is strangely overlooked from those that are quick to point out the success of vampire moral/ethical depravity with today’s youth. The story of vampires in the Twilight series supports little traditional vampire evils. Unlike Count Dracula, Edward Cullen and his family (the primary vampires of Twilight) have essentially a Christian ethic. I know that’s terribly ironic, but this is the case in this series of fiction. In Twilight, murder is wrong, violence is condemned, abstinence is virtuous, true love and loyalty are ideal in every romantic relationship. Do these values sound like norms in vampire tales? They’re not, but they are steadfast in the Twilight series.

Edward CullenSo, when pop enthusiasts are quick to exalt vampire lifestyles as culturally acceptable based on book sales of Twilight and the rare few that are like Twilight, they are wrong. A great deal of today’s youth do not admire bloodsuckers for their traditional qualities, but admire the vampire minority that support a highly conservative moral ethic (like those in Twilight). So in reality, the case is quite the reverse of popular opinion. Youth aren’t interested in impulsive blood-sucking — rather, they are interested in withstanding strong temptation, overcoming moral adversity, and a true love never dies view of life.

What does this mean for the books out there that have already been printed to draw the crowds for traditional vampire stories? What about The Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy, Vampire Kisses, House of Night, and the others? Will these sell? Will masses of teens read them? Will they hit the top 40 reads this year? Yes. There will be many that will read anything. There will be some that rave about these and other vampire stories like them. Do they represent the majority of vampire story readers? Maybe. Do they represent all that enjoy Twilight? No; not by far. Are those that read vampire stories a reflection of this entire generation of teens and young adults? Definitely not.

I don’t believe that monster stories are the best medium of fiction for learning deep truths about the real world, but they can be enlightening nonetheless. The Twilight series has much more to it than critics will tell. Seeing as how it usually takes a fan to pillage all the possible nuances of a story, and how they relate to the reader’s own life, those voicing their criticism and admiration of this generation of youth don’t have all the facts to elaborate on what is compelling the youth to indulge in vampire lore.

Speak Up

I’m no expert on statistics and popular opinion, but these are my observations. Too many swing the pendulum too far to either extreme. Twilight is not altogether pure or the guide to all other youth fiction. But do you see Twilight as no different from other vampire stories? How so? And, are the youth in America really consumed with monsters, you think?

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The New E-book Reader: Nook

2009 October 21
by Joseph Darnell

nookI haven’t seriously considered e-readers for personal use until now. In this growing market, something that has been lacking is significant competition with the all-too-well-known Amazon Kindle. Now that B&N has joined the market with their new Nook, I think that the power play for market share will seriously increase — and thus improve the over-all quality of the devices to grab the investment of potential e-reader customers. read more…

Projects: The History of the Conservative Movement

2009 October 9

I haven’t had the pleasure of working with Dr. Gary North in person till now. This very astute teacher and economics genius is giving American Vision the opportunity to condense some of his genius into a 16-part lecture series titled The History of the Conservative Movement.

My mockup for the graphic style of the series
My mockup for the graphic style of the series

I think this will be one of the finest videos we (me and my modest video team) have produced to date. Dr. North is one of the most articulate men I know. He doesn’t waste anytime to get to the interesting content in his lectures, and the way he connects political and economic history together is incredibly insightful.

So check back soon for more info and links to pre-order the video series soon. I might also have some video clips (previews) of the series in advance here as well.

Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

2009 September 28

The Harry Potter series of books is completed. When the series was hot discussion in years past, little did people know where the series was headed. I’ve heard fans and those disenchanted of the stories amongst Christians. Obviously, a story relating a system of magic is not one to be taken likely for Believers. Magic in the real world is supernatural. Real world magic is either spiritually good or evil. Real world magic is usually engrossed in some form of religious worship — and not worship to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Literal vs. Fictional Magic
In fiction, magic usually takes on fictional characteristics that are inconsistent with real-world magic. While there are stories that relate ideals of magicians, wizards, and witches to be true and good, a many “hocus pocus” stories don’t want to be all that literal. Is Harry Potter attempting to be literal magic or fanciful? Is Harry Potter propose that magic is truly an acceptable, universal, truthful, and positive force of the “real” world?
It doesn’t seem so, based on the telling of the first installment, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” A lot of imagination and creative ingenuity tell a fantasy of a young boy called to a specialized school of magic in a dimension set apart from the world of non-magical people. Most of the magicians in the story are fictitious, and their magical methodology is non-descript. The teachers of magic at this fictional school say that there is a good magic and an evil magic. The evil use of magic is usually called “the dark side of magic.”
Sound similar to another popular fantasy? In relation to how the magic all works in the Potter book, it frequently reminded me of the force in Star Wars. Do Christians everywhere have a moral problem with the force?
Yes. Christians should understand that the supernatural in the real-world is what the Bible describes. There is not an abstract force governing the destinies of man and alien throughout the galaxy. Darth Vader is a fantasy character. So is the evil wizard Voldemort of the Harry Potter fables. If Christians are struggling with what is real and what is fictional when they hear/see these stories, they have major struggles with discernment and probably shouldn’t enjoy such stories. If you have sense and know where to draw a mental line between just good imagination and reality, I don’t think that the fictitious laws of morality and magic should hinder one’s understanding of the real world.
What’s to Like About the Story?
Harry Potter is an intricate story well-told. It’s good youth fiction that adults may enjoy to read as well. The distinctions between right and wrong are mostly consistent with those of the real world (magical or no magical forces). Several mysteries are introduced in this first book and just enough of them are answered (and some unanswered) to keep people entertained and interested in continuing the rest of the series. The characters have good dynamics (relationships). Side characters that appear to have little relevance in the beginning have significant developments of their own throughout and to the very end of the book (before the end of the story, you realize just how important seemingly insignificant characters are).
Harry is tested many times over with making simple, yet difficult, ethical decisions. Faced with bullies, family, peers, trolls, and magic itself, Harry must practice discernment to make the wisest choices in his unusual circumstances. Harry doesn’t always make the right ethical choices, but given his developments we see Harry learns from some of his mistakes; making progress towards maturity in his early youth (I think Harry is supposed to be eleven in this book).
Adults in the school that are meant to be role-models have high expectations of their youthful students. While not all children are positive examples to other students, all children are expected to practice self-control and face their academic and social challenges responsibly. It would seem (because it is implied) that the children are not only taught magic but given a moral standard of the right and wrong use of it — quite a feet for this alternative school to pull off.
What’s Not to Like About the Story?
Given this is a magical, fanciful world of magic, some times I would like to know what’s at the foundation of the magical universe and what governs it. It’s not clear that the world Potter lives in does or does not have God, or a force, or something that defines absolutes. Absolutes are all throughout the story, but you’re left to assume their meaning to life without knowing why there is meaning — there just is.
At times, legendary icons of magic history are mentioned from history. Most of these people named are real-world men and women of history (some aren’t) and in all their cases they really weren’t good examples of moral upstanding. One magician mentioned as a “great from the past” is Agrippa — Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (c. 63 BC-12 BC) [ADD LINK]. If the Agrippa mentioned is the Agrippa of Rome, you can see why conservative and Christian families would object to uplifting such a foe as a positive role-model of times past. Agrippa may not be one of the more notorious historical figures, but there’s little saintly about him either. I’ll also note that it is clever in the story to mention real-world historical people because it returns interest to the real-world and history, but it is misguided at the same time in this book (in my opinion).
In “The Wizard of Oz,” it’s stated very clearly that “there are good witches and there are bad witches….” This statement does not make up for the fact that it isn’t true in the real-world, but it does make it clear that Oz is very different from the real-world. In this story, witches and wizards are just professions, as it were, and it is the individual witch and wizard that is judged on their own merits as good or evil. This is basically the same scenario as in Oz, but it isn’t as clear an explanation. Very young children might not pick up on this position in the story, and thusly respond more open-mindedly to witchcraft in the real-world.
What About the Movie?
After I finished the book I saw the film. Here’s what I think: it’s consistent with the book, but not as well-told or thorough. The book is rushed at moments in the film. Relationships of characters, places, events are not explained, so you are left assuming a great deal more from the film. In favor of the movie, there are excellent elements of cinematography, special effects, and soundtrack. I could tell a lot of effort was put into the film to drive the audience’s interest back to the books.
Conclusion
It’s not a story to be taken lightly. There are good reasons readers should gird their minds when reading the book, but no reason why the story cannot be enjoyable, insightful, and scrutinized by readers. More story-telling like that in the story of “The Sorcerer’s Stone” could lead to some very positive reinforcement of good, clean values and beliefs.

sorcerers_stoneThe Harry Potter series of books is completed. When the series was hot discussion in years past, little did people know where the series was headed. I’ve heard very opposite opinions about the stories amongst Christians; whether it be for good or evil for readers. Obviously, a story relating a system of magic is not one to be taken lightly for Believers. Magic in the real world is supernatural. Real world magic is either spiritually good or evil. Real world magic is usually engrossed in some form of religious worship — and not worship to the Lord Jesus Christ. read more…

The Arts Have Purpose

2009 September 17
Does all art have a purpose?

Does all art have a purpose?

You can’t make art up for the sake of being art that doesn’t have a meaning to the art you create. Many intelligent and prolific artisans think you can, but if you examine the examples around you you’ll find man is a lier if he believes he can create anything without a purpose. Whether you are a student of the arts, a hobbyist, or a professional designer of some sort, you make your piece of art for a specific audience with the express purpose of some message — even if the message is as sad and contradictory as “this piece of art has no message.” Even if you don’t take your art seriously, you’re at least creating it to humor one’s self (this is a purpose also). read more…

Reading is the Best Practice for the Creative Writer

2009 August 18

I have wanted to be a writer since I was twelve. I had a obsession with the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. I couldn’t get enough of Jimmy Stewart’s role of George Bailey, and I so wished there was a novel adaptation of the movie so I could delve deeper into the world of Bedford Falls. Since there was none, I wrote my own adaption.
read more…

The Artistic Quality of Morality in the Bible

2009 August 7

Have you ever considered that audible art (music and spoken word) has more in common with the literary arts than visual arts? A great deal of the visual arts have sound along with them these days, but purely audible art has to compensate for the lack of visuals much the way the written word has to communicate. read more…

Defining Morality in Art

2009 July 22
by Joseph Darnell

Most of my readers know that I am a Christian, and I like to think about the ramifications of Biblical worldview in the arts. It’s not easy to compete with the various worldviews in art and culture since what’s culturally acceptable is so influential. Popularity usually supersedes morality for patrons of the arts. If the majority of people enjoy something  good or bad, the negative peer pressure throughout culture will excuse anyone to enjoy the morally bankrupt movies, books, music . . . and so forth. read more…

Edward Cullen Picks Up Where Dr. Jekyll Left Off

2009 July 7

It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous [personalities—the good and the bad] were thus bound together—that in the agonized womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling.
- Dr. Jekyll

In my last post, I began a review of the book Twilight. Let’s continue. read more…