One of the benefits of being married is that you get to see old and familiar things through a new set of eyes. My wife and I have recently been working our way through "Jane Eyre," for instance. Last night, we watched and old favorite of mine, "Princess Mononoke." My wife, who spent two years in a village in equatorial west Africa remarked that she was impressed by how well the film represents a functioning anamistic worldview. In fact, the whole film is about worldview; worldviews in conflict. That seems to be a particular virtue of anime; its ability to authentically express and robustly handle questions of worldview. Would that American cinema would take a page from the Japanese in this department! I think we're learning, though. Shows like "Firefly" give me a bit of hope. We'll see what cinematic favorite my wife and I light on next. We've already watched "Spirited Away." Maybe it's time to move from movies to television. Anyone out there willing to part with "Trigun" for a little while. ;-)
I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old. That's a couple years after it first came out. The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer. I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit. It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows. With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play. What was that first game? It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past . Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge. It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing? There were stretches when I didn't. Many times, I've just been too busy. There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games....
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