Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Delicacy of Character The Meaning of Things 2017-06-20 | Part 1/4: While Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show that is exceptional in all areas of the cinematic medium, with incredible environments, direction, animation, plot, and a score that supports all of these things so well, character is the true masterpiece of the series that makes it so good. Thus, this video is about the delicacy of character within Avatar: The Last Airbender.THANK YOU TO THE WEIGHT OF CINEMA PATRONS!!!!!!!!!Become a patron today on Patreon.Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#AvatarTheLastAirbender #VideoEssays #Cinema
That Hideous Strength, the final work in CS Lewis’ trilogy, explores spiritual warfare & technocracy The Meaning of Things 2023-07-13 | “ransom shook his head. ‘you do not understand,’ he said. ‘the poison was brewed in these west lands but it has spat itself everywhere by now. however far you went you would find the machines, the crowded cities, the empty thrones, the false writings, the barren beds; men maddened with false promises and soured with true miseries, worshipping the iron works of their own hands, cut off from earth their mother and from the Father in heaven. you might go east so far that east became west and you returned to britain across the great ocean, but even so you would not have come anywhere into the light. the shadow of one dark wing is over all Tellus.’‘is it, then, the end?’ asked merlin.”//the final book of cs lewis’ science fiction trilogy is certainly the best of the three — he explores the early development of a post-war technocracy in such a way that he almost comes off as wholly predicting the future. a follow up on the adventures in deep heaven found in earlier installments, “that hideous strength” takes place on thulcandra, or earth — the silent planet in rebellion, twisted by the black archon, who lead the eldils of this world into war against the rest of the field of arbol. in this final work, a scientific bureaucracy called the N.I.C.E is established in england, that seeks to transform humanity into a new kind of being through radical technological and sociological developments. their tools are the heavy hand of police, the propagandist press, and the complacency of the common person who idly allows their humanity to be stripped away, bit by bit.an amazing picture of the 21st century world, “that hideous strength” is remarkably under-appreciated, and well worth reading, especially if you’re into cs lewis at all.
CS Lewis’ “Perelandra,” an underrated triumph, a blend of science fiction, mythology, and philosophy The Meaning of Things 2023-07-04 | “where Maleldil is, there is the center. He is in every place. not some of Him in one place and some in another, but in each place the whole Maleldil, even in the smallness beyond thought. there is no way out of the center save into the bent will which casts itself into nowhere. blessed is He! each thing was made for Him. He is the center. because we are with Him, each of us is at the center… in His city all things are made for each. when He died in the wounded world He died not for men, but for each man. if each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less. each thing, from the single gain of dust to the strongest eldil, is the end and final cause of all creation and the mirror in which the beam of His brightness comes to rest and so returns to Him. blessed is He!”a passage written by cs lewis, found in the second installment of his space trilogy, “perelandra.” where the first book mostly took place on mars, or malecandra, the follow up is spent on venus, otherwise known as perelandra.these little creative reflections on the book series don’t really have a point to them — except for the fact that good books deserve recognition, and these are often overlooked.
Recently read “Out of the Silent Planet” by CS Lewis. This is what the book felt like to me. The Meaning of Things 2023-07-01 | “a pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. you are speaking as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. it is all one thing… what you call “remembering” is the last part of the pleasure… when you and i met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. what it will be when i remember it as i lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then—that is the real meeting. the other is only the beginning of it. you say you have poets in your world. do they not teach you this?”a passage from a recent book i read for the first time, “out of the silent planet” by cs lewis. this is one of his early works; it is the first of a trilogy that is surprisingly underrated… but ultimately increasingly relevant in content and message to the current day. i’m happy to finally say i’ve finished all three books. would love to see a cinematic adaptation. (done very well, of course)
Sleeping Beauty: A Biblical Epic Symbolizing the Union of Humanity and the Divine The Meaning of Things 2023-05-08 | Taking inspiration from a lot of sources I've learned from the past few years, including work from J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, George Lucas, Jordan Peterson's Maps of Meaning, Jonathan Pageau's Symbolic World, Ryan Reeves, and more, I finally decided to dive back into story analysis regarding one of my favorite Disney animated classics, Sleeping Beauty.In this analysis, I explore the meaning of the story of Sleeping Beauty, a Biblical epic that symbolizes the unification of Heaven and Earth, and the union of humanity and the divine. In the story, Maleficent represents Satan, ultimate evil, while Aurora represents humanity in both calling and destiny. Philip, the sacrificial hero armed with truth and virtue, represents Christ, the prophesied one who would reverse the curse. Watching this film back, I couldn't help but see the biblical threads placed throughout the narrative, and knowing that the purpose of fairytales is to move the imagination to consider the greatest of topics, I couldn't resist making this video.Subscribe for more on mythology, storytelling, fairytales and more, in the future.
The Basics for Understanding Star Wars The Meaning of Things 2020-03-29 | I’ve gone through a bit of a personal Star Wars "Enlightenment Period" in the past few months, and now, I want to take the opportunity to explore what I’ve learned… and ultimately ask the question: beyond all of the rage, speculation, behind the scenes reporting and fan backlash, what is it really that makes Star Wars “Star Wars”?Here are The Basics for Understanding Star WarsThis is the Weight Of Cinema Analysis of the stories from a galaxy far, far away.Become a channel patron! patreon.com/weightofcinemaFollow the creator: @ericbenjaminham#WeightOfCinema #StarWars #VideoEssay
The Return of the King - Bringing Us Home The Meaning of Things 2019-03-15 | In this video, I want to present to you how THE RETURN OF THE KING succeeds as a conclusion. I want to showcase what it is that makes it such a satisfying ending to its trilogy, and I want to examine how this narrative effectively leads us to its eventual closure.This is how THE LORD OF THE RINGS bring us home.Become a patron today on Patreon!Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#WeightOfCinema #LordOfTheRings #VideoEssay
The Two Towers - Cultivating Conflict The Meaning of Things 2019-02-08 | In “The Two Towers,” there are a handful of traits that help to create a greater sense of conflict in the narrative, and that help us to identify with the arcs of an ensemble cast that’s spread across a massively interconnected world. In this video, I breakdown how the Lord of the Rings cultivates compelling conflict.Become a patron today on Patreon!Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#WeightOfCinema #LordOfTheRings #VideoEssay
The Fellowship of the Ring - Defining Fellowship The Meaning of Things 2018-11-09 | Throughout the LORD OF THE RINGS films, there is a consistent effort to convey character development and drama. That being said, it is apparent that the priority one for the first installment of the original trilogy, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, is the effort to define for itself the fellowship between characters. In this video, I examine what fellowship means in this trilogy.THANK YOU TO THESE WEIGHT OF CINEMA PATRONS!!!!!!!!!BENJAMIN HamBrent wilson DojeeFrancisco SaldanhaIsaiah StillJack LandryJake DanielsJames RoyeJoel StichlerKevin Jeremiah GaonaMeghan CatherinMichael FryeSpiderHeartsBecome a patron today on Patreon.Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#WeightOfCinema #LordOfTheRings #VideoEssay
Why Batman is the Best Comic Book Hero The Meaning of Things 2018-10-05 | "It is not the moments of tragedy that define our lives, so much as the choices we make to deal with them." Bruce WayneRecorded in September 2017THANK YOU TO THESE WEIGHT OF CINEMA PATRONS!!!!!!!!!BENJAMIN HamBrad NeeceBrent wilson DojeeElla KollstadFrancisco SaldanhaIsaiah StillJack LandryJames RoyeJoel StichlerJoshua PercyKevin Jeremiah GaonaMeghan CatherinMichael FryePetnpatSpiderHeartsBecome a patron today on Patreon.Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Character Through Morality The Meaning of Things 2018-07-08 | Part 4/4: At the heart of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a question. Can any one person ever be too far gone? Can a person ever be so morally ambiguous, or so full of hurt, or so self-destructive, that they are beyond redemption? It is this question that fundamentally challenges the central characters of the show, and it is this that the show is reliant on to convey its central themes and messages. What should our attitude toward morally ambiguous people be? What moral action should we take against them? Should we believe in moral depravity?Through these questions, as they are manifested in both Aang and Katara’s journeys, character is revealed.THANK YOU TO THE WEIGHT OF CINEMA PATRONS!!!!!!!!!Become a patron today on Patreon.Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#AvatarTheLastAirbender #VideoEssays #Cinema
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Development Through Relationship The Meaning of Things 2018-04-30 | Part 3/4: One of the main things that I would tell a person if they asked me about this favorite show of mine is that it is a show that is all about the relationships between characters. Conflicts arise because of relationship, tension is built because of relationship, and the story pushes forward because of relationship. Relationship is foundational to the story, and in this video I explore how character development is motivated by relationship.THANK YOU TO THE WEIGHT OF CINEMA PATRONS!!!!!!!!!Become a patron today on Patreon.Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#AvatarTheLastAirbender #VideoEssays #Cinema
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Visual Storytelling The Meaning of Things 2018-02-23 | Part 2/4: Consider visual storytelling. How is it that a filmmaker is able to convey character and emotion not only through words, plot, and actions, but also through visual aesthetic, composition, color, lighting, and so on? Like all of the best works of cinema, a great place to refer to for some answers is the 2005 animated series Avatar: the Last Airbender. Here, I break down this series' masterful visual storytelling.THANK YOU TO THE WEIGHT OF CINEMA PATRONS!!!!!!!!!Become a patron today on Patreon.Follow Weight Of Cinema - @weightofcinemaFollow the creator - @ericbenjaminham#AvatarTheLastAirbender #VideoEssays #Cinema
