The Godfather - Religious Symbolism

There may be many religious symbols hidden throughout the context of The Godfather, but there was one in particular that stood out to me. This symbolism was the parallelism between the "the Godfather" and God Himself.

The head of the Corleone Mafia family, is known to friends and associates as "Godfather." At the beginning of the movie Vito Corleone was the Godfather of the family and in mafia terms the "Don". The Godfather is the leader of the family who children and adults alike look up to for inspiration. The Godfather also represents the family through the Mafia business that the majority of the Corleone family is involved in. Later in the movie, Vito Corleone's son, Michael, becomes the new Godfather and the sole representative of the family.

The Godfather is like the Corleone's version of God. God is at the top of the hierarchy for religious people, like the Godfather is the top of the hierarchy for the Corleone Mafia family. Christian people are led by God and look to him for guidance and inspiration throughout the difficult times in their life. The Godfather plays the same role for his family and friends and will protect them as long as they pledge their loyalty to him.

The Don, or Godfather, expects those who follow him to devote their complete trust and faith in him; this expectation also holds true for Christians following God. Sometimes Christians do not feel a complete sense of trust in God's vision for them but religion teaches them to have faith in his plan. This is similar to the Godfather because often his family is sceptical of his intentions but they have no other options but to trust in him. We are taught that by turning your back on God will lead to misfortune. This is also true for the Corleone family because turning your back on the Godfather will most likely lead to your death.

If one reads deeply between the drugs, extortion, and murders associated with the Godfather's role, there are most definitely religious parallelisms between the Godfather and God. Although the actions of the mafia are in no way acceptable by God's standards, the hierarchy system and leadership role are unquestionably similar.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Historical Accuracy

Eight year old Bruno lives a wealthy lifestyle in Berlin along with his mother, older sister, and his father who is an SS officer. The family has to relocate to the countryside when his father is promoted and is assigned to take command of a prison camp. From his bedroom window, Bruno sees a barbed wire fence with people wearing what he calls "striped pajamas". Although Bruno thinks it is a farm, it is actually a concentration camp with Jewish people in their camp clothing. Bruno is forbidden to go there, because according to his father, "they're not really people". Eventually he ventures out beyond the backyard, and arrives at a barbed wire fence. Here he finds a young boy named Shmuel who is the same age as him. Although they are separated by an electrified fence the two boys develop a friendship. As the boys grow closer, Bruno learns they are separated by more than a fence but by their differing status’ in society. As Bruno spends more time with Shmuel he becomes awakened to the horrors unfolding all around them. When Bruno's father announces that the young boy and his mother will be going to live with their aunt, Bruno grabs a shovel and makes one last trip to the camp, setting into play a tragic sequence of events

There are many themes in the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” but one of the main themes I noticed was “lines may divide us, but hope unites us”. Bruno and Shmuel were physically separated by a fence, but they were also separated by lines that were much tougher to break through. These are the lines drawn by the Nazis who separated Jewish people from the rest of society and took away their human rights. Shmuel and Bruno’s innocence and hope allowed them to step over these lines and unite as they developed a strong friendship despite the separation created between them.

This film is historically accurate to a certain degree, but there are a few evident inaccuracies. For example the characters in the movie speak English and have British accents, which is incorrect as the movie is set in Germany. Also, it would have been impossible for Shmuel and Bruno to have developed a relationship because children sent to camps were immediately killed as they were not old enough to work. At the end of the movie, Bruno easily sneaks into the camp to help Shmuel find his father. In real life, it would have been next to impossible to sneak into the heavily guarded camp.

By watching this film one can not expect to learn completely accurate information on the Holocaust or Germany during WW2. Although this film has a measure of historical accuracy, the story is meant to be a fable rather than a historically accurate piece. The main reason I liked this film was because it gave a unique perspective on the Holocaust. It was unique because it was through the eyes of a young boy who had a innocent and naive view on the events of the Holocaust. I would not suggest this movie as a tool to teach about the Holocaust but I would recommend it as a good movie to watch for enjoyment because it is very entertaining, suspenseful, dramatic, and a bit of a tear jerker.

Mean Girls - "She Doesn't Even Go Here!"

Being raised and home-schooled in the African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron is naive to the pressure and expectation of a high school student. When the home-schooled 16-year old enters public high school for the first time she struggles to find her place between jocks, mathletes, art freaks, etc. Although many different cliques exist at the school, Regina George is the ‘queen bee’ of The Plastics, the most influential clique at the school. Cady, with the influence of her new friends Damien and Janis, infiltrate The Plastics. In an effort to sabotage Regina’s social status Cady can't help but for her actions, words and appearance to all be influenced by Regina and The Plastics. In the 'catty' girl world there are many lessons to be learned but also many hilarious moments and quotes for the viewer.

Many people may not realize this, but the movie Mean Girls is actually based off of the book Queen Bees & Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. This book is actually a self-help book that focuses on the ways in which girls in high schools form cliques, and on patterns of aggressive teen girl behavior and how to deal with them. Tina Fey wrote and co-stared in the film and while writing it based much of the movie from both her experience in high school and the content of this non-fiction book. I love the writing of this movie- it has such a smart sense of humour! I have many favorite quotes but one of my favorites is: "Laura, I don't hate your because you're fat. You're fat because I hate you." I also enjoy the emotional girl who wants to bake a cake full of "rainbows and flowers."

The best part about Mean Girls is how accurate it is to a real life high school; the similarities to a girl's high school experience and the movie are almost endless. You may not notice segregation into groups at a smaller school, but at a large school you can easily identify many of the same cliques mentioned throughout the movie. I found it especially funny when Regina George got hit by the school bus because I've almost been hit by a school bus on several occasions. The back stabbing, name calling and three-way calling attacks are all real-life methods which girls all over the world use to hurt each other.

This movie was extremely well cast with each actor bringing something special and unique to their role. I honestly like all of the characters because I feel you can learn a meaningful lesson from each of them. In a lot of ways my favorite character was the antagonist, Regina George. Unlike all of the other girls, Regina realized she was a mean girl and did not pretend like she wasn't. She did more than her share of back-stabbing and name calling but I like her because she accepted the fact that she was mean. It was not until the end of the film that the protagonist, Cady, accepted the fact that she was being a bad person as well. She acted like she was being victimized which she was; but every girl in the film was victimized in one way or another.

The best way to learn in life is to experience it first hand. But perhaps you can save yourself some pain by watching Mean Girls and learning from the character's many mistakes. This movie is an entertaining comedy but also teaches useful life lessons that you don't want to learn the hard way. I give this movie a 10 out of 10!

A Disney Classic - Bambi

The Disney animated story, Bambi, follows the life of a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. This movie has been a classic tale for many generations passed and certainly several generations to come. Although kids these days are becoming progressively stranger and only watch over stimulating movies with such titles as Sunny with a Chance of Meatballs- I haven't seen the movie but the title leads me to believe that it is not nearly as meaningful as Bambi. Throughout his life, Bambi makes friends with many different animals in the forest; more specifically a rabbit named Thumper and skunk named Flower. The most memorable part of the entire film is without a doubt the death of Bambi's mother which was really the only scene I could remember from my childhood. As Bambi matures he finds love with the beautiful doe Faline, and experiences heroism when he saves his woodland friends from a vicious forest fire.

Unlike the African scenery of The Lion King, I was able to relate to Bambi because the nature scenery and animals are nearly identical to the rural Saskatchewan area I've grown up in. This strong reliability also made the movie have a stronger impact on me as a child. Growing up I associated any white-spotted baby deer as being Bambi.

The antagonist in this animation is no doubt man as the hunters carelessly move through the forest destroying everything in their path and dangerously shooting at every animal in sight. I did not like this inaccurate portrayal of hunters but I suppose it was necessary in order for children to associate the hunters with evil. As a child I always hated that my dad was a hunter. I think was largely due to my imagination which related Bambi's story to real life.


A child's worst fear is that of losing a parent which is why the death of Bambi is such a fearful scene for many children. I read an article where a psychologist preached that children under the age of 7 should not be allowed to view Bambi as it is far to traumatizing. As a child I was not over-censored by my parents which is something that I am very grateful for. It is important for children to understand that nature is cruel and the circle of life is inevitable. Sadness for the death of any living thing is unstoppable and necessary but it is important for children to develop the ability to understand that death is a part of life. Disney films do not hide these themes from children which is why I think they are a great source of entertainment but also a crucial step in child development.

This is a classic movie that can be enjoyed in both childhood and adulthood. Bambi addresses many sensitive themes that are crucial for child development. If you haven't seen this movie than you should probably question your childhood.

Everyone knows that when Adam Sandler is starring in a movie it is definitely worthy of your time and Billy Madison is no exception to this standard. Billy Madison is a classic cult favorite that follows the pursuit of a young man, Billy, who is trying to prove to his father that he is not an idiot so he can take over the family company. In order to this, Billy goes back to school and goes through the grades K-12- this journey, of course, is very comedic.

Billy Madison is the source of many extremely funny quotes that you will hear me say repeatedly throughout the day. Some of my favorite quotes include: "If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis," said by a hilarious old lady who I wish was my grandma. If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering: Who's Miles Davis? Well apparently, he is an influential jazz musician who was popular in the 20th century. Another of my favorite scenes is Billy's conflict between which is "better" shampoo or conditioner. I won't even bother explaining the scene to you- you just have to see for yourself!

After thinking about it, I realized Billy Madison teaches a good theme but in a corrupt way. Billy has spent his entire life reaping the benefits of his father's hotel chain. He spends his days drinking with friends and creating disturbances across his father's estate. Billy is then forced to turn his life around by working hard for 13 weeks. These weeks of hard work allowed him to graduate from high school, get an acceptance to college, date a hot chick, and save his father's business from being passed to the antagonist, Carl. Realistically, you can't just slack of your entire life and except a fairy tale ending. That being said, it isn't reality- it's a movie. Despite this one critique, I love the movie and Adam Sandler's role as Billy. It is pretty hard not to root for the underdog!

In At the Movies, Siskel and Ebert gave the film a very bad review, and said of Sandler "...Not an attractive screen presence, he might have a career as a villain or a fall guy or the butt of a joke, but as the protagonist his problem is he creates the fingernails on the blackboard". To that I say, has neither Siskel or Ebert taken a look at their own reflection? Both of them are much further from being an "attractive screen presence" than Adam Sandler. My opinion on Billy Madison is exactly opposite; it is a must see classic film filled with hilarious quotes that will keep you laughing for days.

Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove is a 1964 black comedy that satirized the nuclear scare during the cold war. The movie deals with a General (Jack D. Ripper) who goes insane and launches a nuclear attack on Russia believing that the US will have to commit to a nuclear war to avoid being wiped out. However, the Americans are unable to recall the bombers and are searching for the code to stop them. The Americans are then informed of a Doomsday Machine created by the Russians that has the potential to destroy all life on Earth and will detonate if and when any attack on Russia is made. Believe it or not, this is a problem.

For those of you who do not know exactly what 'satire' means it is a use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. I think this is a very effective form of humour, however, it a style of comedy more directed towards educated people. If you don't understand the cold war and the nuclear era, you will not catch onto many of the jokes. So, to sum it up simply- if you are stupid and have a slapstick sense of humour just don't watch this movie.

I thought the acting by Peter Sellers was amazing as he tackled three separate roles: the U.S. President, Colonel Mandrake and Dr. Strangelove. I think Peter Sellers deserved to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role! My favorite line in the entire movie is "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room," said by the U.S. President. Apparently I'm not the only one who found this funny as it is ranked #64 on the AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb not only wins the award for the longest movie title ever but was also nominated for four Academy Awards. These nominations include Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. It has also been recognized by the American Film Institute rankings of #26 Top 100 Movies, and #3 100 Laughs.