Comics, TV Series, and Endings

Growing up I was a comic book geek. Spiderman, X-Men, Justice League, Batman, Superman, Captain America, etc. I wasn't even one of those cool comic book people who looked for independent titles either. Mainstream superhero books all the way. This continued into college and eventually I did get into some First comics like Jon Sable Freelance and American Flagg (there's a great quote about truth from GrimJack that I need to share sometime). I stopped buying comics in part due to the typical college reason for giving something up - beer money was more important.

But another factor was that comics were becoming soap operas. Which is to say there were these long drawn out story lines where nothing happened for a year. One of the appeals of comics had been you could get a story in a couple of issues at most. I picked them up again several years ago spurred by the death of Superman storyline, but the situation had only gotten worse.

These never ending stories, it seems, are an infectious disease. Look at a number of TV series today (case in point: Lost). Good series with great concepts, but in an attempt to hold on to viewers, they drag the plots out and don't resolve anything. On the surface, this may seem good because you keep drawing people back. But I think it backfires, sometimes sooner and sometimes later but it almost always backfires.

I think this is one reason crime dramas like Law and Order and CSI are so popular today. In general, while there are some backstories, the main plot of an episode is resolved that episode. One of the reasons that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold so well is that it was the end of that story. I love short stories because in a single sitting you can get to the ending. Which is not to say that I don't like grand epics, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, where you can have more characters and plot development. So, Stephen King not withstanding (eventually, if the Lord wills that I should live, I will get around to The Dark Tower), I'm convinced that most people like stories with endings.

The greatest story ever told has one. For some at least it is even a fairy tale ending - they lived happily ever after. If God, who I would argue is the greatest story-teller, has chosen to tell us the ending of the story of the universe in Revelation, then longing to know and arriving at an ending is not a bad thing.

Which is not to say the journey is unimportant. The journey is very significant because in some sense the journey is the story. Endings do not make sense apart from the story. Jesus in Revelation is the Lion and the Lamb. Try to make sense of that ending without Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, the Gospels, etc.

Sometimes with cliffhangers writers are too clever for their own good. Or they allow the people with the money to make too many decisions. Because stories without endings are not stories. God pronounces a blessing on those who read and hear the ending of His story. May that be each of us.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is the fifth movie in the series, and is the first movie since the full return of Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If somehow you missed GoF, both the book and the movie, then you should know that it is the book where the series begins to take on a darker tone. The movies (especially, but even the books) are not for younger children. Parents are responsible for defining what "younger" is, but I would think no less than a teenager.

As the movie begins, Harry is having a run in with Dudley and some of Dudley's "friends." One could easily get the impression that Dudley's friends are like Voldemort's friends, merely partners in crime. Dementors show up and attack the two boys, and Harry is forced to defend them with his patronus (the dementors are one reason this movie is not appropriate for younger viewers - they are well done and could easily cause nightmares).

This leads Harry to be expelled from Hogwarts, to meet the Order of the Phoenix - Dumbledore's cadre to oppose Voldemort, and to undergo a trial at the Ministry of Magic. Through this Harry learns that the ministry is denying Voldemort's return and suspects Dumbledore of plotting to overtake the ministry. What follows is perhaps Harry's most difficult year at Hogwarts. Even many of his fellow Gryffindor's suspect him of lying about Voldemort.

Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint once again portray Harry, Hermione, and Ron with faithfulness to the books presentation of the characters. Ralph Fiennes and Jason Isaacs play Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy with the proper amount of malice and terror. Imelda Staunton's Dolores Umbridge reminded me of a cross between the worst traits of two of my grade school teachers, which nearly gave me nightmares.

This movie is a good addition to the series. While probably not the best in the series, it is a definite "see at the theater" movie.