Shazam! (2019)
I remember watching a cartoon series on Malaysian TV in the 70s of a character who would shout something like 'Shazam!' for the person to gain magical powers. It involved the Arabic landscape, camels and all. So, when I agreed to watch this movie, I thought it was that one. Hold behold, I was totally wrong on that account. My memory had played tricks on me. It was Shazzan, not Shazam!
Apparently, there is a DC hero who has been around since the 1940s and initially came with the name Captain Marvel. His franchise was doing so well that even a feature film came out. Then came the copyright infringement suits and everything went south.
Captain Marvel was rebranded as 'Shazam!'. 'Shazam' is the acronym of mythical figures - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury. Shazam is said to embody the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus to initiate the lightning, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.
Of late, many superheroes have been the broody and contemplative type. There was Batman with the burden of his checkered past above his head all the time. Then, there was Spiderman whose grandfather's death and his relationship with Mary Jane forever plagued his every decision of his life. For a change, this superhero, Shazam, is a light-hearted chap with a mind and wit of a 14-year-old boy who is more interested in showing off his superpowers than thinking about the problems of the world.
The film is a guided express course in learning about Greek Gods and an introduction to Christian theology, particularly, the seven cardinal - pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
So who says, cartoons and superhero are for children and does not stimulate the mind. Knowledge is everywhere, and it is for us to scoop.
The 14-year-old protagonist, Bill Batson, a troubled teenager who has been going from one foster home to another is one day jostled into a strange world. He is suddenly given great powers by a wizard and is tasked to save the realm from a madman, Dr Thad Sivanna. In the course of his duty, Bill discovers some unsavoury truths about his biological mother and learns that family is where one shares love and goes through the thick and thin with you.
And that is the final learning point of this film. We need not have DNA similarities to call ourselves siblings or relatives. We do not require the sharing of a common gene pool to feel for one another. We are all connected by the common goal of survival and traversing the same journey of life. Biological connexions are mere freak accidents of Nature. If not for that one in the billionth chance of hope, we would have been existing in the first place. Let us look at all as brothers and sisters and come together right now.
I remember watching a cartoon series on Malaysian TV in the 70s of a character who would shout something like 'Shazam!' for the person to gain magical powers. It involved the Arabic landscape, camels and all. So, when I agreed to watch this movie, I thought it was that one. Hold behold, I was totally wrong on that account. My memory had played tricks on me. It was Shazzan, not Shazam!
Apparently, there is a DC hero who has been around since the 1940s and initially came with the name Captain Marvel. His franchise was doing so well that even a feature film came out. Then came the copyright infringement suits and everything went south.
Captain Marvel was rebranded as 'Shazam!'. 'Shazam' is the acronym of mythical figures - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury. Shazam is said to embody the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus to initiate the lightning, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.
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| Shazzan
Cartoon series in the 70s, set
in a mysterious Arabic land.
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The film is a guided express course in learning about Greek Gods and an introduction to Christian theology, particularly, the seven cardinal - pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
So who says, cartoons and superhero are for children and does not stimulate the mind. Knowledge is everywhere, and it is for us to scoop.
The 14-year-old protagonist, Bill Batson, a troubled teenager who has been going from one foster home to another is one day jostled into a strange world. He is suddenly given great powers by a wizard and is tasked to save the realm from a madman, Dr Thad Sivanna. In the course of his duty, Bill discovers some unsavoury truths about his biological mother and learns that family is where one shares love and goes through the thick and thin with you.
And that is the final learning point of this film. We need not have DNA similarities to call ourselves siblings or relatives. We do not require the sharing of a common gene pool to feel for one another. We are all connected by the common goal of survival and traversing the same journey of life. Biological connexions are mere freak accidents of Nature. If not for that one in the billionth chance of hope, we would have been existing in the first place. Let us look at all as brothers and sisters and come together right now.
