Newspapers / Montreat College Student Newspaper / Sept. 27, 2010, edition 1 / Page 5
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Islamophobic? Note: The Whetstone staff IS not responsible for any of the opinions expressed within this article. Over the past few weeks a controversy has been raging all across America about Imam Abdul Feisal Rauf’s plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. This controversy involves ev eryone from Glenn Beck to Barack Obama, and while everyone agrees that Muslims have the right to build a mosque ‘n that location, the big question is whether or not this is the right thing to do. In response to this controvetsy. Time magazine published an article m this month’s issue titled Is America Islamophobic? In the article it talks about how all over the nation there have been objec tions to Muslims build ing mosques in cities H©W to Tirslijtii Lucas Smith When I first saw the trailer for How to Train your Dragon I was Jeptical. It looked liked your average kids film, boy, was I wrong—this 'bov.e was amazing, tie ;oice acting and mlsic 3^0 great, and the story surprisingly deep. ^ j P'°oe, including ming they love abo like Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. The article also quotes people like Franklin Graham who says that Islam is “a religion of hatred. It’s a religion of war.” Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich is men tioned since he associ ates Islam with Nazism. The article finally ends with a series ofpolls conducted by Time, including one that says 46% of Americans be lieve that Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence against nonbelievers while 6% believe that it is less likely. So is America Islamo- phobic? The answer is a definite yes and with good reason. With the 9th anniversary of 9/11 just past the attacks that took place on that day are still fresh on our mind, plus we are still at war against Al-Qaeda yoiar Dragon Review i-U* ri ^ ‘'JVC aDOUt keenly draw back IS that It can vet a •mk intense and scar>^ « Pomts, so I would "lm r°"'mend taking cmldren under the age^ or SIX Or seven ° film follows a rhl T '‘"like fie other Vikings, is whenever they attack. One day, he builds a contraption to shoot dragons out of the sky and as luck would have it, it works. After see ing the injured dragon he takes ciown, he has a change of heart and sets it tree. Thus a new friendship begins. Not to spoil anything, but this is one of the few movies that made me cry. The voice work was phenomenal. Hiccup and his father (voiced by Jay Baruchel and Gerard Butler respectively) are both great. With Hic cup, you get the feeling that he’s an out of the ordinary and not re spected young man who wants to make a name for himself Although he has minimal lines. in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also, a Muslim gunman killed 12 soldiers in Fort Hood, Texas, in a shoo tout that took place in November of last year, and in May of this year another Muslim tried to blow up a car in Times Square. So if Americans start thinking that their president is Muslim or if we protest the build ing of a Muslim place ofworship near me area where 3,000 people were killed by Muslim kamikaze pilots, it’s not because we’re rac ist; we’re just scared because radical Islam is a threat to our country right now. Also you may never know what may happen next—the build ing of a mosque near Ground Zero could be the beginning of things. We could soon find minarettes built on top of the Capitol, or one day a flag with the moon Outlet shows he has a knack for a more serious role. America Ferrera voices the love interest Astrid. She is portrayed as a tough character who wants to be the best, and Ferrera does a really good job of it. The comic relief is done very well, and Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz- Plasse/McLovin) and the fraternal twins Tuffnut and RufFnut (TJ Miller and Kristen Wig respec tively) never overstay their welcome. The hu mor is mostly physical, which works well in the Viking setting. Every one will laugh during this movie. The CGI and camera work were phenomenal, especially in 3D. I m mostly against 3D in and a star on it could be flying on the White House, or the Supreme Court could decide to rewrite the Constitu tion to correspond with Sharia Law. But this isn’t the first time that America has been scared of a certain group of people. We were like this during World War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and we declared war on the country. For the sake of security during the war FDR signed an Executive Order in 1942 which put Japanese Americans in internment camps. Whether or not that was the right thing to do is another issue, but after we defeated the Japanese and we no longer felt the Japanese were a threat we let them go and now we are on friendlier terms. However, after World War II ended we films, but the flying se quences (along with the accompanying music) were breathtalung. At one point. Toothless, the aragon, narrowly escapes a crash by pull ing sharply up. ’^en he pulls up, you can actu ally see the wind trailing behind his wings. The 3D was used to great effect and was not the gimmicky “throw stuff at the screen” type. It made you feel immersed in the universe. During one of the flying se quences, Toothless glides across the water and it “splashes” you. It’s hard to explain, but it was a great immersive experi ence. One of the movies strongest points was the music. John Powell has crafted an amaz- were faced with another threat in the form of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. So as we had done with the Japanese we began looking out for Communists in the US and a certain Sena tor named Joseph Mc Carthy began rooting out Communists in the government. We also tried our best to stop the spread of Communism in other areas which sparked the Korean and Viemam wars—which we failed at. As soon as the Soviet Union col lapsed in 1991 we no longer thought of Com munism as a threat, however. Now our current president has surrounded himself with them and may or may not be one himself My point with this history lesson is that our Islam- ophobia is temporary and will soon end. ing score. The music that plays during the above mentioned fly ing sequences is some of the best I have heard in ages. It really makes you believe you’re flying, too. He uses a smart mix of various Scottish instru ments along with more traditional instruments to immerse you in the movie. How to Train your Dragon will be released on Bluray Disc and DVD on October 15th, 2010. Unfortunately, there are no plans at this time for a 3D Bluray/DVD release. Despite this, I highly recommend you buy this movie. It’s one of Dreamwork’s best mov ies in a long time. I September 27, 2010 [Pag,
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