Napoleon Blown Apart

Napoleon Dynamite shows us how to become genuinely human, consistent with the moral anthropology of Christianity, according to Berry College professor Michael E. Bailey.

The point of the movie seems to be this: “Flying solo,” that is, the individualistic pursuit of one’s own happiness apart from the good of others, culminates in misery, and the only way to grow as a human, or even to become human, is through a thick community of support, responsibility, and love. Playing by oneself, as Napoleon is wont to do at the tetherball pole, is unrewarding and pitiful.

To read all of Napoleon Blown Apart, click here. Then, please join the discussion by clicking on the comments link below.

Comments

[Mike]

"Pedro offers you his protection."

[Alyssa]

Yes, but do the chickens have talons?

[Margaret]

Great critique, Bailey nails it.

Doubtless it's this yearning and comic fulfillment that make the movie more than the sum of its parts. ND is immensely likeable at first, but on third viewing, the woodenness and lack of plot grow stale.

[Terri]

Never grows stale for us--The review fleshes out why I like it so much. Couldn't quite put my finger on it--gosh!!!!Like "Pride and Prejudice"-Napoleon's lines are a permanent part of our family's conversations.

[Scott Sealy]

I loved Napoleon Dynamite. I was glad to see someone pull out some of the movies message about community and friendship.

The names had always stood out to me. Napoleon: the King, (even a fisher King? "delicious bass") a boy becoming a man, trying with false mentors (the Karate instructor) but coming to his own through his friendship with Pedro: Peter: Church?

Has that gone too far?

[Doug]

Bailey makes some interesting insights, but unfortanately, sees things that simply are not there. For example, he says that the doll being dragged on the road by a string represents Napoleon as one who "for the greater part of his life, he has been strung and bounced along the road of life face down in the dirt." Actually, if you listen to the commentary track, the writer says that scene was simply a recreation of what he and his brother used to do on the way to school- like much of the rest of the movie.

[Stuart Koehl]

>>>Actually, if you listen to the commentary track, the writer says that scene was simply a recreation of what he and his brother used to do on the way to school- like much of the rest of the movie.<<<

It is often so with creative artists--they include things in their work drawn from their own lives for no other reason than it was part of their lives, but in actuality the character, event or object becomes endowed with meaning beyond that which the artist intended. That is the glory of art, and an example of how the Holy Spirit inspires, perhaps without us even knowing it.

To take one minor example: the character of Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings was originally a ceramic doll owned by the Tolkien children, about whom Tolkien would make up fanciful stories. There was no reason to include him in Fellowship of the Ring, but by so doing, Tolkien "accidentally" endowed the character with a significance within the story he did not originally intend, and the character himself with deep symbolic meaning. It was for reasons such as this that Tolkien, looking back, could say, "[Lord of the Rings] actually wrote itself".

[Ludovic]

Curt - We had such a great time with you, Magnus! This picture is utiueafbl and we can't wait to see the others after you've done your magic. Great work as always!

[Ekta]

nell ultima iimagmne c il buon richard in versione zombie quanti ricordi povero richard dopo 10 anni e + ancora ridotto cos ,cmq sembra che gli eventi siano quantomeno simili a re 2 che nn sarebbe un male nn escludo a priori d prenderlo ma nn sono affatto contento che sia su binari,anche io preferivo il rebirth del 2 e nn con grafica ps2,vero wesker? se possono fare questa d grafica perch accontentarsi di quella ps2,direi basta rotaie e basta ps2ps ma densha de go che ha ragion d essere su binari nn lo fanno pal solo ntsc?