Keskustelujen arkisto

Lengthy off topic ramblings, delete now if not interested:

At 11:40 PM +0100 12/13/04, P. Breijer wrote:
>Since you are a mason what would you say is the general opinion among masons
>about the use of your organization in such movies as National Treasure and
>Don Rosa stories, Don Rosa stories don't actually mention Masons but it
>mentions the Knights Templar which is related to Masonry, And the movie
>Really doesn't say anything negative about Masons

Well, firstly, I haven't seen "National Treasure" yet. I figure I'll
wait until it's on DVD. As far as "general opinion" goes, there are
probably as many opinions as there are masons. I can not speak for
all of them. Here in the U.S., masonry is really more of a
combination
gentleman's-social-club/dinner-club/fraternal-organization/charity-fund
more than anything else. Sort of like boy scouts for grownups. It's
not "my organization" as much as it is an organization of which I am
a member.

So the question is sort of like, "what do real archaeologists think
of Indiana Jones?" Some might think it's really neat bececause the
movies are fun and exciting and popularize archaeology - others might
hate the movies because they present archaeology in a completely
innacurate light and show countless artifacts being destroyed through
negligence and wanton stupidity. Real archaeology is much more
boring. And some might have no opinion at all, because the movies
aren't relevent to real archaeology, and they need to get back to
brushing sand off those stones.

I can only offer my own opinion, not that of "all masons." I don't
think there's any sort of consensus. Personally, I think that
National Treasure will be great fun, I like Don Rosa's stories
(naturally) and although I enjoy the sort of speculation found in
books like "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and I also like the whole myth
about the tie-in with the Templars, I take it for what it is - fun.
As far as I've been able to discover, Freemasonry really started in
the 1700s as a fraternal organization, constructed whole cloth with
an eye towards mirroring the mystery schools of the ancient greeks
and romans. But I know other masons who love and buy into all those
popular urban legends, right down to the "seal on the back of the
dollar bill" tale. (Which, for the record, is also historically
false.) You'll be better off finding a more accurate portrayal of
Freemasonry in an old episode of the Honeymooners or the Flintstones.

I would venture to speculate, however, that most masons would
probably be frustrated and just shake their heads at something like
the "From Hell" movie, which presents masonry in a completely false
and negative light, assigning all sorts of dark magic symbols and
conspiracies, and presenting it as a secret, underground society.

Like most things, the fiction is more exciting for some than the
reality. But if some of these people or writers (are writers
people?) bothered to actually go to a library and open a book, they
would discover some of the true incredible history and symbolism in
masonry and wouldn't have to make up their own.

(BTW, Don, if you ever decide to incorporate Freemasonry into a
story, feel free to contact me and I can put you in touch with one of
the most knowledgable sources on Masonic and general Fraternal
history in the U.S. He knows about *all* of them, even the most
obscure and forgotten ones. How many people know that there was once
a Fraternal organization based on the "Ben-Hur" novel? Some
insurance company bought the "fraternal organization" rights to the
book and started it. One of the degrees was a full-blown
re-enactment of the chariot race.)

- M

bonvulu respondi pri anasoj

MARK WROTE:

> As much as I like Don Rosa, knowing the way Hollywood thinks,
> I would propose that it's much more likely that "National
> Treasure" was inspired by the enormous popularity of "The
> DaVinci Code" novel.

AND I RESPOND:

According to Roger Ebert's Movie Answer Man column this doesn't appear
to be the case:

*** From the November 28, 2004 column ***

Q. You imply in your review of "National Treasure" that it was a ripoff
of The Da Vinci Code. But "National Treasure" has been in development
since 1999, a good four years before Brown's book was published. So what
is the true ripoff?

Jack Brown, Grand Rapids, Mich.

A. Stories with similar themes often come up simultaneously in
Hollywood, although by the time "National Treasure" was finally filming
The Da Vinci Code was certainly a best-seller. Mainstream historians
agree that both stories are balderdash, but I have received more than
200 emails accounting for the differences between the two movies, most
of them convinced that one or the other, or both, are based on truth.

For example, Carmen M. Rodero-Scardelis of Redmond, Wash., whose husband
is a 32nd degree Master Mason, writes: "There have to be similarities
between The Da Vinci Code and 'National Treasure,' as both of them are
based on Freemason stories and the Knights Templar, whose stories are
centuries-old."

She recommends two books to me and continues, "There are many versions
of what the treasure was. The one that Dan Brown mentions is about Mary
Magdalene carrying Jesus' blood line and his descendents forming one of
the royal lines of Europe. A totally different involves the physical
treasures as mentioned in the 'National Treasure' movie, and perhaps the
most credible one is that the Knights Templar found some secret under
King Solomon's temple and used it to blackmail the Catholic Church for
many centuries, becoming the second richest organization in the world
until they were successfully persecuted by king and pope in the 1300s.

"It appears that you are taking Brown's book as an invention of his
imagination, when in reality, it is based on one of the theories about
the Knights Templar -- a completely different one than 'National
Treasure' is based on."

*** End of quote ***

So it appears that Don's LETTER FROM HOME tale, NATIONAL TREASURE, THE
DaVINCI CODE, Kipling's THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, and countless other
fictional accounts of Masonic and Templar treasure hunts have a common
bond, but none of them are consciously borrowing from each other.
They're all simply capitalizing on popular legends that are at least
many decades (if not centuries) old.

Dan

Dan:

> ...and countless other
> fictional accounts of Masonic and Templar treasure hunts...

And Sean Connery got to be in at least two of them, your aforesaid THE
MAN WHO WOULD BE KING and also INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, both
of which well predate NATIONAL TREASURE - and are vastly superior
films.

Anyway, the way I see it, Scrooge does belong to the Disney universe
equivalent of the freemasons. There would be no such thing as the
Duckburg Billionaires Club without such underpinnings to keep the
gargantuan egos of the members (barely) in check.

Gary

For those that have not seen the Walt Disney Treasures Wave 4 Mickey Mouse DVD, you may be interested to know that a Gottfredson Mickey Mouse comic strip reprint of "Rumplewatt the Giant" is included. Although only a bonus feature, it makes it quite worthwhile for Mickey comics enthusiasts.

If Steven Geppi's Gemstone comics has the rights or can expand the rights to publish the Disney comics on DVD's it opens up new possibilities. Compilations of Gottfredson stories or the Carl Barks Library could be produced on DVD's. Printing cost would be minimal if their file copies could be scanned, and they would not have distribution expenses if the copies were only sold via the internet. The amount of DVD's to be made could match only that near to the demand since "print runs" could be easily repeated. Although Disney comics began in 1930, new technologies could now greatly extend the means for all these comic treasures to reach everyone.
Marvin Winitz

Marvin wrote:

> Compilations of Gottfredson stories or the Carl Barks Library could
> be produced on DVD's.
> Printing cost would be minimal if their file copies could be
> scanned, and they would not have distribution expenses if the
> copies were only sold via the internet. The amount of DVD's
> to be made could match only that near to the demand since
> "print runs" could be easily repeated.

Marvel Comics recently released a set of CD-ROMs containing the first
500 (!) issues of the Amazing Spider-Man, scanned directly from the
original first printings:

http://www.dcml-talk.org/read.php?f=1&i=241&t=241

Cord

Hi all,
The idea about restoring comics on dvds sounds pretty good.As echnology strips away old pieces.
The Complete Pluto Volume 1 it "Pluto on Paper" houses 8 full Pluto comics, which are masterfully designed so that you can follow along with the comic frame-by-frame at a full size large enough to read. You can also move to any individual frame from the comic at the start. In addition to the comics, there are 9 Pluto book and magazine covers in this section. If thats the way Steve Geppi does it the quality might be pretty good for restoring Carl Barks and Floyd Gottferdson.The way is much better the Chronological Donald 1 where u couldnt stop at one panel it was a bit irritating. About the memory Disney is working w/ Sony making Blu Ray discs which can hold up to alot of memory the link is here.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4081327.stm
Heres another one showing about a Carl Barks Museum in The Klamath County Museum has made a magnificent and dignified display commemorating the county's greatest son, who went on to be one of the world's greatest Storytellers.Go to http://www.cbarks.dk/theexhibition.htm. Could any of u please tell me any places in Frankfurt that sell Disney Comics or comic book calenders Don Rosa et Carl Barks. It would be a big help.
Bye

Adel

Good Luck

Olaf Solstrand wrote:

> I changed it back to what it was before someone added this information
> (simply that according to Barks and his successors, Magica _lives_ on
> the slopes of the Vesuvius, next to Naples, Italy).

Actually, that should be: "According to Barks and many of his successors
[...]"

I've never heard of Magica being born in 1908, let alone dying in 2004.

Lars