X-Message-Number: 22458
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 03:47:19 -0700
From: James Swayze <>
Subject: Hollywood finally getting it?

I watched a movie last night but did not have time to get this in before 
the deadline so this will be a day after the fact. It was the sequel, 
sort of, same actors but different characters, to "A Fish Called Wanda". 
It starred Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Clease and Michael Palin 
and it's called "Fierce Animals". It's kind of dumb but not too bad a 
waste of two hours time as dumb movies go.

The plot centers around John Clease's character whom gets the job of 
trying to make a zoo more profitable and so he decides it can only keep 
"Fierce Animals" that draw more crowds. The zoo is owned by a corporate 
raider type played by Kevin Kline, as the raider and as his son. They 
have a dysfunctional relationship with the son always trying to please 
the dad and dad never caring.

Through all the hijinks there came a scene where Kline's son of raider 
character is arguing with dad about money and the subject of the old 
man's will comes up whereupon the elder says in so many words he's not 
going away, he's going to be "cryogenically frozen until a cure for 
whatever killed him is found and the money will stay in trust until 
then" obviously preventing the son from obtaining his inheritance. 
Kline's son of raider character says with dismay, "You're going to be 
immortal?" This is the first part noticed and I liked for accuracy.

The last was when the old man is accidentally shot in the head by 
Michael Palin's character in a comical bumbling accident. Here's where 
it gets good. Everyone is arguing and Clease's character is berating 
Palin's and no one notices Kline dragging the body away. They discover 
this and are horrified, he's messing with a crime scene and all, and run 
after to find him stuffing dear old dad in the freezer. Puzzled they ask 
why and he says words to the effect of, "I have to cool him he's being 
cryogenically frozen until a cure." Here is where everyone, instead of 
saying "Oh that's bolix", or "ewww how gross" or any of a host of quips 
they could and say instead, "he's was shot in the head, there's no cure 
for that".

I was floored! Everyone in the scene just took for granted that had he 
died another way there'd have been a chance but not with such a 
horrendous head injury, or so the scene implies.

It would be very interesting to someday ask those stars what they felt 
about doing those scenes and had they ever considered the real 
possibility of "cryonics". Although the word cryonics was not used the 
context was always about the process as in "cryogenically frozen" and 
the dialogue never touched the area of the proper name for the practice. 
It is pleasing to see more accurate portrayals of what we believe 
finally coming from the movie industry.

James

-- 
Cryonics Institute of Michigan Member!
The Immortalist Society Member!
The Society for Venturism Member!

MY WEBSITE: http://www.geocities.com/~davidpascal/swayze/

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