Why I Like "National Treasure"
I'm still trying to figure out why I liked the film "National
Treasure" so much. I confess to multiple viewings. I've decided it's
because even a brief brush with some of our real history is such a
welcome thing in a film these days. Spoilers within (i.e., don't read
if you haven't seen the film and want to without knowing more about
it.)
I mean, someone actually did research. Homework. And of all the lines
to quote from the declaration, how wonderful that in this era of
"you're either for us or against us" the writers chose this particular
part: "when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such Government." That's a lot more relevant than the oft repeated, if
not oft practiced, "all men are created equal."
I have a genuine love for the Charters of Freedom - the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. Some great thought
went into those documents. I would have loved to converse with Ben
Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and other men of wisdom and
foresight who set us on a course for a great adventure. That we have
strayed from that course is not their fault.
And then there are the locations. The Library of Congress! The
National Archives! Independence Hall! I feel like a kid on a field
trip every time I see those images. I can see why reviewers, a pretty
cynical bunch, weren't exactly carried away. But for this history and
travel lover, it's a fun trip!
The film also just has some great moments. There are several laugh out
loud funny lines (as people who have sat next to me in theaters can
uncomfortably atest). After (I'm too embarrassed to say how many)
viewings, I still laugh at most of them. There's a wonderful
confluence of writing, acting, timing, direction, and editing that
just makes this a crisp and professionally entertaining experience.
There's the relationship between the father and son, with the son as
the romantic and the father the realist who couldn't stop piping up
about how the clues would only lead to more clues, leading nowhere,
ruining his life. There was the hint of what's sadly now considered
"old fashioned" morality, i.e., if you've told more than one person in
your life that you loved them, you've been "a little too cavalier with
your personal life." Hey, guilty as charged, but I still appreciate
and respect the sentiment!
I never noticed there was a clock on the back of the $100 bill. Of
course, I don't typically carry them around, so no wonder. But it was
cool to have that pointed out. And since childhood I've been
fascinated with the Great Seal of the United States and all the hidden
intricacies of the design.
And of course, the thought of stealing something from the National
Archives has of course crossed my mind. I mean, who wouldn't want to
see the secret CIA files on the Kennedy assassinations? It was fun to
live that out vicariously. Of course I WOULD NEVER DO IT, CIA, NSA,
FBI, HOMELAND SECURITY and the rest. STOP BUGGING MY PHONE.
When the woman in the film exclaimed with deep reverence, "scrolls
from the library at Alexandria! Could this be possible?" The kid in me
cried, "YES!" What I wouldn't give to have seen and touched some of
the treasures of the past. I grew up with books about the Seven
Wonders of the World - the hanging gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of
Rhodes, and the rest. But the library at Alexandria! What knowledge
was lost to the world when that was destroyed?
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