Coccyx
At first I was annoyed by all of the Napoleon Dynamite merchandise, things like t-shirts reading "Vote for Pedro" and looseleaf adorning gray-line drawings of ligers and chimaras, but I got used to it. The posters, calendars, mugs, pins, halloween costumes, something called a super fun kit, an instuctional tape helping the true fan learn Napoleon's dance. I would laugh at these things, like the pair of socks I saw around Christmas time, but none of them really surprised me. It was just consumerism, marketing, product demand, etc.
That is...until I saw this.
Allow me to provide a writing sample:
Maybe it's morning and you're getting ready for school, or maybe, like Napoleon, you're on the way to somewhere. Perhaps, like Napoleon, if someone asked you what you were doing today, you'd be thrown off. Especially considering Napoleon only had one thing planned for his day: to give Mr. Action Figure a ride behind the school bus...Whatever you've got going on, you might be even more thrown off by someone asking you what you are going to do with your life. Do you have a plan?
If you don't have a plan for your life, or even if you do, pretty much the best place to find one is in the Word. And you might be surprised that God is not necessarily asking you to create a detailed trajectory. See, for example, Micah.
This is from the chapter, or 'piece', entitled "Whatever I Feel Like I Danna Do, Gosh!". There are 24 pieces all told(A "24-piece set", you know, like, nylon polymer?) and the book is Taming a Liger: Unexpected Spiritual Lessons from Napolean Dynamite, by Jeff Dunn and Adam Palmer. I like the use of the word 'unexpected'. Dunn and Palmer really summed it up for the reader. The book is filled with the unforseen.
Take for example, piece 2: 'But My Lips Hurt Real Bad!'
Napoleon just wants to go home early...He has chapped lips. And they hurt real bad...He just wants to go home...Let's pretend we have a working time machine...All the way to about 1400 BC, when the children of Israel had just escaped from their Egyptian enslavement. They were roaming around some wasteland, waiting for God to lead them into the Promised Land, their new home.
And then they start complaining.
The similarities are devastating, I know. Dunn and Palmer go on to teach a lesson about the life-hazards of complaining, ending, as every piece ends, with a quote from 'the Word':
Do everything readily and cheerfully - no bickering, no second-guessing allowed!
That is...until I saw this.
Allow me to provide a writing sample:
Maybe it's morning and you're getting ready for school, or maybe, like Napoleon, you're on the way to somewhere. Perhaps, like Napoleon, if someone asked you what you were doing today, you'd be thrown off. Especially considering Napoleon only had one thing planned for his day: to give Mr. Action Figure a ride behind the school bus...Whatever you've got going on, you might be even more thrown off by someone asking you what you are going to do with your life. Do you have a plan?
If you don't have a plan for your life, or even if you do, pretty much the best place to find one is in the Word. And you might be surprised that God is not necessarily asking you to create a detailed trajectory. See, for example, Micah.
This is from the chapter, or 'piece', entitled "Whatever I Feel Like I Danna Do, Gosh!". There are 24 pieces all told(A "24-piece set", you know, like, nylon polymer?) and the book is Taming a Liger: Unexpected Spiritual Lessons from Napolean Dynamite, by Jeff Dunn and Adam Palmer. I like the use of the word 'unexpected'. Dunn and Palmer really summed it up for the reader. The book is filled with the unforseen.
Take for example, piece 2: 'But My Lips Hurt Real Bad!'
Napoleon just wants to go home early...He has chapped lips. And they hurt real bad...He just wants to go home...Let's pretend we have a working time machine...All the way to about 1400 BC, when the children of Israel had just escaped from their Egyptian enslavement. They were roaming around some wasteland, waiting for God to lead them into the Promised Land, their new home.
And then they start complaining.
The similarities are devastating, I know. Dunn and Palmer go on to teach a lesson about the life-hazards of complaining, ending, as every piece ends, with a quote from 'the Word':
Do everything readily and cheerfully - no bickering, no second-guessing allowed!
-Phillipians 2:14
I still do not think that you get it.
Piece 3: Dang! You Got Shocks...Pegs...Lucky!
Lesson: Don't be materialistic or envious; laugh with your friends!
Piece 4: Worst Day of My Life, What Do You Think?
Lesson: Take a cue from Job, friends. God giveth and God taketh, but he's in control - not to worry. Lucky!
Peice 5: I said Come Down Here and See What Happens When You Try to Hit Me!
Lesson: To quote, "This is reality. It does not matter what our reflexes are like: God sees us all as cage fighters now." Dude, I have no idea.
Now, if you still do not get it, Dunn and Palmer are couth enough to provide a glossary, which is just before the recipe section. Find out the meaning of words like Bodaggit, Holy Santos, and Pegasus. My personal favorite is College: Where your mom goes. That is genius.
Which brings me to the section where I tell you what I think. The book is very close to being a work of genius. They know every quote, every funny line or action of the movie. Their transition from the movie to the bible lesson in each piece is like a magic trick, the kind you instantly understand but relish the simplicity. If only it was a complete farce, I would praise it up and down the river. But it's obviously not meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Dunn and Palmer could out-quote the most avid fan. They certainly know why this movie was such a success. What they do not see is the potential damage of the book. Reading into the movie is one thing, and one thing I do not recommend. Like trying to get at the plot or the denouement. You know, good luck, right? But reading into Napoleon Dynamite a Christian message? That could ruin it. I mean, I really like this movie man.
The book, or devotional (you know, devo?), ends with a list of discussion questions, one of which asks, "Which character in the movie comes the closest to reflecting the character of Christ?" I never thought of it before, but now that I've been asked, I would have to say, all of them.
Piece 3: Dang! You Got Shocks...Pegs...Lucky!
Lesson: Don't be materialistic or envious; laugh with your friends!
Piece 4: Worst Day of My Life, What Do You Think?
Lesson: Take a cue from Job, friends. God giveth and God taketh, but he's in control - not to worry. Lucky!
Peice 5: I said Come Down Here and See What Happens When You Try to Hit Me!
Lesson: To quote, "This is reality. It does not matter what our reflexes are like: God sees us all as cage fighters now." Dude, I have no idea.
Now, if you still do not get it, Dunn and Palmer are couth enough to provide a glossary, which is just before the recipe section. Find out the meaning of words like Bodaggit, Holy Santos, and Pegasus. My personal favorite is College: Where your mom goes. That is genius.
Which brings me to the section where I tell you what I think. The book is very close to being a work of genius. They know every quote, every funny line or action of the movie. Their transition from the movie to the bible lesson in each piece is like a magic trick, the kind you instantly understand but relish the simplicity. If only it was a complete farce, I would praise it up and down the river. But it's obviously not meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Dunn and Palmer could out-quote the most avid fan. They certainly know why this movie was such a success. What they do not see is the potential damage of the book. Reading into the movie is one thing, and one thing I do not recommend. Like trying to get at the plot or the denouement. You know, good luck, right? But reading into Napoleon Dynamite a Christian message? That could ruin it. I mean, I really like this movie man.
The book, or devotional (you know, devo?), ends with a list of discussion questions, one of which asks, "Which character in the movie comes the closest to reflecting the character of Christ?" I never thought of it before, but now that I've been asked, I would have to say, all of them.
posted by Rosemeyer at
4:38 PM
4 Comments
