On Becoming a Super - Part 2
March 1, 2020

     Another movie Emma has watched several times in the last few months is The Kid Who Would Be King, a modern retelling of the Arthurian legend.  Set in contemporary Great Britain, the film tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy, Alex, who stumbles on Excaliber and finds that he – and he alone – can pull the sword from the stone.  His modern society is becoming increasingly estranged from truth-telling, which has strengthened the powers of Morgana, the mythical sorceress-sister of Arthur, whom Arthur banished to the underworld for her greed, deception, and powerlust.  Conditions are now ripe for Morgana's full-fledged return to the world, with her legions of demons, and all the chaos and terror on which they feed.  Alex learns through a modern incarnation of the wizard Merlin that he is tasked with stopping Morgana, but to do so, Alex must learn to turn his enemies into allies, tell the truth at all times, and honor those he loves.

     The movie is a little hokey in places.  Okay, a lot hokey, in a lot of places.  Okay, okay, the movie is just plain hokey.  But it is effective.  There are several points where my younger daughter, Madeline, predictably says, "Mommy, it's scary" – to which my answer has been, "Yes, Baby, I know.  It's scary to fight the bad guys.  But that's why we have to make ourselves strong.  Do you think you could fight the bad guys someday?"  Rapt, quiet nod.  That's my girl.  

     You see, I want my kids to see themselves as people who can confront evil and injustice.  I want them to understand that they can grow their powers for this, and that it is a necessary complement to bringing their unique gifts into the world.  Or perhaps it is a necessary condition to bringing their gifts into the world.  Or perhaps their gifts are the very tools with which they must confront the evil and the injustice that they find. 

     In any case, their gifts are their share of magic.  And I want my kids to understand and experience and make magic.  Yes, the Harry Potter kind – I'm pretty sure that kid did his fair share of standing up to the bad guys.  But even beyond that is the magic that C.S. Lewis, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, called the "Deeper Magic" – the kind of magic that breaks the instruments of death and by which "Death itself would start working backwards."  This is the magic of renewal, of rebirth, of resurrection.  Abracadabra!