Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Let me just say, I warmly welcome the arrival of movies in Blu-Ray format. Ever since Blu-Ray was accepted to be the next level in home entertainment technology, regular DVDs have been getting cheaper and cheaper!
One of my steals was the day I found a double disc DVD of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, "The Complete Quest", for $8. Sweeeeet.
The first film, Conan the Barbarian, has it all: action, swords, blood, and comedy (some intentional - some unintentional, but that was the 80’s for you). Arnold is so charismatic, though, that you kind of look past the ridiculous moments - like watching our Governor chomp on a “live” vulture’s neck. That was great.
But to my surprise, Conan the Barbarian also had some philosophical undertones going on. I’m no philosopher, but I mean, there were many lines that just kind of lingered, waiting for you to take a moment to think.
When Conan’s lady friend, Valeria, dies by the hand of the villain, Conan gives her a proper goodbye; fixing to cremate her - barbarian style.
Conan stands beside Valeria and her bed of wood as his homeboy, Subotai, prepares a torch for him. As Subotai is about to go over and deliver the torch to Conan, he is stopped by a wizard. The wizard tells Subotai, “Fire won’t burn there. No fire at all.” as if suggesting that they had better find another spot if they plan on lighting anything up.
But Subotai ignores the wizard, and he goes up and hands the torch to Conan. The wizard watches in anticipation as Conan puts the torch to the wood. Fire consumes Valeria, and all the wood she lays on. The wizard stands in awe.
“Fire won’t burn there. No fire at all.”
But the fire did burn.
Let me just say, I warmly welcome the arrival of movies in Blu-Ray format. Ever since Blu-Ray was accepted to be the next level in home entertainment technology, regular DVDs have been getting cheaper and cheaper!
One of my steals was the day I found a double disc DVD of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, "The Complete Quest", for $8. Sweeeeet.
The first film, Conan the Barbarian, has it all: action, swords, blood, and comedy (some intentional - some unintentional, but that was the 80’s for you). Arnold is so charismatic, though, that you kind of look past the ridiculous moments - like watching our Governor chomp on a “live” vulture’s neck. That was great.
But to my surprise, Conan the Barbarian also had some philosophical undertones going on. I’m no philosopher, but I mean, there were many lines that just kind of lingered, waiting for you to take a moment to think.
When Conan’s lady friend, Valeria, dies by the hand of the villain, Conan gives her a proper goodbye; fixing to cremate her - barbarian style.
Conan stands beside Valeria and her bed of wood as his homeboy, Subotai, prepares a torch for him. As Subotai is about to go over and deliver the torch to Conan, he is stopped by a wizard. The wizard tells Subotai, “Fire won’t burn there. No fire at all.” as if suggesting that they had better find another spot if they plan on lighting anything up.
But Subotai ignores the wizard, and he goes up and hands the torch to Conan. The wizard watches in anticipation as Conan puts the torch to the wood. Fire consumes Valeria, and all the wood she lays on. The wizard stands in awe.
“Fire won’t burn there. No fire at all.”
But the fire did burn.
Then why would the wizard say, “Fire won’t burn there. No fire at all.”? Was he told by someone – that fire won’t burn there - and he just took their word on it; never checking for himself? Or maybe he did try, but his hands couldn’t produce the spark.
Whatever the reason, he was proved to be wrong. Or at least misinformed.
Have you ever had an idea, or a desire, to do something that was… maybe, beyond you? An idea so crazy and out of the ordinary that you were too scared to tell anybody? You feared the reactions. You feared the commitment. You feared that it would go against what people thought of you.
Or maybe you did tell someone about that idea. You told somebody about that desire, and you got that defeating reaction you had feared and kinda expected.
Somebody told you fire doesn’t burn there.
They told you that fire doesn’t burn there, and you listened without even trying. Now you have forgotten that which you once desired.
Don’t listen to the people that want to shoot you down. They might laugh at you. They might tell you you’ll look stupid if you try. They might tell you that they can’t picture you doing it.* But of course they’ll tell you that. It’s not their vision. It’s YOURS. Their vision didn’t give birth to that desire, and their vision isn’t going to start that fire. Yours is.
It’s possible too, that you told yourself fire doesn’t burn there.
Just recently (actually, can you believe it’s been over half a year already?), I released a small little project. I had the vision, but at the same time, I was telling myself that fire didn’t burn there. I told myself that I had no business; or the talent to pull it off (and maybe I didn’t). But I defied myself, and did it anyway (which was pretty much the theme of the whole project). I went through with it until the very end when I started handing the CDs out. Some people laughed, some people cried, some people said nothing. But honestly, I couldn’t be any less concerned. It’s indescribable; the feeling that I built a fire where I had told myself fire couldn’t burn.
I look at this scene of the movie and it opens my eyes to what a wuss I am. First of all, if I were the wizard - I also would have believed what I was told without ever defying it.
Secondly, if I were Subotai, I would have listened to the wizard’s misinformation. My version of Subotai would have been like, “Hey! Conan! Wizard here says fire won’t burn there! We gotta… we gotta move your dead girlfriend and all the wood, and pick another spot!” Then Conan would have been like, “You eediot! Jas geev me da tooorch!” …And then I would have been all bitter at the wizard for making me look dumb.
I’m sooo WEAK.
But some of you are the complete opposite. Some of you would have been just like Subotai – ignoring the false recommendations and finding out for yourself. I admire that.
I think of my brother John. He’s Subotai times 100. I really envy that. But I don’t always agree with his fearlessness. Like the time he wanted to trespass up a residential driveway to get a better peak at the “Scrubs” hospital. The hospital was pretty much in these peoples’ backyard, and I’m sure he didn’t plan on just driving up the driveway. So there we were, Subotai 6.0 and the wizard – the wizard saying, “You can’t do that! That’s someone’s house!” and Subotai 6.0 saying, “Don’t be a wuss!” I’m working on it, John – although I don’t ever plan on trespassing.
I don’t want to be a weakling anymore. I’m tired of surrendering in a defeated tone, “Yeah… you’re right.” I’m tired of, “We’ll see…” I’m tired of saying, “Ok… whatever…”
How many wooden beds have you made throughout your life? Wooden beds (ideas) that you desired to set fire to, but somebody told you fire didn’t burn there? And all throughout the path behind you lay beds of wood, (IDEAS, DESIRES, GOALS) that have never been ignited. Maybe a couple were ignited. Awesome. Or maybe a couple were ignited, but then you started blowing them out for… whatever reason. Fear would be the root of any reason, I guess.
Build the beds again.
Light them on fire.
I’m beginning to see this one as a companion to “I Don't Think We're In Our Twenties Anymore, Toto!”. Light some fires. It’s time to get hazardous. The ninjas of time are in the shadows.
Don’t let anybody tell you any longer, that fire doesn’t burn there. And if they turn out to be right – at least you tried, and you’ll be able to confirm it with firsthand knowledge.
If you can’t shake the fear. If you can’t ignore the idle chatter. If you need comfort. If you need assurance. King David’s been there. Check out what he says (words in blue are my commentary):
Psalm 144 (New Living Translation)
God is our strength and our safety net. Have no fear:
1 Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.
2 He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. He makes the nations submit to me.
3 O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them, mere mortals that you should think about them?
3 O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them, mere mortals that you should think about them?
4 For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow.
The desire for fire:
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.
10 For you grant victory to kings! You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword.
11 Save me! Rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.
The reward and the legacy your fire can bring:
12 May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.
13 May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands,
14 and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, no going into captivity, no cries of alarm in our town squares.
15 Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.
Go ahead. Light that fire. Someone’s waiting on you.
- Eli
Go ahead. Light that fire. Someone’s waiting on you.
- Eli
*By the way, I recently had I thought: Who critiques the critic? They get off easy. They just talk about what other people did while they do, basically, nothing. Who talks about what they did? “That guy’s movie reviewing skills are terrible!” Ok, I can kinda see why “critic critics” don’t exist. Although, I do think Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly) is awful.
