The Tinder Box (This Fantastic Week, Nov. 25, 2009)

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Tags : Columns, Stevie Nicks, The Tinder Box, The Two Towers, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Tinder Box (This Fantastic Week, Nov. 25, 2009)

Posted on 25 November 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

Back again for another highly opinionated — some might even say downright cranky — look at the week in fantasy. You’ve been warned!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It is, of course, Thanksgiving week in the US, which means we’ll be publishing on a limited schedule.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, every year I can’t help but be reminded of the scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when the party comes upon the eternally renewed feast at Aslan’s Table at the island at the World’s End. (Isn’t it funny how so often the books of our childhood stay with us our whole lives? I’m sure the current generation of kids will be thinking about holiday dinners at Hogwarts ten and twenty years from now.)

“I think it’s a ruin,” said Lucy when they had got a good deal nearer, and her guess was the best so far. What they now saw was a wide oblong space flagged with smooth stones and surrounded by grey pillars but unroofed. And from end to end of it ran a long table laid with rich crimson cloth that came down nearly to the pavement. At either side of it were many chairs of stone richly carved and with silken cushions upon the seats. But on the table itself there was set out such a banquet as had never been seen, not even when Peter the High King kept his court at Cair Paravel. There were turkeys and geese and peacocks, there were boar’s heads and sides of venison, there were pies shaped like ships under full sail or like dragons and elephants, there were ice puddings and bright lobsters and gleaming salmon, there were nuts and grapes, pineapples and peaches, pomegranates and melons and tomatoes. There were flagons of gold and silver and curiously wrought glass, and the smell of the fruit and the wine blew toward them like a promise of all happiness.

I like that. “A promise of happiness.” And also, perhaps, heartburn.

SPEAKING OF ENCHANTED FEASTS…

Since we’re on the subject of magical dinners, I’ve always thought this Stevie Nicks video did a great job of showing exactly how it’s supposed to be:

BUT, OF COURSE, THANKSGIVING IS ABOUT MORE THAN FOOD

It’s about the people. After all, who among us, if made to choose between a meager meal with the people we love or a sumptuous feast eaten all alone or, worse, with Glenn Beck, would choose the sumptuous feast?

Anyone? I didn’t think so.

Sam and Frodo learn to take nothing for granted in The Two Towers — not the food or the person they’re eating it with:

For a while Sam sat nursing, and tending the fire till the water boiled. The daylight grew and the air become warm; the dew faded off turf and leaf. Soon the rabbits cut up lay simmering in their pans with the bunched herbs. Almost Sam fell asleep as the time went by. He let them stew for close on an hour, testing them now and again with his fork, and tasting the broth.

When he thought all was ready he lifted the pans off the fire, and crept along to Frodo. Frodo half opened his eyes as Sam stood over him, and he waked from his dream: another gentle, unrecoverable dream of peace.

“Hullo, Sam!” he said. “Not resting? Is anything wrong? What is the time?”

“About a couple of hours after daybreak,” said Sam, “and nigh on half-past eight by Shire clocks, maybe. But nothing’s wrong. Though it ain’t quite what I’d call right: no stock, no onions, no taters. I’ve got a bit of stew for you, and some broth, Mr. Frodo. Do you good.”

… Sam and his master sat just within the fern-brake and ate their stew from the pans, sharing the old fork and spoon. They allowed themselves half a piece of elvish waybread each. It seemed a feast.

In other words, we would all do well to remember that Thanksgiving is not so much what you eat, as it is who you eat it with, and why.

THE IDIOT BOX

Legend of the Seeker is back this weekend with “Touched,” a new episode. (The show is syndicated, so check local listings.)

On Saturday, SyFy is offering Beyond Sherwood, an original movie about how the evil Sheriff of Nottingham uses a shape-shifting monster to try and destroy young Robin Hood. Sounds cheesy (which is not necessarily a bad thing!). (SyFy, 9 PM)

On Sunday, it’s all about dogs and Christmas with ABC Family offering The Dog Who Saved Christmas (8 PM), while CBS gives us A Dog Named Christmas (9 pM). Same holiday, different dog. I’m a sucker for Christmas specials, but these look a little thick even for me.

V has ended his four-episode run, and many TV shows are in reruns both this week and next, although look for a new episode of Heroes on Monday, and new episodes of Flash Forward and Fringe next Thursday.

THE BOX OFFICE

I’m looking forward to seeing The Road, but having it open today, the day before Thanksgiving? A moody, post-apocalyptic thriller set in a barren future landscape where a father and son struggle to avoid being eaten by other people? Seriously? Still, I suppose if you’re looking for something to be thankful for, “my limbs intact” is as good as anything, right?

If you’re looking for something slightly more upbeat, new fantasy-esque movies out on DVD this week include Angels & Demons, Star Trek, and the vampire film Thirst.

Well, this week’s flame has sputtered out, but join me again next week when I promise I won’t be nearly so cranky.

Oh, who am I kidding?!

And for the record, have a very happy, restful, thankful holiday.