Tron: Legacy: A Movie to Make You Think...

...Yeah, think "why they hell did I just shell out $9 for a matinee?"

No, in all fairness, Tron is a very pretty movie, and even though Clu looks a little doughy, there were times the special effects really did "WOW" me. But that was it. It was fun to watch but I didn't walk away with anything. The best part of the movie? Olivia Wilde as Quorra.

(Beyond this point thar be spoilers.)

Her portrayal of someone meeting not only someone she considers god-like, but someone from the outside world she can only dream of. Small visual cues on her part felt more like someone in awe, rather than being attracted to the male lead. And it was a scene between Quorra and Sam that raised an incredibly profound idea that I can't make out if it was intended or not. She asks him to describe the sun. Who has ever described the sun before? I mean, I'm sure someone has tried to describe the sun to someone who has been blind their entire life before, but really, the words Sam uses to describe it are kind of cheesy and a little too obviously flirty, but at the same time, when when Quorra finally sees the real sun, they're words that could be used to describe a deity.

Proto-humans, you know, before we got all interested in Ed Hardy graphic tees, had nothing better to do than stare up at the sky where the sun and clouds and stars and moon defied explanation and comparison. How would you adequately describe such things to answer such a question? I don't think Tron was trying to bring this weighty topic to the forefront of its delivery (though Kevin is God, Clu is Lucifer, and Sam is Jesus could be construed from the ending, though really, how the hell did Quorra enter our world? what is she now? is she still digital? where did her flesh come from? ugh), however the thought entered my mind, what would it be like to enter a world that had previously only been a legend to you?

As science has explained away every last piece of mystery and magic changed to alchemy changed to the science that killed it all, we lost our wonder. I'm not complaining. I love learning about this stuff, it's amazing to me that the sun is this ridiculously huge exploding engine. The mysteries of space are still magical to me, but I wish that wonderment permeated society as a whole.

Tron is a fun movie, I'm not saying don't go see it, neither am I saying it will make you think the same things I did by the end. It's not a life-changer, say, like Star Wars (the OT anyway), but maybe if we could come away from the movie with the full-awareness, but childlike wonder Quorra has by the end of the movie, maybe, it could be.

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