a. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. How do the characters make judgments/decisions based upon the outward appearances of things and other characters? Are these judgments/decisions fair and right? Are all judgments we make wrong? Does the LORD ever want us to make judgments? b. Simply by observing the characters in the film, we do not know their hearts; but at the same time, by their actions and words, we get clues about their motivations and beliefs.Giving actual examples from the film, discuss specific characters and what drives them to do what they are doing. Considering these motivations/actions (both good and bad), how do we see similar motivations/actions in our culture (either in general or specifically in our school)?
As Princess Bride plays with the Fairytale genre it uses appearances to tell the story. The outward appearance of the character are meant to tell us something about them - from the slow but sweet giant to the swarthy Spainard seeking revenge to the beautiful Princess. Is this wrong? Can you think of other fairytales that do the same thing?
ReplyDeleteI think this movie, along with many others, stereotypes the characters based on what they look like. Modern movies tend to be trying to mix it up a little more, but it is still common. I think this is a wrong because it makes people revolve around what they look like. Many fairy tales are like this like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, etc.
DeleteTheres a ton of that in this movie. I dont think this is a bad thing because it speeds up the movie so it doesnt take forever for us to get to know the characters. Instead we can just look at them and know them right off the bat. Snow White does a lot of this, too. Heck, they named seven dwarves after their personalities.
DeleteThough using the outward appearance to tell something about the inside is a clever idea, it teaches the viewers that judging by appearance is a good thing to do, therefore it is wrong. Only God knows the heart, so we shouldn’t judge by the outward appearance, because our assumptions are almost always wrong. I agree with Izzi, because a lot of movies stereotype, especially if there is romance involved. The girl is always beautiful, and the boy is handsome and heroic. A lot of older Disney princess movies do this, as Izzi and Blake gave examples of already, but some more are Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Nowadays, movies with romance and/or love triangles expect beautiful female love interests, heroic male protagonists, maybe a damsel in distress, and a villain who plans on hurting the damsel. That’s just how society has shaped it.
DeleteIt's wrong to judge on the outward appearance, however you find it in tons of movies. In the movie Ariel, the princess is a beautiful mermaid, and the prince is handsome. She falls in love with him because of his outward appearance. She didn't even know what he acted like, she had just seen him.
Deletea.) Decisions made on the appearance are almost never right. People just don’t know the inside. A lot of judgements we make will be wrong, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t judge. God wants us to judge evil(s), and embrace the good. It says it right on the “Day at the Movies” handout, “I will have nothing to do with evil” (Psalm 101:4b). We should fear evil, not fear doing a good deed. We should remember right from wrong. However, in The Princess Bride, The characters make quick, false assumptions about others. For example, the Prince choosing Buttercup for her beauty, but then him overlooking the fact that she loves someone else. Though the line was used for humor, Wesley says to Montoya, “Sorry, I’ve known too many Spaniards” when Montoya offers to help him up the mountain. This can be an example of judgement, but because we don’t know everything about Wesley, we can’t take the thought too seriously.
ReplyDeleteb.) I wanted to try someone new for this question, so I’ll be talking about Buttercup. What drives her throughout the movie is Wesley, and the hope that the two will marry. When the Prince makes her a deal, but lies, she constantly says, “My Wesley will come for me” showing that she has put so much hope into Wesley. She truly loves Wesley with all her heart. Wesley is her constant support, and it devastated her when he doesn’t show up for the wedding. In the real world, people turn to others for support. It is good to have help, but we cannot forget God. Buttercup really loves Wesley, but what if her relationship was lust or idolatry? I know it wasn’t, but realizing sin can prevent sin. When someone has this much hope or love in something, they can forget God in the process. We forget God all the time, so Buttercup, if she was a Christian, should have put faith into God’s plans instead of Wesley.
a-Wesley misjudges Fezzik at the beginning by thinking he is a brute, because later he finds out he's a nice guy. Assuming the stereotypes of our society are always correct will get you in trouble and people will think you are rude. Stereotypes will not always be incorrect, though, and are rooted in the truth, they are just unreliable at best.
ReplyDeleteb-Wesley is driven to battle three people, Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini, and he kills Vizzini, all to save the one he loves. If anything is driving you to kill, though, it is not a good thing to be pursuing. I realize that he was saving her life, but the murdering was extreme and uncalled for. In school I can see boys and girls end friendships because they like someone that the other person likes. Jealousy drives people to sin everyday.
when the people see the giant the see his outward apperance not his heart. they just see a big man that in strong. no they are not fair because he is big friendly sweet giant,not all judgements are wrong and no God does not want us to judge others. because he made us all unique and special.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexa that they judged him on his size and on how strong he was, It is only God's job to judge us and we need to leave that job to him.
DeleteA) The characters in Princess Bride all judge each other at one point or another. Like Lauren said, Wesley was unsure as to whether he should accept help from a Spaniard due to his knowledge of them. Wesley also judges Fezzik when he first meets him. He thinks that Fezzik is a overbearing brute of a giant that will use his bones to pry food out of his mouth. Wesley misjudges so many people in The Princess Bride, I am surprised that he survives. Although we more often then not judge people wrong, we can (rarely) make a accurate judgement. The Lord gave us the ability to choose and judge or else we would just be robots. But so often we judge the wrong thing at the wrong time. We often make a judgement of someone when they just came from a bad day at work or after them having a dirty day at work.
ReplyDeleteB) In The Princess Bride, the people in it are all driven by power lust, obsessive love, and vengeance. The Prince guy just wanted full control of everything in his kingdom, even if it meant murdering his wife. Wesley and Buttercup are obsessed with each other and Inigo is driven by his lust for revenge. In the end it all comes down to what you make your idol. In today's culture we idolize grades, video games, work, books, sports, fashon, and almost anything on this world.
Before I even talk about the characters in the movie, let's take a look at the movie makers and how they chose the cast. Besides being a good actor, you have to look the part in order to get that role. And of course, the hero of the movie has to be strong and good looking, and the princess has to be beautiful. That's exactly how the makers of this film thought, because they, like everyone else, was raised in a society where everyone is judged on their outward appearance, because nobody cares to get to know a person first. The only judgement on a character's outward appearance that I found in the movie is about Fezzik the Giant. Now, the people judging were right in the sense that Fezzik could kill anyone of them with his bare hands easily. They were wrong, because he was sweet and gentle toward his friends. Same with the world. There's a 50/50 chance that your judgement on someone could be correct, logically. But morally, judgement is always wrong, for only God has the right to judge. In John 8:7, there is a woman who sinned greatly, and the people of the city were going to stone her for it. That's when Jesus said, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." Just think of the awkwardness and guilt that followed when everyone had to put their stone down. Though our sins may not be equal, everyone is a sinner, therefore everyone is equal. Everyone has the equal right to be judged, but only judged by God. In The Princess Bride, there are a few main goals of different characters. Inigo strives to kill the man who killed is father, Westley does his best to protect his princess, and Prince Humperdinck is out to kill Westley and Buttercup, and then blame others for her death, which would cause war. When someone does us wrong, we tend to take matters into our own hands, like Inigo Montoya did. This is embarrassing, but sometimes, if my cat leaves me, then comes back an hour later and hops into my bed with me or something, I'll leave, because I somehow think that he will learn his lesson. I mean come on. It's a cat. Sadly, as a sinner, it's my natural instinct to want revenge. As for protecting people- I don't see anything wrong with that. It is was God does for us, after all. I know that when my friends and I fight, we quickly make up, because there's no way we can just stop caring about each other, and we want to protect our friendship and each other. Now as for killing, I don't know much about it. Way too many shootings and murders today are caused by people on drugs and such. There are people like Prince Humperdinck out there though and frankly, that just terrifies me. I actually kind of feel sorry for those people because they either have had a terrible life, or they have some sort of mental illness. All I know is that murder is a sin. But really, who are we to judge? Someone might think "I know I sin and all, but so-and-so cheated on her boyfriend. I hope something terrible happens to that $@&!%" The truth is, we all sin. That's it. Without God, we'd all be going to hell anyway. That's no excuse though. You don't sin terribly, knowing that God will forgive you. You know that God will forgive you, when you sin terribly.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say “And of course, the hero of the movie has to be strong and good looking, and the princess has to be beautiful. That's exactly how the makers of this film though, because they, like everyone else, was raised in a society where everyone is judged on their outward appearance, because nobody cares to get to know a person first.” I would say that is right and wrong. The movie caster’s would first read the person’s profile before meeting them, because if that man has been convicted of a crime or anything with drugs this could make the movie much less desirable to see. They also look to see if they are likeable, because if we don’t like the main characters then we will lose interest in the movie. Also you say they have to be strong and good looking I have seen many movies where the main character/hero was an ugly, weak, fat, pathetic man. The reason he got the part was because he was likeable.
DeleteDavid, that's not necessarily true, because many famous actors and actresses are strung out on drugs, previous convicts, or worse. Hollywood judges people strictly by how they look, and if they do bad stuff then it's 'cool' in their messed-up hollywood way.
DeleteDavid, you just made a horrible outward appearance judgment by saying he is ugly and pathetic. Even if weak and fat can be proved, it isn't right. Also, they aren't always picked because they are likeable; sometimes they just look the part. As far as movies are concerned, if they can say the line, then they get the part.
DeleteTo M. Morre and M. LeVar
DeleteMikey this was not a Hollywood movie, it was British, and Hollywood also doesn't always choose by how a person looks they also Judge by skill (sometimes which isn't always) even if they are fat. Also when you say that they do bad stuff then it's "cool" in their messed-up Hollywood way then would they hire Hitler if he was still alive, because he was one of the worst so would he be the coolest? Would he have just made the best movie ever then? And also Matthew when I said pathetic I meant his character, by his character I kinda judge him (sorry). And when you say if they can say the line then they get the part then what if I right now I go over there and say give me the part, because I could memorize lines. They would think I was crazy a kid acting in a huge movie. NOPE. But I will agree that sometimes they just fit the part.
All throughout the movie there are judgement based upon appearance. In the fighting scene Wesley Says i would rather destroy a stain glass window than an artist like yourself. He make the judgment that Inigo is a good sword fight and should not kill him. But in Reality he is a killer and he is a maniac and wants revenge on a man who killed his father. So judgment are never what they seem because Wesley didn't know that the man was like that because he cant know his heart. Buttercup judged Humperdinck and was right about him being a lying mean backstabbing jerk and was right to run away with wesley.
ReplyDeleteI think you might be over exaggerating it. His father died. He is upset. It may not be right to take revenge, but it is a sin. Everyone does them. You have done them, but we do not call you a maniac.
DeleteA) When Humperdink chose a woman to marry, he based it on the outward appearence not on the heart, event though Buttercup had a good personality, the didn't love each other. Also The Giant ( forgot his name) was judged on how large he was and not how he actually acted.
ReplyDeletei agree with christine with humperdink choosing the women he was going to marry by looking at the outward appearance instead of the inward there heart and how all of the characters were based on there outward appearance it was well written
Delete1 samuel 16:7-but the Lord said to samuel, Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature, because i have rejected him. For the Lord sees a man not as man sees ;man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
DeleteTo a. lindgren
DeleteWould this verse be considered "out of context"? I'm not sure. I don't think this can be applied to the situation, but I may be wrong.
B) well the giant was judged on his large appearence but i think that he was a good/ smart man because he ended up helping the good guys and he helped create the plan for saving Buttercup so he had to have been at least a little bit smart.
ReplyDeleteAlso it would take sensible man to not throw a rock at someone's head to kill them. He wanted a fair fight for them. That also takes a good man.
DeleteA. I agree with Christine about how Humperdinck chose Buttercup only for outward appearance, instead of heart. He loved her, but her heart was set on Westley. Westley was looked down upon by Humperdinck because his status was lower than Humperdinck's. So Humperdinck thought he had the power, the girl, and the strength but actually had none of those. Vizzini only used Fezzik for size and not his actions. Not all of are judgements wrong. We make mistakes on humans the most and those are usually wrong. I agree with Lauren on this one, God does want us to make judgements on evil but embrace the good.
ReplyDeleteB. Almost all the characters were driven by something. Westley and Buttercup, love, Vizzini, to start a war, Humperdinck, jealously, and Inigo, revenge. I agree with Matthew, that we idolize grades, sports, fashion, and the biggest in this world is money. Technically, we will idolize anything we really want and do anything for it.
I believe that Humperdinck is very quick to judge. He sees that Buttercup is beautiful and assumes that she will marry him because he is the prince. Also he underestimates Wesley, Fezzik, and Inigo because there are only three of them and he has a whole army. Humperdinck then labels them as "Underdogs". This kind of thinking gets him in trouble. Wesley is great at coming up with strategies, Fezzik has amazing strength, and Inigo has spent 20 years sword fighting. Humperdinck assumes he is safe behind his castle walls, and armed guards. Because he thinks this way, it is the destruction of him. Vezzini also is quick to judge. He judges by where a person comes from and the type of education they got. He is prideful with his wits and this ends up being the destruction of him. These judgements and decisions were not right. Wesley, Inigo, and Fezzik ended up being more powerful and surprising Humperdinck. I believe that most of the judgements we make are wrong. I know some people that won't talk to a specific person because they overheard something. That something really wasn't what they thought it was though. However, occasionally people are right about what they see. If you look up judgement in the back of the Bible, you will find a lot of verses that talk about God judging, and how we shouldn't. I kind of goes along with how God will deal with vengeance, and we shouldn't. Here God will judge and make decisions, while we should not. We are easily able to see that Inigo is after the six-fingered man who killed his father. Also that he is after him because he killed Inigo's father. Inigo should have let God deal with vengeance.
ReplyDeleteTo Izzy Baxter:
DeleteI agree with you that Prince Humperdinck was very quick to judge and that he only married Buttercup because of her beauty. I like a lot of what you said about judging and how Prince ended up being very surprised at how he had underestimated Wesley, Fezzik, and Inigo. However, you said that God never wants us to judge. Do you think that maybe He is ok with us judging evil? I'm not saying that this is right but I was just wondering what you thought.
In Luke 6:37, it says, "“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;" I think that this says not to judge. I also found that in Matthew 19:28, it says:
DeleteJesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. These two verses confused me at first, but then I started to think about it more and this is what I settled on. Luke says that we should not judge people by their outward appearance. Where Matthew is talking about 12 chosen people deciding more of what is wrong and right, almost like a trial. I believe that these verses were talking about the two different forms or judging. Luke applies more to this discussion because we are talking about judging others, not about judging as in a trial. So, to answer your question, I believe that God does not want us to judge as Luke 6:37 says.
I also agree with Lauren and Alexis. I think that any judgements we make towards other people are always wrong and that is not what God wants us to do. For example, if you see someone walking into a store, and he/she is dressed in all black with green hair, you probably wouldn't make any attempt to talk to them, but you would probably walk away and avoid them.They may have a selfless, kind, generous personality, but they will never be able to show that because they are immediately judged as someone that is weird and probably has some emotional issues because of how they appear. This isn't right and fair to them. Also, they made judgements on outward appearances at the very beginning of the movie when they are at the top of the cliff/mountain and they are fighting with Wesley. They didn't know if he had good or bad intentions, but they assumed his intentions were bad because of the way he was dressed. Wesley's intentions weren't bad, but they were very kind and good intentions of saving Buttercup and taking her back to safety. This is something that we do everyday. We make false assumptions based on outward appearances. This is part of humans sinful nature, caused by the fall. Also, I think the movie makers made the characters look the stereotypical way they do (like Abby said) because they know they will immediately make the assumption that the giant is bad.
ReplyDeleteA) Prince Humperdinck definitely judged Buttercup and thought that since she was the most beautiful women and he was so handsome that they should be married. I also thought that Vizzini judged Wesley and assumed that he would never beat his strong giant. The giant Fezzik was also judged by Wesley in the beginning and then Wesley finds out that he is a sweet person. I don't really think that it is right to judge anyone on their outward appearance. I think that the verse 1 Samuel 16:7 describes well what God thinks of us judging each other. I don't think that all judging is bad, as long as before you judge someone, you first judge yourself. Matthew 7:3 says: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye". I agree with some of what the other people have said, where God does want us to judge the evil, but embrace the good.
ReplyDeleteB) Inigo definitely wanted revenge for his father being murdered. This motivated him to never stop looking for the killer. Although today, people may not always go to that extreme, we do feel like we want to hurt someone back if they have hurt us. We may feel like we have to get revenge and this thought motivates us.
Towards the beginning, Buttercup got captured by three guys. A mysterious man comes to "kidnap" her from her kidnappers. Right away, since she cannot see his face, she assumes that he is a bad dude looking for some money. She judges him by his appearance. She thinks he is a robber, but when he takes off the mask, she sees his face, thus making her judge him again. The film is filled with various other occasions of stereotypes and judgments. Usually, they are wrong; people are more than they seem. This doesn't mean that we are always wrong, but God doesn't want us to judge that way because it underestimates God's creation.
ReplyDeleteA)Wesley makes judges on what his opponents look like on the outside so that he knows how to fight him. Luckily his judgments were correct, and he was able to defeat them all. Also the princess immediately assumes that the man in black is a bad guy because he of his outward appearance. I think the judgement of Wesley is unfair, but the judgments of the other men were because they were essential when Wesley fought them. Not all judgement we make are bad because it depends on if you are judging them negatively and the context of when you are judging them. I think the LORD wants to all see each other as equal and not judge.
ReplyDeleteB) Vizzini is motivated to kill the six-fingered man because he killed Vizzini's father. He ends up killing him in the end. In our culture today we tend to hold grudges until we can get the person back. Wesley goes and "kidnaps" the princess because he loves her. This ends in him being tortured. This relates to now because sometimes we have consequences because we choose to do what we love instead of what is best.
ooops. I meant Inigo
DeleteI agree with Izzy in both parts. Westley did just assume what his opponents would fight like. Granted, he sometimes had hints by their actions, but very few at that. He fought the giant, Fezzik, as though he knew he would be strong. The problem was that he could have been weak, lazy and smart; it might have even been a lucky shot to get close. This is another judgment, but it is to prove that he might not be what he looks like. In Deuteronomy 10:17, it says, "For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the Great God mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes." The part I am focusing on is the partiality. The word means biased or favoritism. This can be caused by appearance. God looks at the heart, not at the appearance. His judgments are fair and right no matter what. It is not the same for people.
DeleteA) First of all, the whole conflict is based on the outer appearance. Humperdink takes Buttercup from Wesley because he thinks shes pretty (and then wants to kill her). After all, Buttercup and Wesley probably wouldnt have fallen in love with each other if they were both ugly. One judgment a character made was when Vezzini was deciding which drink to chose based on how Wesley looked. But it didnt really matter since they were both poisoned. Another judgement was when Wesley was anticipating how Inigo and Fezzik would fight. Fezzik would be slow but strong and Inigo would be a good fencer.
ReplyDeleteI think those judgements were right because they were potentially life threatening situations. I dont think our judgements are wrong as long as we dont judge people in a bad way. I think God does want us to make judgements like chosing your friends. If you dont judge people, you could get in a bad friend group and probably drink and do drugs and stuff like that.
B) Wesley is a good fighter and very smart. He risks his own life to save Buttercup from Humperdink. In our culture, we might see it as breaking our wife/girlfriend out of jail. Inigo wants revenge for his fathers death and kills the 6 fingered man. Today, it might look like the Batman story.
It is wrong to judge based on appearances. In the beginning I felt that the giant would be the main antagonist in the story but it ended up being Prince Humperdinck it definitely shows that based on appearances we will not be able to have straight judgment and to see on the heart like God can because only he can judge based on the heart.
ReplyDeletePeople make false assumptions all the time. People of the country they lived in in the movie probably adored Prince Humperdinck. He was powerful, attractive, and he was getting married, which could've made people think that he was a good guy. Not only do people make bad judgements about people that are good, but they also assume good things about people who are horrible. This reminds me of North Korea. The citizens are brainwashed to believe that their "leader" deserves total adoration. We watched a few videos on North Korea in World Geography, and they made me sick to know just how that country works. Kim Jong-un is very prideful, like Humperdinck, both of them striving for admiration and power. And (most) people in their countries don't have a clue
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you that a., but I have to say I think when you are casted for a film, you have to look the part. In our school plays, the characters have to look the part, too. That is one reason JJ got the hobbit last year, because he was short (no offense to him - short people are great). You also have to say the line like the director/caster envisions also. If Fezzik (I think that's the giant's name) had a high voice instead of a deep voice, would he be casted? Of course not. If Westley did not look good in a black suit, he would not be casted. You are all right that Westley judged Inigo, Vezzinni, and Fezzik by their looks and it helped him win. I think that factors into the screenwriter's job. I also think we all knew Inigo was a great swordsman when he pulled out his fancy looking sword. Unless they want a humorous movie, they aren't gonna have a smart giant or a brutish Vezzinni because it would waste movie screen time explaining who the people are and their personalities. Are these fair? Probably not. I think you should always "not judge a book by its cover," as the old adage says. We, especially as christians, should get to know someone before making judgements. Also, for b., I agree that, like so frequently in our culture, Humperdink loves Buttercup because of her beauty, as does Westley most of the time. Also, Vizzinni and his company of bandits worked for pay. I think of kidnappers here particularly back when we had legal slavery. Our country had people known as "slave catchers" who were paid to stop the slaves from escape. Here it was a little different, but a similar idea. Both had bad people doing evil things for money from bad people.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of other fairytales do this. Most prominent is the well-known story Cinderella. Cinderella has the torn up robes and whatnot (depending on the particular movie/storybook)and the stepsisters and stepmother have really expensive-looking clothes and the right stories. Most fairytales do this I believe.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think that the stereotypical ways they dress and act help tell the story. The problem with this is that we don't just make assumptions about people in movies, but we do also in daily life. The whole movie you want Buttercup and Wesley to get back to safety and fall in love, and Humperdink to not get married to Buttercup. Wesley automatically wins over your heart because he has these sweet intentions of saving the princess.
DeleteMr. Scott's class is finished with the project.
ReplyDeletea) When Wesley was coming for Buttercup, he wore dark clothes with a dark mask on. Buttercup immediately made a judgement that he was "bad." This is wrong because she was judging on the outward appearance, not the intentions of the heart. God does not want us to judge people/things based on the outward appearance. He wants us to look at the heart. However, there are many things that we need to have good judgement on. Once you know the "real" person, (their heart) you can judge them based on how they act.
ReplyDeleteb) I think one of the reasons Wesley is trying to save Buttercup is because of her looks. I don't think he loves her because of her actions, because she was never nice to him. He also doesn't want Humperdinck to marry her. Even though Westley's been tortured and his life is being threatened, he still goes back to save her. I think that if he wasn't going for the looks, then his intentions would be fine. I think that you can see this all over society today. People will fall in love because of someone's looks and not their heart.