Maleficent: Antithesis

Matthew 6:7 - "... for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

In my post from a few days ago, entitled "How to Spread," I talked about how to properly use your works to uplift and inspire others.
Then, I saw Maleficent.
Something people quickly learn about me is that, generally, I complain about things I like. In fact, generally, the more I can complain about them, the more I like them. If quiet disdain is all I'm able to muster for a creative work -- I'm looking at you, Phoenix: The Firestorm -- that generally means I find the work entirely without merit. Oh, sure, I can still list some things I hated about that book, but I won't analyze it to a pulp. On the flip side, some things about the massive epic I just finished reading really infuriated me, and I plan to rant and rave about it, but only because I like it so much.
With all that in mind, let me backtrack to the beginning of the story.
Yesterday, my former mission comp and I decided to hang out and go watch a cheap movie together with various members of his family. For a further glimpse into the brotherhood we share, I've actually allowed him to become one of currently two test readers for my novel. Anyone who knows me knows that's big.

The movie we all chose to see was Maleficent, a choice I still don't regret, because of the fascinating experience of criticism I was able to find.
I could really rip this things apart, but I want these posts to be brief and consumable, so I'm going to break my criticisms down among the possible audiences the film might have reached.
Children/Adolescents: This film got dark, very fast. In a matter of minutes, we go from frolicking fairies and hogsnouts to plans to brutally murder and/or maim said fairies and hogsnouts. We have trees smashing things, people dying quite dramatically, and post-graphic mutilation. The main antagonist's scenes portray bloodlust, madness, and quite disturbing threats. Many of the scenes featuring Maleficent at the very beginning, after her fall, are downright terrifying. To hit the point home, I think I heard a different kid crying in the theater at least once every five minutes after things got real.
Teens/Young Adults: This group would appreciate the darkness of the film a lot more, but would likely fail to overcome the random dark scenes the movie does try to hide. Why cut away right before the mutilation? Why are the battle scenes mostly comprised of people flapping their wings and running into each other? Are those soldiers ever going to learn to use their swords instead of tackling people? The buildup into the violence, the start of which surely would have captivated any teenage audience, becomes less than satisfactory when you realize that all the 'violence' is about as violent as a game of NFL. The violence and mayhem is certainly downplayed for the sake of the prior age group, but when you consider that the prior age group would be far less scared of a knife than of a nice lady turned into a mad, cackling psychopath, you realize the movie just cuts down both age groups.
Adults: Now, this movie was really made for you. After all, who doesn't like the scathing social commentary on various world governments and how they need to stop threatening to nuke each other? Or, even better yet, who can miss the fact that the main conflict is nothing more than an extended metaphor for overcoming rape? Sure, it's all wrapped up in stuff obviously designed to visually appeal to kids, but they won't understand, right? You may feel uncomfortable about what you're watching, but when Jimmy starts crying when Maleficent starts cursing babies, you realize that this movie wasn't made for your kids, either. And then you start to barf into your popcorn at the total vapidity of 95% of the cast, most notably Aurora, before realizing that you've actually been watching a remake of the Disney movie you haven't seen in 21 years but still find more universally appealing than what you're currently watching.
And, finally, what's the moral? We the gang who went and watched the movie agreed the moral was probably something along the lines of, "If you get wronged in life, kill the person who wronged you."
The moral of my story is, the writers failed. Not at creating a compelling world, which they did. Not at creating believable characters, which, I agree they did, with the possible exception of Aurora. No, the writers just didn't do what I suggested all writers do in my former blog post: Teach a divine truth. Uplift, inspire, and encourage those who are partaking of what there is to share. I understood the metaphors and analogies, but I failed to catch that they contained any real lesson to learn. I don't know what I was personally supposed to learn, but I didn't get it.
In the end, though, I really enjoyed the experience, both movie and palling around with my good ol' mission comp. Our dinner at the end was freaking awesome.
Hopefully, I can give you a good example of how to uplift your audience sometime in the near future.