What is the difference between a religious artifact and an action figure? In some ways, they share many attributes: people blanket them with levels of importance, sometimes attributing them with levels of power and significance that speak more about the observers of these objects than about the objects themselves.<\/p>\n
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Filmmaker Tom Seymour\u2019s self-described five-minute \u201cmicro-documentary\u201d focuses on cogent and (refreshingly) non-judgmental commentary by Jonathan Alexandratos, the editor of the book \u201cArticulating the Action Figure: Essays on Toys and Their Messages.\u201d This authority clearly knows his subject: his private collection of action figurines is at a museum-level for depth and scope.<\/p>\n
In the course of the film, Alexandratos defines figurines tied to action movies or comic book adventures as a physical forerunner of digital avatars and virtual reality games, with the main difference being there is an actual object that requires manual manipulation. In regard to Christian figurines, Alexandratos points out that the figurines receive far greater emotional weight, sometimes with unintended results. He recalls a widely reported incident of an Argentine woman who prayed to plastic figurines of what she assumed were based on saints, when in fact they were \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d characters.<\/p>\n
While Alexandratos carefully avoids badmouthing both the Christian and Lucasfilm faithful for the respective devotions to figurines, he points out how the objects themselves only achieve value due to the emotional investment wrapped around them. \u201cWe are projecting meaning on top of them,\u201d Alexandratos states. Ultimately, this wise little nonfiction film reminds us that when the subject of figurines arises, we are not really talking about the figurines \u2013 rather, we are talking about ourselves.<\/p>\n