REVIEW: THE POWER OF POWDER

Powder is an albino Christ like figure played by Sean Patrick Flanery. A bolt of lightning kills his mother in the midst of her pregnancy. The lightning denotes a divine touch and visitation, similar to the divine visitation to Virgin Mary. The abandonment by his father is similar to Joseph's disappearance in the Bible. Powder is taken in by his grandparents and then lives in their cellar. He self-educates himself at an accelerated and supernatural rate by reading and memorizing hundreds of books. The film begins with the grandparents' death. Powder, who has been sheltered from the outside world, is then found by science teacher Mr. Ripley (Jeff Goldblum) and psychologist Jessie Caldwell (Mary Steenbergen). Jessie takes him to the state boys' home that she runs. Powder, being different, is taunted by classmates as a phantom from outer space. Powder remains unassuming, gentle and compassionate displaying miraculous abilities. He also attracts pure energy into himself

Powder's ability to draw on any form of energy in an immediate radius is discovered by science teacher Mr. Ripley (Jeff Goldblum) who suggests, on the basis of Einstein's theories, that Powder is reaching the level of pure energy because he is able to use a significantly larger portion of his brain. Powder's super abilities are messianic. He can heal, restore, and magically move objects. He even confounds educational professionals.

Toward the end of the film Powder is despised and rejected by his peers. He is stripped and "crucified." There are some significant brief moments such as the scene in which the cross around the neck of one of his persecutors levitates. I was surprised by how few critics, other than Roger Ebert, picked up on this connection between Powder and the story of Jesus Christ.

I have just finished watching the movie again last night. I watch it everytime it comes on tv. It has such a powerful meaning that it seems that no else around me can grasp what the movie really means. for me it means many things. One is that everything and everyone is part of everything else and that nothing every really dies and goes away but will continue to live forever, maybe in other forms of energy but still live. Maybe that is what your soul is really all about. No end ever. We know so little about what life really is and it is really sad that many people go through their entire life and never really stop to think who they are or where they came from and where they are going. This movie is the most powerful movie I have ever seen. It has beena major influence in my life. I wonder if the creator of this film realizes just what they have done. I hope so.

The movie is about a person who by some freak accident suddenly got to be a thought human of the future.this is because we are all "gods" and the abillities resambles those of a god and therefore that of an human. the future beings will have all of powders abbilities in this universe of time and space. I believe the whole thing behind 'Powder' lies in the excerpt from 'Moby Dick' Jeremy read in the beginning of the film. "Where lies the final harbor, whence we unmoor no more? In what rapt ether sails the world, of which the weariest will never weary? Where is the foundling's father hidden? Our souls are like those orphans whose unwedded mothers die in bearing them: the secret of our paternity lies in their grave, and we must there to learn it." The last sentence refers in total to Powder, whose mother died in bearing him; the secret of his origin and life has been buried with her.

"Powder" can be whatever you want him to be. He could be a "God" like creature, Einstein's vision of what man could be in the future, or just a miracle all in itself. The story writer extraordinaire Victor Salva, intends that the viewer should see past powder's super human inteligence/power/insight/etc to his isolation and need to be accepted as seen by the character's search and desire for a common social identity. the whole point of powder following the noise, of the other boys playing basketball, into the gym was to show that no matter how intellegent powder was and how much more developed an intelect he had, he was still human. he still needed the social connection with his like peers, to be similar, to be accepted; and he, in this sequence of scenes was seeking this out. (this is also similar for the lunch room encounter in which compassion is shared between powder and his science instructor (Jeff Goldblum)) first, the camera's slow pan down from the hands above the head (as the camera/movie viewer is the first person -powder) which then focusses on sky's head with long, brown hair, shows something powder does not have but evidently wishes he did. the camera does not take sky's body in, but his skin tone, color, something powder wishes he also had. finally, the camera ends it's focus on sky's axillary hair. not that i would know, but these limited views do not suggest homosexual desire but powder's need for social identity and belonging. powder thinks that he could fit in if he only had hair and skin color, then the others would accept him. Every human is a social animal who has human needs which not even super human conditions can replace. furthermore, the main antagonist, John, blatantly calls powder a "peeping tom faggot". this is too obvious for the subtlety of the director who has been slowly developing powder's character in the film; but it is perfect for the in-your-face personality portrayed by John. throughout the whole film, john had incorrectly summed powder up. staying true to his bully-type profile, John takes pleasure in assassinating powder's character by calling him a gay (common character defamation tactict); once again, John is wrong. the story shows that John is wrong by having John do a 180 degree turn around; John is about to understand why powder was looking at the player, sky. thirdly, outside the gym, John baptizes powder in the muddy water. this confirms what powder was looking at, sky's skin color.Jjohn was mockingly giving powder what he thought powder wanted, skin color. but, in line with the comparison to Christ, in the end powder did not want skin color (earthly power and throne), he wanted to be accepted. pushing powder in the color-giving muddy water only confirms that powder was looking at sky's skin and not checking out his body by some homosexual drive. finally, and most importantly, John with his in-your-face attitude just inches away from powder (not something a gotta be seen as straight, leader of the pack would do) says, "you really think you can be like us, is that what you think freak show". again, this is the story writer's way of showing that the viewer should not confuse powder's desire of being accepted with homosexual tendencies. john's line is very inconsistent (180 degree turn) with his prior accusation that powder is a "peeping tom faggot". and that is exactly what the story writer/director (Victor Salva) intended. think of the movie always putting the boys together, and powder -desiring to be let in- on the outside looking in: playing football and basketball, eating in the lunch room, on the campout. rather than portraying powder as homosexual, the gym/bathroom scene in which powder is looking at sky's skin tone and body hair acknowledges that the i.q. and intelect-supperior powder as still a human being an equal part of the race, one who contrary to his own opinon does "need friends" (scene with Jeff Goldblum in empty lunch room) and just as everyone else, enjoys the need to feel accepted through the desire for common identity.

A personal point here, I was also always seeking acceptance and approval. I was also push into a mud in six grade....my bully was David Wolf. The sense of lonliness that Powder felt...I felt.