All is Not Lost in “9”

Upon waking, the “stitchpunk” 9 realizes that he’s in a Tim Burton film. The dark, Gothic landscape, the general feeling of despair, and Danny Elfman score all pointed to the inevitable conclusion that Burton was behind it all. Nonetheless, 9 leaves in search of his destiny, meeting others like him along the way. Later, it’s revealed that the scientist who made them gave them parts of his soul. This allowed them to be alive, and each had the scientist’s leadership, protective, heroic, etc. (up to 9), natures that represented his personality. It’s going to take all of them working together to wipe out the machines that destroyed humanity. Somehow, they are the key to bringing humanity back from extinction.

During their fight to end the domination of the machines, disagreements, egos, and altruism clash as the different parts of the scientist’s soul interact with each other. They run from, fight, and sometimes best the deadly machines that are hunting them down. 9 inadvertently reboots the big machine that was the brain behind the decimation of all humanity, and it has the power to suck the souls out from each of the stitchpunks. One by one, a soul is taken. One might think that the remaining heroes would find a way to retrieve these lost souls, but by the end of the film they do not. Each loss was deeply felt, as each person lost had immeasurable qualities that could have contributed to stopping the machines.

Similarly, each of us alone may not be able to accomplish what we can do in community. The loss of a family member or friend is a loss to the whole. We need each other, perhaps not to fight against bloodthirsty machines, but to find our purpose, love, and meaning in life. We are all different people with unique personalities that sometimes clash, but the collective whole can accomplish what one person cannot. This was exhibited so well in “9”, as well as the cost of loss. No one is replaceable, and when someone’s gone, they are gone, leaving a hole that will never be filled in quite the same way.

Rock Bottom to Redemption in “Black Snake Moan”

“Black Snake Moan” sounded like a bad movie from its marketing. It seemed as if it were some kind of cheesy independent movie that would offend with graphic sexual content. Pleasantly surprising though, it was about a character's path from depravity to healing. Rae is a deeply flawed woman who tries to self medicate through sex, which came from a past of sexual abuse. There are scenes of graphic sex, and they are unpleasant. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion and wishing you could stop the carnage. She is so self-destructive, and the men who take advantage of her frail psychological state speed that destruction. In some ways, her story is similar to ours as a human race, as many of us search for love and meaning by filling the void with wonton lust for (fill in the blank- It’s not just sex that we pursue). She certainly takes her search to more extremes than the average person, but the underlying cause was the same: desire for the perfect relationship.

Rae thinks that sex equal relationships, which should lead to meaning and acceptance. This philosophy leads her to have many graphic "relationships" in the course of the first part of the movie. She is also uncomfortable with her own promiscuity, but her abuse has skewed the way she approaches relationships. It's as if she enjoys the physical act, but knows that her soul is dying with each illicit affair. She uses drugs to numb the psychological pain and to lose her inhibitions. This literally leads her to the gutter outside of Lazarus' house, a Christian who curses like a sailor. Samuel L. Jackson does such a good job in this role, a man who has lived a hard life, whose wife has left him because she found a man to meet the needs he wasn't providing. Alone and bitter, he finds Rae in the dirt, bloody and unconscious. Taking her in, he nurses her back to physical health. Knowing her by reputation, he knows what to expect. Her advances on him are rejected. He's not fooled by this immature girl, and vows to rehabilitate her. The methods he uses are unorthodox, but Lazarus is an unorthodox man, and it’s an unorthodox film.

Rae fights at first, but Lazarus chips away patiently. One of the most touching scenes is when he goes to a women's clothing store to buy a dress for her. He asks the ladies working there to help him find a dress that isn't scandalous, but will make her feel pretty when she wears it. This is a critical distinction, and it's this dress that starts Rae's path to health as her identity is changed from that as a worthless person to one of true beauty.

This movie isn't for the faint-hearted. It pulls no punches; it's in your face. Conservatives would most likely be offended by the content, but real life should not be ignored. Real suffering exists in the world, and this film shows the distance real love and forgiveness is willing to go. It’s real, not some sugared “redemption story” with a weak plot. Suffering cannot be muted, because that would mute the need for hope in a broken world. A broken world it is in the beginning of the movie, but a redeemed world is depicted by the end. Certainly one that isn't perfect, that still requires courage and strength to navigate. Without that courage and strength, however, the world becomes bleak again. Where does this courage and strength come from? The answer is at the end of the movie, which you’ll have to watch to find out!

“7 Pounds” is Heavy Stuff

In “7 Pounds” (by “The Pursuit of Happyness” director Gabriele Muccino), Will Smith plays Ben Thomas, a man who blames himself for killing his fiancé and 7 strangers in a car accident. With this as motivation, he sets out to help strangers. He donates his organs to people who need them, and is able to postpone penalties for those who owe the IRS money. However, he only does this for good people. For those who are abusive, he is unmerciful.

The American in us, the person who believes that good things should happen to good people, may like this. However, the failed human in us may feel like mercy and forgiveness should have been shown to those who "didn't deserve" the favors Ben would have handed out. Sure, these are bad people who "don't deserve" the good things that they could have received, but is that the correct ethic? Doesn't love and forgiveness lead to a change of heart? It has in many lives.

Another issue is Thomas's own redemption. Is the conclusion of the movie his redemption? However, Ben in his own eyes is a bad person, so does he forgive himself if he's unable to forgive others?

This may seem like a criticism of the film. Don't misunderstand. Smith's acting is amazing, and the rest of the cast's performances add nicely to the story. The production value is high, and the writing couldn't be better. The plot moved along at just the right pace, and it wrapped up beautifully in the end. The film wouldn't have been the same without the way it unfolded and ended. There is a struggle, however, with the themes of forgiveness, self-grace, and redemption. Did Thomas find these things?

Silence is Golden in “(500) Days of Summer”

“This is not a love story,” the narrator intones at the beginning of "(500) Days of Summer". It’s a good thing, as this film (mostly) bucks the Hollywood trend of relationship films. It’s no surprise that main character Tom doesn’t end up with Summer. Some may say that Tom is unhealthily obsessed with a girl who ends up not being interested in him. However, many people can also identify with the passionate, heartbroken man who pursues “the one” that gets away. Most of us have a story like that.

The real brilliance of the film was the way it portrayed Tom’s journey from man in love to man rejected. We all want to be loved, especially by someone as amazing, beautiful, and exciting as Summer is in the film. Joseph Gorden-Levitt does a great job portraying a Tom who is at times funny, sarcastic, and ironic as he navigates between the world that he wants and the world that is. The most poignant moment in the film comes when characters in the film are answering the question, “Do you believe in true love?” Each character has something to say based on their experience. Each character is honest. Tom sits there, unwilling (or perhaps unable) to say anything. He’s a broken, hurting man, and all his assumptions about love have been utterly shattered. His silence is pure genius, and speaks louder than any possible answer he could have given at that moment.

The film flounders at the end a bit with a predictable happy ending. However, the real meat of the film is the interplay between Tom and Summer and what happens when a dating couple isn’t ultimately on the same page. Most of us have been there, learned lessons of loss and heartache, and hopefully have learned a thing or two about this crazy game called love.

Are You “Up” for an Adventure?

Of the many themes that could be discussed in the movie “Up”, the pursuit of adventure stands out amongst them all. The film opens with Carl and Ellie meeting as children in the context of wanting to go on a great adventure to the Lost Land in South America. They grow up together, get married, and live a long, full life. Ellie can’t have children (a particularly and surprisingly heart wrenching scene), and Carl makes his living selling balloons. Ellie passes away, and Carl is left at home, alone, and full of regret. He always meant to take Ellie on an adventure to the Lost Land in South America, but “boring life” got in the way.

After her passing, their house became the manifestation of Ellie to Carl. Soon to be sent to a “retirement community”, Carl hatches a plan of escape. Using thousands of balloons of his trade, he floats his house from all who would take him away from all that he had. Of course, the plucky scout Russell is along for the ride, and they have lots of fun together as Carl goes through some great character development, but that could be a topic of another post.

Near the end of the film, Carl shuts himself in his house, now situated in the Lost Land in South America. There’s a need for him to act, but he has finally brought “Ellie” to where he promised he’d take her. Leafing through her adventure journal, he sees the progression of his wife’s life through her eyes, which is her life with him. At the end of the journal, she changes his entire perspective. “Thanks for the adventure,” she tells him. In a few words, she changes his bitterness to joy, as he realizes that he gave the woman he loved exactly what she wanted. His “boring life” was not boring after all. He had been on the greatest adventure he could have been on- living a full life with Ellie.

Emboldened by her words of encouragement, Carl goes off and saves the day. This is only possible because he listens to Ellie, and realizes that he hadn’t missed the adventure of a lifetime. Oftentimes, we think that our life is boring, and that we are missing out on a better, more exciting life. Look around you and see that you are most likely living a great adventure already. Sometimes all it takes is changing our perspective to see that life is not that different from Carl’s, Indiana Jones’, or Frodo and Sam’s adventures.

You just need your Ellie to tell you, “Thanks for the adventure. Now, go have another one!”

You Can Never Keep Up With “The Jone$es”- Spoiler!

A blatant punch in the face to American consumerism, “The Joneses”, starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, is a smart film that exposes the real cost of materialism. Kate and Steve Jones are the perfect couple and have all the latest gadgets, cars, and fashion items “everyone” wants. Their two high school children also seem to have all the greatest stuff. Everyone in their sphere of influence lusts after the expensive things this family purchases, and lust for these things turns into purchases.

What everyone doesn’t know is that the “Joneses” are really actors paid by a corporation to sell expensive products. The family doesn’t buy any of the things they have- but have to work their way up in the company, selling more and more expensive items. For example, Steve “buys” a fancy sports car that his neighbor and new friend admires. Soon, that neighbor purchases the exact same car. Then, Steve “trades up” and gets an even more expensive car. Frustrated, his friend just can’t keep up, but desperately wants to. He works extra hours, but nothing he can do will ever match what Steve buys next. It’s all based on the lie that the Joneses are an affluent family. Everything is actually given to them with the intent to influence others to buy buy buy. And they do.

Isolation is a strong theme near the end of the film. Since Steve is not really married to Kate, his sense of loneliness is intensified as he has to “pretend” to be in love with someone he’s actually attracted to while they sleep in separate beds. He has to sell whatever the corporation wants him to, and there are things he doesn’t really like but has to pretend that he does. His disingenuous interest in these products begins to weigh him down. Tired of the lies he has to live day after day, Steve starts to change. Meanwhile, in order to pay for everything, others start going into deep, unsustainable debt. Steve clues into this when a pivotal event in the film leads him to change his worldview. He experiences firsthand how greed, lust, and comparison can cause significant destruction and loss in people’s lives. Reformed by the end of the film, he’s a different man.

The film serves as a powerful allegory to all the “Joneses” out there- those early adopters who influence others to consume, often unsustainably. I hope this film inspires us all to look at why we buy what we do. Otherwise, we’ll spend it all on things we actually don’t need or really want. Because no matter how cool an iWhatever is, do you (or I) REALLY need one?

That’s my 2 cents, and you can take that to the bank.

Fighting as a “Gladiator”

Among the battle scenes and epic storyline of redemption in “Gladiator”, there is a deeper tale dealing with personal identity being told under the surface. Most have seen the film helmed by Ridley Scott so I won’t bore you with a synopsis of the entire movie, but there’s much more to the story than grisly battle scenes and political scheming. Maximus learns the true value of who he is and what he’s willing to fight for. Maximus has just been offered to succeed the dying Ceaser. Ceaser’s son Commodus, of course, isn’t going to let this happen. It’s his job to rule, and he will stop at nothing to get it. After the smothering of his father, Commodus has Maximus arrested and taken to be executed. However, Maximus is a resourceful and skilled Roman soldier. He escapes and kills his would-be executioners and races to save his family. Too late, he is taken by slavers to be a gladiator. It’s as a gladiator that Maximus takes a knife and scrapes off the tattoo on his arm that designates him as a soldier and citizen of Rome.

What a crazy response! That would be akin to an American citizen renouncing their citizenship and losing all the benefits thereof. The tattoo removal tells us something important about Maximus. He no longer identifies himself with Rome, an empire he once swore to protect because he loved and believed in what it stood for. He was wronged by the very institution he had previously given his life to, and under Commodus and as a slave he can no longer consider himself a citizen. He doesn’t want to. It’s not that he is rejecting Rome, he’s rejecting the idea that Rome gives him his identity. This is in stark contrast to the cultural norm of the day- blind allegiance to and worship of Ceaser no matter what. Anything other than that was deserving of punishment by law- an effective tactic at ruling the large empire that was Rome. Maximus knows himself well and has the courage and self-determination to fight for what is right, and nothing can take away that away from him. It’s not his Roman citizenship that defines him and determines his life anymore. He is defined by the ideals he holds, which contrast with what Rome under Commodus had become.

This isn’t about political reform, although I see how it could be taken as such. This is about identity, and what informs it. It’s an interesting character study, as Maximus defines himself based on his convictions not his circumstances. His identity shift occurs with the removal of his tattoo, and from that point on he is a different man. He is no longer a soldier, but a gladiator. He’s given up his old life as a soldier and has embraced his new life as a gladiator so that others can benefit.

He knows who he is no matter what others do to him, with or without shackles.