Okay ... so I love to watch family-oriented films, animated children's movies...which hold in them lessons humans need to remember but often forget.
A few days ago, the family watched "The Iron Giant" (Warner Brothers, ©1999) together. The story poses a question that is postulated by some as - "Can a gun have a soul?" I would tend to disagree that this is the question posed. It goes much deeper than that.
The question - as I see it - is "Can someone go against years of programming and choose to follow his/her heart instead?"
The answer the movie provides: YES. But only with help.
The giant wakes up with amnesia. He has forgotten who he is. He gets himself into a dangerous predicament in a strange place, and suddenly this little boy rescues him. A friendship with the boy means that he learns what things in this new reality are called, what life and death are, what is right and wrong, and (to his surprise) that he has powers beyond his wildest imagination. The boy talks to him about different kinds of superheroes and tells him that he can choose whether to use his abilities for good or not.
Of course the government gets wind of him being there - how DO you hide a 100-foot-tall metal man? - and an overzealous government agent with an agenda of paranoia and self-promotion assumes the worst and calls in the "big guns" - literally.
But the giant's programming is defensive only. Which reminds me of me ... and a whole lot of people. As the saying goes, "Hurting people hurt people."
When he is threatened, he starts to fight back - and his friendship with the boy stops him from fully carrying out his programming. But it's too late: others' agendas have prevailed, and he must make a choice: allow a whole town to be obliterated or risk his existence to save them.
The movie is a profound look at the human condition - at the potential each person has to use whatever strengths he or she has to the fullest while still having the power to choose.
I guess I started thinking about the Iron Giant this morning because I know this person who is really amazing. But he's been hurt and has forgotten who he is. He's learning a whole new way of living, a whole new lifestyle. He's learning that he is not as horrible as he was led to believe, can barely believe it himself because the voices of shame and fear are so loud in his mind. And his natural child-like curiosity and his sense of equity and integrity are developing in this new reality of his. It's wonderful to watch.
I know a lot of people who are on that same road. Myself included. We're starting to learn that we are more than who we have become (to borrow a line from the Lion King.)
And we need help to get there.
A few days ago, the family watched "The Iron Giant" (Warner Brothers, ©1999) together. The story poses a question that is postulated by some as - "Can a gun have a soul?" I would tend to disagree that this is the question posed. It goes much deeper than that.
The question - as I see it - is "Can someone go against years of programming and choose to follow his/her heart instead?"
The answer the movie provides: YES. But only with help.
The giant wakes up with amnesia. He has forgotten who he is. He gets himself into a dangerous predicament in a strange place, and suddenly this little boy rescues him. A friendship with the boy means that he learns what things in this new reality are called, what life and death are, what is right and wrong, and (to his surprise) that he has powers beyond his wildest imagination. The boy talks to him about different kinds of superheroes and tells him that he can choose whether to use his abilities for good or not.
Of course the government gets wind of him being there - how DO you hide a 100-foot-tall metal man? - and an overzealous government agent with an agenda of paranoia and self-promotion assumes the worst and calls in the "big guns" - literally.
But the giant's programming is defensive only. Which reminds me of me ... and a whole lot of people. As the saying goes, "Hurting people hurt people."
When he is threatened, he starts to fight back - and his friendship with the boy stops him from fully carrying out his programming. But it's too late: others' agendas have prevailed, and he must make a choice: allow a whole town to be obliterated or risk his existence to save them.
The movie is a profound look at the human condition - at the potential each person has to use whatever strengths he or she has to the fullest while still having the power to choose.
I guess I started thinking about the Iron Giant this morning because I know this person who is really amazing. But he's been hurt and has forgotten who he is. He's learning a whole new way of living, a whole new lifestyle. He's learning that he is not as horrible as he was led to believe, can barely believe it himself because the voices of shame and fear are so loud in his mind. And his natural child-like curiosity and his sense of equity and integrity are developing in this new reality of his. It's wonderful to watch.
I know a lot of people who are on that same road. Myself included. We're starting to learn that we are more than who we have become (to borrow a line from the Lion King.)
And we need help to get there.
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