Absolution Goes to the Movies
I am more than thankful to have had a three-day weekend or as I’d like to think, a “transition phase”. I like to think of it as much because I am able to assess how far I have gone as a living being more effectively. I see progress or the lack of it in both the simple and complex things I accomplish. I think that I made a good transition when I finished reading a 350-page book in a span of the weekend. That rarely happens though as I have this bad reading habit of moving from book to another book after a chapter or so. This also explains why I have the Erasmus Complex— I save my money, to the point of giving up basic needs for books. I love books! They take me somewhere else, they mold my perspective, they deepen my faith. But in my realm of popular culture, movies rival books. I love movies!
Movies rival books more than music or any other form of art. I am being dishonest if I tell you that I go to movies purely or mostly for academic purposes. Unlike some of my colleagues, I don’t take much time deconstructing meanings and structures in movies. I take them for what they are and sometimes, we hit the conveyed message this way better. I take the movie for its story, its visuals, its music, its theme and its overarching message and worldview. I know. That would be tantamount to over-thinking already. But forgive me for processing movies in a matter of two minutes or less. There’s much to think about in my noisy world. But movies and books are special—they are more than just passing fancy. And so I had this long transition weekend, I took the opportunity to watch two movies. Curiosity? Mainly, yes. Sheer desire to be updated? Absolutely. So in I went Sta. Lucia’s well-renovated cinemas and so I brought along my taste and desire for perspective—one to reaffirm mine as it is attempts to break it down. Yes, masochist indeed.
I feel blessed to have chosen and encouraged my family to see “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “Kung Fu Panda”. As for Caspian, it was a must-see as our church supported a “block” screening. I enclosed it in quotation marks as we really didn’t watch as one block but in batches. See, we reserved the theater for the whole day so anyone could come in anytime and could repeat the movie for much as their eyes allowed. An ingenious way to cater to mass audiences and raise more funds indeed. I wasn’t disappointed. Not at all. I had the passed-on impression that it deviated from the book’s main thing and was in fact, bastardized. I have to contest that. It didn’t miss the main thing in content. Perhaps in how it was delivered, there was an attempt to make it palatable and digestible to the mass consumers. There would be worldly scenes so to speak and those not appropriate for children. But the message and sub-messages, all in C.S. Lewis’ grand intention were clear. Allow me to comment on some scenes and lines:
1. The Lion was there all those times. Aslan was there! He was leading them on. He was making things fall into their rightful place. Though it would be very conditional. He appeared to those who chose to see him and believed he still was there. That would be Lucy. Edward, learning from past experience, followed suit. But Susan and yes, even High King Peter were there in the shadow of their doubt. And so Lucy saw him over the cliff (which later turned to be a valuable shortcut to the right place). Lucy saw him in a dream (need I say more?). Lucy believed he was out there in the deepest parts of the forest. To those who believe, seeing shall be their gift. And to those who surrender (as Lucy points out later in the time or their desperation), can true victory can be possible. Amazing that ironies aren’t so cruel when in perspective.
2. The dwarf companion of the four, lost his name, remarked: “I wouldn’t jump over for someone that doesn’t exist.” In relation to the first point, isn’t this a classic failing of men? It’s all over. It’s in creation. It’s in how our lives unfold. The more we resist, the more we are disappointed by the magnanimity of what is happening around our resistance. Many of us have taken refuge in the security of our calculations and in the capsule of our reason. Many of us just lost it in translation as we became mesmerized by what he or she said. Many of us have lost our souls in this comfort. This is why someone would say that faith tramples all. It does because it is the rarest of all devotions. It is so rare that most of us choose the opposite path of denial, noise and lies instead. We need faith. It is more than belief. It is born out of love. Yes faith out of love and out of reason is a very powerful, all-moving thing.
3. The Lion to Prince Caspian on awarding him kingship over the dominion: “It is for this reason that I am choosing you (someone who is unprepared as you).” Brilliant. This world is enthralled by the notion of being prepared for anything and everything. We seek the comforts of our gadgets, our friends and our possessions. Elementary issue? Think again as it is so persistent actually. The realist in me yearns for the security of the world—its embrace reassuring your position and your reputation. Wrong move. Humility above pride. Brokenness above wholeness of being. Many seek to be the complete package. We seek perfection. But whose perfection? Ours? Wrong move Narnian! We may actually be heading the wrong way. Humility and the spirit that drives it are what are needed.
4. The Lion tells Ripicheep the valiant mouse to not think so much about his honor when he again saves the day. Aren’t we, in the rigidity of our morals and perhaps the lack of the true sense of it, attempt to be so proper and so virtuous all the time? Not that it is at all wrong. It is actually a manifestation of how great we have become as humans. It’s great to live by codes, rules and by an order. It’s just that sometimes, by wanting to do the right thing we are actually attaching some things that shouldn’t be already. It takes other people to notice but we ourselves don’t feel so sure anymore. When we give our devotion to some idea, sometimes we believe that we do so out of our honor or loyalty. It’s so easy to say that you love an idea, and that you are impressed by a vision so why bother attaching labels that go much deeper than our obvious reason. In other words, let’s be straightforward or else we mask our good intentions and our good deeds in pretension. No more mincing.
With Panda, I was mostly in the light and forgiving mood. Nothing much was to be forgiven. Oriental tradition and oriental virtues are all around in abundance! Some reminded me of my own faith and the simple lessons that form the rock foundation of my faith. I like that the movie preaches about appreciating who you are and knowing that you are the secret to your becoming. I like it given today’s context. We are taught to like ourselves and yet taught to be the best in a certain yardstick. I prefer to become the best I can be and for good reason. I think it is simply put and better off that way. I also like the scene when Master Shifu attempts to teach the turtle master a lesson or two from the peach tree. All this noise about us being sufficient enough to change the world brings out a basic problem or two. Perhaps I hear this from so many activist, particularly environmentalists who propagate this sure-headed battlecry. Sure at all? By whose authority and strength do we actually determine the course of history? And do we indeed change the world or simply allow it to self-fulfill? Try as Shifu tried to move the peach fruit, he could not change the course of the peach tree. It is bound to grow sometime. It is bound to blossom and give fruit. It is not being simple-minded to believe that there is something far greater than ourselves who or which is in control of our destinies. Why counter the flow? We just need to be with the unraveling of the times and keep true to our mission in life. Is it simply perceived? The peach tree tells us otherwise.
Art and its various media teach us so much about what is and what should be. I’d like to think that my past entries on lies, denial and noise amount to this—if we can’t see truth, acceptance and peace in the simplest of things like movies, then there is something wrong with either one or all the three in the way we are. This is where I bash those that say that the truth is still out there. It isn’t. I am not closing the door on debate. I am simply making a declaration by which I know I can live by. It isn’t. It’s been in the stars for so long now.
And as the turtle master says: think of the present as a gift, that’s why it’s a present.
So we move on in transition to another phase—the amazing future.
But first, absolve.
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