Thoughts on a film or two

I recently watched two Sandra Bullock movies, both which I really enjoyed. She is one of my favourite big screen actors and these two movies put the pin down on some life lessons in two very different ways. I watched two really different movies in which Bullock plays two very different roles; The Blind Side and All about Steve.

The Telegraph's website, a page I visit quite often described The Blind Side beautifully;

The Blind Side is blind to ambiguity or to complexity. It’s a celluloid version of Paul McCartney and Stevie’s Wonder’s Ebony and Ivory, one in which pious, infantilizing didacticism masquerades as humanitarianism. “The past is gone. The world’s a good place,” Leigh tells Michael.

Sometimes we need that sort of boost in our lives from things like movies to inspire or motivate. We are only human after all and we can’t always get it from our own inner energy. Movies like this really remind me that my life is not so bad. The two voiceovers at the end of each movie by the protagonists were really meaningful to me;

Michael Oher; “Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or mistake, but you're not supposed to question adults, or your coach or your teacher, because they make the rules. Maybe they know best, but maybe they don't. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn't at least one of the six hundred guys think about giving up, and joining with the other side? I mean, valley of death that's pretty salty stuff. That's why courage it's tricky. Should you always do what others tell you to do? Sometimes you might not even know why you're doing something. I mean any fool can have courage. But honor, that's the real reason for you either do something or you don't. It's who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important, then you have both honor and courage, and that's pretty good. I think that's what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honor. And maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some, too.”

And then there’s Mary from All About Steve, although a complete ditz throughout the whole movie, her character made quite some sense at the end when she compared doing a crossword to life in general; “New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz says we all have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces. I like to think he means not just with crosswords, but the empty spaces inside of us that come from making your way in a world that doesn’t always embrace unique. I try to fill my empty spaces with words.”

Yeah, evidently me too :)

Courage is a tricky thing. Whether we need it to fill empty spaces or jump from an aeroplane, we will always need it somewhere along the road in life. These two films made me realize that we may not be able to change the past, and we need courage to realise this. But at the end of the day, even though it might be hard to see it; the world is a good place. Everything that has happened did so for a reason. Personally, I have just had to let go of something I can’t change about the past, and I think we all have to at some point. And in my point of view, if something is meant to happen, it will. Just like Michael Oher said; it is who you are, where you come from, and what you do that makes you someone in this world. And if he can find courage from a back ground such as his, then why can’t we all? Whether you think the world is a bad place or good place, you’re still someone in it right?

And we have to make the most of that. It’s important.