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This movie has made me ask a lot of questions, and I've only written about two of them so far (and incompletely, at that). One question that lingered in my mind at the end of the movie was about the main character, Jamal:
How did he preserve his innocence?
What is innocence? Is it being unacquainted with evil? Or unpersuaded by it?
Is it still believing in the good despite being surrounded with bad?
Here's some of what I saw in the movie:
Jamal wouldn’t let himself be wronged by people who sought to wrong him, or by those who carelessly tread on him. He knew what he deserved, and he didn’t let anyone tell him otherwise.
But he didn’t seek more than he deserved, either.* He didn’t care whether he won the money or not. He didn’t protect it fiercely, or fear losing it, as though it were already his; he also didn’t give it power over him by getting frustrated or angry with himself when he didn’t know the answers. His sudden arrest didn't sway him to lose, nor did his sudden fame sway him to win. And he didn’t seek revenge on those who tried to hurt him, wrong him or lead him astray: he simply refused to submit to them. Neither tricks, taunts, nor threats caused him to question his own worth or intelligence.
He understood the way the world worked, but he didn’t work that way.
He was not innocent, but he was blameless.
(* I'm thinking about what I saw of his adult life in the movie...I think as a child, he did let satisfying his need turn to greed a few times. Although I have a lot of questions about the line there, too.)
In the shadow of my first question is this thought.
I wonder what I would have done.
Would I have offered to be wounded instead of my brother? How far out the train would I have leaned to save my friend? Would I have said I cheated? Would I have cheated?
Which brings me to why I love movies like this one. Movies that place us in those situations over and over again stretch us, make us use muscles that we haven’t ever had to use before, even if only empathetically. It seems silly, but it reminds me of nights when I’ve gone to see a ballet and, walking out of the theater, I feel awakened both deeper inside and further out into my limbs than when I walked in. Why? Because with each movement of the dancer, there’s been a yearning inside of me to move like that. And behind that, a question: You were made just like me. Can you move like this? Why don’t you?
Can I live like that? Why don’t I?
2 comments:
"Because with each movement of the dancer, there’s been a yearning inside of me to move like that. And behind that, a question: You were made just like me. Can you move like this? Why don’t you?"
soo goooood lauren.
i saw this movie last night and loved it.
Lauren.
this post is great. i love how deeply you have thought about the movie.
i saw it a few weeks ago and immediately labeled it my favorite movie of the year. it made me think and feel and wonder and question. i think that is what a good movie should do. i think you nailed it with your thoughts and questions.
i think i loved jamal's character because i want to be like him in his innocence. to be so full of love for something that no person or circumstance can keep me from pursuing it. in that same way, i think we know that story all too well (and relate to it) because of the story of jesus and his blameless pursuit of us.
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