THE IMPORTANCE OF WATCHING MOVIES
I think it is fair to say that we all have a little more time these days. Time to think about our collective values, and go deeper on our understanding of what makes our life worth living, in an upbeat way. Or, more time to watch movies. I think there are three movies that are essential viewing in these times. They are entertaining and, they get us thinking about the bigger meanings in life. These movies so cleverly reflect our societal values back to us and ask us to see our role in the mirror.
As we relate to the protagonist, the hallmark of all good movies, we experience their growth in an almost first-hand way. We are primed to go on our own journey of self-discovery and personal growth. I think this is the greatest good that could come from this COVID pandemic.
I left Joker and Parasite feeling like I had looked into a magic pond that took reality and amplified its underbelly. I walked from the theatre in a trance, thinking deeply about how connected we all are. Jojo Rabbit takes a deep look at racism through the adorable perspective of a child Nazi. It allows us to see racism’s roots with compassion, and remain gripped as we see the evolution of reconnection to our shared humanity. Spoiler alert; love is always the answer.
In Joker and Parasite, dismissing the humanity of the mentally ill or poor eventually leads to the destruction of the rich because we are all ultimately inter-dependent. In these COVID times, treatment of the elderly, the homeless, the underpaid grocery clerk, migrant workers, the poorly treated Indigenous, black and Asian members of Canada, has become utmost in our hearts, and actions.
This is a big shift. The bar of what action can be reasonably taken to address global issues has shifted significantly. If we can stop the economy driven culture for the corona virus, why not for elder’s care, child poverty, anti-racism? We are only limited by our collective imaginations. There has been a tectonic shift. The challenge is to re-stabilize with a new mindset and this is where good movies come in.
After seeing Joker, who among us wants to expound on the virtues of a hierarchy. It becomes so clear that when taken to an extreme, the assumption that people at the top deserve to be there, and to claim the prize of money and respect is ugly. By logical inference, the people at the bottom also deserve to be there and receive disrespect, abuse and lives of poverty.
This perspective on life is rooted in an understanding of power without its often-forgotten companion qualifier. In the economy driven world, power is defined as the ability to assert your will, even against resistance. The often-forgotten qualifier is the Goldilocks Principle: not too much, not too little, just right. This is what distinguishes the Warrior King from the Tyrant.
If one cowers in the face of a challenge, taking too little action by avoiding, blaming or denying it, life pushes us around. This is not good. Heroic push-back is required. At the other extreme, the objective drive to assert one’s will, even against resistance can lead to excessive collateral damage and eventually a backlash from people who have nothing to lose. Also, that power wielding guy becomes the Tyrant in the story, and let’s face it, it feels better to be the Hero or Warrior King. The ideal use of linear power is to find that zone in the middle.
Joker is ripe for a sequel. Until that happens, we all get to imagine how this story might end well.
I didn’t see it at first, but Parasite has the same message. We are in the home of the poor people and see their humanity, cleverness, and hard-work ethic. The hierarchical system is shutting them out and locking them into a life of poverty. They live down the hill from the rich, and every once in a while, a torrential rain floods their homes with the sewage overflow from homes on the hill. It is a powerful metaphor.
Next we are in the home of the rich, and we see their struggles and passions. They are also good and flawed humans. The men of the two households have a driver to business man relationship and they like each other, but there is a barrier. The rich man finds that the poor always have that smell. That’s why they have to be kept separate.
In the horrifying climax of the movie, when the poor father sees the rich man wrinkling his nose in disgust despite a moment of mutual crisis, the poor man snaps. It was such a small, visceral gesture. But in that note of ignorant superiority, the rich man failed to recognize that he has created the mess that the poor endure, and smell of. The rich man saw the poor men as assets rather than human beings. The was the trigger for a good man to become violent.
It really makes you think about underlying assumptions. We often don’t have this luxury of contemplation when we are in the thick of an economy driven competition. But during quarantine, after a movie, there is time to reflect.
Jojo Rabbit puts us in the headspace of Jojo, a kid desperately trying to succeed as a junior Nazi, but he doesn’t have much natural talent. Perhaps with two parents in the rebellion, he feels compelled to find more stability through conformity to his environment. Jojo is so earnest in his effort you can’t help but like him. When he finds a Jewish girl, Elsa, hidden in his crawl space, Jojo decides to study her and write a book about her features which will make it easier for Nazi’s to find other Jews.
Finally he will be in with the gang! But his true nature gets the better of him and he falls in love instead. As he does, he shows us how to move from a fear-based world of hate to a love-inspired world.
The big message of the movie is that nobody changes when they feel under attack, not in a real way. Changing racism requires people to see the humanity in the other. This is the power of Jojo Rabbit.
