Why Am I Crying? Feeling Disconnected?
So, it’s a Saturday night, the perfect date night after a long class at MINDDRIVE and as usual, I’m completely and totally exhausted from all that teen-age energy! The remedy is usually sitting in a dark movie theater, watching something that doesn’t really make me think, but laugh, and then go home to a restful night’s sleep.
We decided upon The Help which is a book that has been sitting on my Kindle for the past year, but I’ve just never gotten around to it yet. Darn it! I usually like it the other way around: book first, then movie, but oh what the heck! Let’s see it. Great movie. Incredible storyline and well-developed actors – you care about each of them right from the beginning.
It moved me. It moved me to tears. And, as the movie went along, it began to sink deeper into my soul and found a place of profound sorrow. I was weeping by the end of the movie. I was embarrassed for my race. What was at the heart of it was knowing that this has yet to be remedied, even in our modern world and in our African-American-led country. The imbalance is still causing people to sacrifice themselves in order to move ahead in life. And, there are still plenty of pitfalls and hoops to jump through that seem really unevenly necessary.
Week goes by…another fulfilling day at MINDDRIVE and then, “what sounds good after dinner”. Ah, yes – a movie – dark theater, maybe some pretty people to stare at for a couple of hours and let my brain turn to mush. Sounds great! Choice this week = Sarah’s Key. Again, great movie. Great character development, felt the need to know each character and cared about them from the start, although this movie was much more frenetic at the beginning. Much more terrifying as well.
I was shocked! How did I get to this point in my life and NOT know that over 75,000 Jews were deported from France, sent to Auschwitz-Berkenow, Germany and exterminated upon arrival? Okay, that’s a little embarrassing to admit but to find out about this atrocity, through a beautifully told story expressed through the work and passion of a modern-time journalist whose genealogy reveals some connections and full-circle discoveries that rock her world…and mine.
Common thread…we are all connected. There are times in our past when this has been forgotten, has been suppressed by those in power for purposes of greed and sadistic control. But, on a gut level, a real deep soul level, I would like to think that we KNOW. We know that what happens on the other side of the world, when genocide continues to occur, happens to us, too. As long as we sit still and allow it to happen, we are part of the problem.
So, new goal… Stay awake. Stay connected. Do my part, whenever and wherever I can. Be a beneficial presence in the world. Because in the end and at the end, it’s all about “how well did we LOVE?”. How well did we love?
Anyone have similar experiences at these movies? Tell me.
One Comment
kari donovan
8/22/2011
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