Tag Archives: Storytelling

With Honors

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With HonorsMonty: Why did you say that I was a loser?
Simon Wilder: Winners forget they’re in a race, they just love to run. You try too hard.

Monty: Simon wrote his own obituary, and he asked me to read it. “Simon B. Wilder bit it on Wednesday.”
[they laugh]
Monty: “He saw the world out of the porthole of a leaky freighter, was a collector of memories, and interrupted a lecture at Harvard. In 50 years on earth he did only one thing he regretted. He is survived by his family: Jeff Hawks, who always remembers to flush; Everett Calloway, who knows how to use words; Courtney Blumenthal, who is strong, and also knows how to love; and by Montgomery Kessler, who will graduate life with honor, and without regret.”

Quotes borrowed from:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111732/quotes?ref_=tt_trv_qu

Years back, I got the opportunity to spend a semester in Rome.  In preparations for the trip, a student who had been the previous semester was advising the group of us to make sure we really took in the sights we were going to be encountering; clarifying that he saw too many people who were so focused on capturing the sights through the lens of a camera and not ever stopping to just take in the beauty that the camera can’t capture.  That same advice would have been ignored by our lead character, Monty, played by Brendan Frasier until a series of events brings the homeless Simon Wilder, played by Joe Pesci, into Monty’s life.  Simon, on the other had – would have been content to catalog his experiences in a series of rocks, rather than miss the breathtaking scenes around him.

With Honors begins with Monty meeting with a professor about his thesis and Monty is assured that if all continues on the path he will graduate Summa Cum Laude.  But, when a computer meltdown sends him running to copy his only hardcopy of the first ten chapters, Monty manages to drop his precious thesis and it falls into the boiler room of Harvard’s Widner Library.  So, Monty sneaks to get his paper only to find it being tossed page by page into a furnace by Simon.  They strike a deal, that for each good thing Monty does for Simon, he gets one page of his precious thesis.  It is through this process that not only does Monty learn to see life as something more than a series of tasks, but he also learns that even a homeless bum is a human and therefore precious.

So, I’ve already told you to two of the biggest lessons…but how, and what else can we pull out of With Honors? 

1.  There’s nothing wrong with achievement, but don’t lose yourself along the way.  Whatever it is that drives Monty, his childhood, his desire to do good in the world or the desire to be the best; he’s so bogged down in the academic that he’s missing college life, ignoring his feelings and not seeing the good he could do now.  Monty’s page-by-page interaction with Simon forces him to slow down and to re-evaluate life (and his thesis).

2.  All human life is precious.  Simon is a bum.  He’s well-travelled and self-educated, but for whatever reason, is a homeless wino who left his wife and young son many years prior.  Monty starts off helping him only because his thesis is being held for ransom.  Monty’s roommates don’t want anything to do with him…he is ridiculed by one of Monty’s professors and basically everyone he encounters.  While visiting his son, a little girl comes running out and asks her daddy (Simon’s son) who the man in their driveway is, to which he replies “nobody.”  But Simon is human, as are all those who are in similar straits as well as the affluent.  One of Monty’s roommates, Jeff, is particularly scared by Simon.  Finally Simon calls him on it telling him that the reason Jeff doesn’t like him is because Simon looks how Jeff feels.  I wonder if that’s true for a lot of us…

3.  The best relationships come from friendship. Monty is in love with his roommate, Courtney.  They are obviously very close friends… but with a little push from Simon, Monty finally lets Courtney know how he feels.

4.  You can do your best to right your wrongs, but people may still hold a grudge. Simon goes to visit his son and it’s pretty clear that his son isn’t about to “forgive and forget.”  But, you can only do so much.  Maybe, if Simon could have lived longer he’d have seen a true reconciliation with his son.  But, given the constraints of his life, he didn’t have much choice.  So, you have to do what you can do…  but in the end, you have to live with the consequences and forgive yourself when there’s nothing else left.  The other line behind this is – do what you can not to have to right any wrongs.

5.  Sometimes the biggest regrets are not the things you’ve done, but the things that are left undone. How often do you wish you’d taken a chance?  What about telling someone special how you feel?  It takes a little prodding, but finally Monty gets it.  Simon finally goes to see his Son.  It didn’t go well, but he did it, he got to see his granddaughter.  Maybe if he could have stepped up the pace a little – things might have gone differently.  In any case, I’m not saying that you need to jump on every opportunity or chance for change that breezes past.  We do need to make decisions about which ones are really important, and which ones we need to allow to float past.  Maybe the question to ask yourself is “Will this be something I will really care about in 5, 10 or 20 years?”

6.  Write your own obituary.  In the film, Simon has a collection of obituaries and is studying them to write his own.  Simon actually writes that he “bit it” and lists that he left his wife and son, owning up publicly to something he could easily have chosen to keep private, sort of a public confession.  Have you ever thought about your obituary?  What points of your life would you want in print?   Does your family know what to put in for you?  Take the time to write it.  Does it make you see your life differently?  Does it make you feel like you’re busy for nothing?  You might find it helpful in prioritizing your life, but maybe it can also be something that can help your family in the event of your demise.  Hopefully, you’ll get to revise it MANY times before such an event happens, but none-the-less, it might be a great starting point for that end of life planning you’ve been putting off.

With Honors is PG-13 for good reason.  The “end” of Monty’s friendship with Courtney is left to the imagination although they are in bed together at one point. There is a quick shot of Monty’s rear when he jumps out of bed to help Simon.  Other than that, there are a lot of sex jokes and innuendo that infiltrate most of the movie.  But, if you’re wavering, I’d say the lesson learned is important enough to make it worthy.  It might also be that you could use clips to illustrate certain points about seeing others as human and how we can help each other.

The Music Never Stopped

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Drama

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Borrowed from IMDB.com

Borrowed from IMDB.com

Have you ever thought about a soundtrack to your life?  What do you think of when you hear a wedding march?  What about when you hear Taps?  What about if I started singing “Soft kitty, warm kitty..?”  All those songs have a particular meaning or memory attached to them.  I remember one particular song from my grandfather’s funeral and I have to choke back tears every time I hear it.  How did you decide what the first song you would dance to with your new husband / wife?  Why is that dance so important – how has that tradition lasted so long when so many other wedding traditions have been deemed passe?I don’t remember ever seeing a trailer for The Music Never Stopped, but this is one to catch if you missed it the first time through.  In the story, a phone call reunites a couple (Henry & Helen Sawyer) with their son, Gabriel, who had walked out about 20 years prior.  When they meet him, he has a brain tumor and had been living on the streets for some time.  The tumor is benign, but since it had gone untreated so long, his brain is damaged, preventing him from making memories.

Gabriel appears to be living in a nearly comatose state and only seems to be able to communicate using rhymes and songs.  So Henry enlists a Music Therapist to help Gabriel using the music he thinks Gabriel should respond to.  What happens next is that Gabriel responds to a different tune more consistent with his adolescent years.  In grappling with that Henry learns how to interact with his son in a new way – and even create new memories!  If you’re a “Dead Head,” a fan of the Beatles, Buffalo Springfield or any other similar bands of that era, you’ll be in Heaven musically!

So what can we take from The Music Never Stopped?  This family is all about music.  Henry is a big fan of Count Basie, Bing Crosby and classical music.  He raised Gabriel with an appreciation of this music, quizzing him on artists, years, and stories behind each song or why it is important to their family story.  Gabriel learned a lot while listening to all those greats.  In this case, music was used to help learn facts – not just through the music, but about the music and about their family.  Music was a way to open a conversation until they no longer had the same music in common.

In his teens, Gabriel joined a band and his musical tastes changed.  To Henry, this divides them.  He no longer has the common music bond to keep the conversation running.  He actually blames the music for his son’s rebellion.  Helen however, listens to Gabriel’s music as it reminds her of when he played in the band (before his illness), and helps her remember what he was like then.  Again, memories are attached to the music, a common theme throughout the movie.

We see Gabriel come alive when the right sort of music is played.  For Gabriel, that means the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, and many others.  Henry’s frustrations and fears of the time when Gabriel left all come back with a fury and he’s ready to give up on the whole thing.  However, he finally learns that in order to reach his son, and bridge the gap that forced their family division, he will have to give Gabe’s music a shot.  He lets Gabriel explain to him the meaning behind the lyrics and the relationship begins to bloom.

Mass music is a constant debate around my work these days.  Many of our youth are begging for more contemporary music while right now, the only book they are allowed to use only has a handful of tunes more recent than 1980.  For some, that’s “contemporary,” but not for these kids who were all born after 1990.  I consider myself a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Mass – however now that we have a Latin Mass here, according to them I’m a liberal, but that’s a whole other issue.  But regardless, I do find that many of the old traditional tunes very moving.  I get goose bumps every time I hear the traditional Ave Maria.  However, I’ve also found several contemporary tunes that move me.  So, it’s a debate of old verses new.  Is there a right or wrong?  To some, there’s only one way.  But, to me, it’s an opportunity to teach.  Start with where they are, meet them on their level, but then bring in some of the old, help them gain an appreciation for it.  You can’t force it…  but you can work things in.  As it is, many contemporary Catholic artists are using some of the old with a slight twist – what a great way to start bridging the gap. Check out Matt Maher’s Adoration or Curtis Stephen’s In Paradisum if you want to see examples of what I’m talking about.

So back to my original question:  What is the soundtrack to your life?  Do you try to listen to what your children, students or others are listening to, or do you block it all out?  I encourage everyone to do the same thing with music that I’m trying to do with film – reach people!

Another question:  We see Gabriel learning to interact and retain memories using music.  Do we use music enough in Catechesis?  If you don’t use music, did this movie help convince you how it can help?  I always liked to use it to help introduce or reinforce a topic.  How many us remember the Preamble to the Constitution thanks to School House Rock?  Sadly, I can only recite the Prayer of St. Francis if I sing it in my head (or out loud)…  But also, knowing some people are not so moved by music, what other methods can we use to help make learning stick?  Check out materials on Multiple Intelligences!  You’d be surprised how much it can help!

The Music Never Stopped is rated PG.  It’s not something little ones would be interested in, but is clean and great for opening discussion about music, but most importantly – what moves us!!

For more information about The Music Never Stopped check out:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613062/

Big Fish

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Big FishYoung Ed Bloom: There are some fish that cannot be caught. It’s not that they are faster or stronger than other fish, they’re just touched by something extra.

Will Bloom: That was my father’s final joke, I guess. A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way he becomes immortal.

Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor both play Edward Bloom in this mix of fantasy and reality that leaves you wondering what was really true and what wasn’t.  Edward is dying, apparently far enough along that his son Will (played by Billy Crudup) has come to be with him.  Will thinks his Father’s stories are all tall tales (or at least not “short ones” as Edward says), each one more extreme than the last.  The viewer is flipped back and forth between  Edward’s deathbed and flashbacks to his youth up through adulthood.

I honestly still don’t know if I fully “get” Big Fish, but I really like it and watch it on a regular basis.  It’s a beautiful film and watching it (more specifically the stories Edward tells) remind me of all those far out bible stories we’re taught from the time we’re kids.  Sometimes, I identify more with Edward – that the stories are necessary, something to draw attention to an otherwise boring event.  But sometimes, more often than I’d like to admit, I find myself identifying with Will, saying “just get to the point.”  There’s even an exchange where Will hears the real story of the day he was born from Edward’s doctor.  Will comments that he likes the boring version, but even the doctor says if he had the two stories to choose from, he’d pick the elaborate one.

So, let’s be honest.  How many of us find ourselves identifying with Will?  Do we want God to just get to the point?  Do we doubt what God is telling us – either in Sacred Scripture or in our lives? How do we deal with it?  Have we had any experiences that might make us lean a little more to Edward’s side?  Will thinks his Dad tells these stories to steer attention to himself.  Since the primary event that splits the two is Edward’s toast at Will’s wedding, is it so much that Edward steers to attention to himself, of that Will feels like he’s not the center of things?  How does that relate to us?  And when we identify with Edward, what is it about him that we identify with?

This is also a good time to reflect on some of those bible stories we think are pretty impossible.  Did Moses really live to be 120 years old, or was that just an issue of calendars?  What about Jonah and the whale?  Would we have paid attention to the birth of a savior without all the angels, shepherds, wise men and a death threat?  Do we think these stories are a case of poetic license or a statement of fact?  And, if you see it as fact, then what about the stories with differing details?  Or do the details really matter?

As Edward is dying, he keeps saying “That’s not how I go.”  He supposedly saw his death in a witch’s eye when he was a child.  Does he really know how he goes or is it just his way of reassuring everyone? What do you make of it?  If you knew how you would go, would it reassure you, or scare you?

What about the reoccurrence of water?  And Edward’s statements that he’s thirsty – or drying up?  Can the water have a reference to baptism?  Is his thirst physical or spiritual?  What sort of case can you make for each?

What or who are the big fish in our lives?  Do we bait it / them with gold or something else?  Edward finally catches his fish, but he lets her go.  What do you make of that?  Could Edward letting the fish go be equated with God’s Mercy somehow?

What story or stories would you want to be remembered for?  What story should you tell your children – or remind them of?  What happens when you tell or retell your stories?  Do your listeners believe you?  Do you have storytellers in your life?  What sort of stories do they tell?  What role does storytelling have in passing on our faith?

As you can see this is a film that leaves us with more questions than answers (even without my spin on things).  There’s just enough truth to everything that you just don’t know what all to believe (like when Will finds the deeds to Spectre and the visitors at Edward’s funeral).  All we really know is that Edward Bloom is a social person and Big Fish is full of stories!  I guess the final question is, “Does it matter?”  I’m still finding things (possible meanings, glimmers of meditations and ideas for discussion) in Big Fish – and somehow like Edward’s stories, I think there will be plenty here to think about for a lifetime!

It is rated PG-13 for some brief scenes involving nudity although not sexual.  There is also a headed exchange between Will and Edward – and one sexual reference, so if watching with a young audience, you will definitely want to preview it first…  but on the whole, it’s a fantasy with adventure, laughs and drama and Tim Burton’s classic style of cinematography.

For more info, check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/