Adoption and Superheroes: The Relatability of Superman's Search for Identity

So, during the past few weeks I have had a lot of different experiences centering on the theme of identity.  One specific example of this was the STM Dialogues.  This event was wonderful, and allowed for different members of the STM community to tell their stories.  All of the stories were focused on the various issues that people face when determining or owning their identity.  I actually submitted a piece myself to be performed, which was about some of the questions and transitions I have faced in my life as an adopted child.  In thinking of what I wanted to write for this post, and thinking on the theme of identity, I was brought back to a previous idea I had had for a blog post, which talked about one of the most famous adopted kids of all time: Superman.

I’ve been on a bit of a Superman kick lately, I’ll admit.  Ever since I saw Man of Steel, and found season one of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman on Amazon for like $10, I’ve been

Oh, the 90's goodness.

borderline obsessed.  It’s weird to, because Superman never appealed to me as much as other heroes growing up.  He was too much of a goody-goody, which made him boring (although I did LOVE Lois and Clark when I was a kid…and still love it…I recently bought season two).  I always liked Batman better (DC Universe-wise, anyway), because he was a little grittier, and less black-and-white.  He works in black “and sometimes very, very dark gray” (haha, LEGO movie reference).  Really, though, I could never relate to Superman the way I sometimes could to other heroes.  He was too good, to unshakable, too…super. 

However, what makes Superman more interesting to me now is his struggle with his identity, which is highlighted in Man of Steel (here come the SPOILERS).  Basically, the whole movie can be boiled down to Superman’s struggle of balancing his identity as Kal-El of Krypton, and Clark Kent of Earth.  In the movie, when Clark first realizes he is not his parents’ biological child, he is understandably confused and distressed (and on top of that, he can lift a freaking bus...puberty is confusing enough without all of that thrown in the mix).  His dad, Jonathan Kent, doesn’t want Clark to let anyone know he has his superhuman powers, because he is afraid people wouldn’t be able to handle it and would fear and hate Clark (the results of this order prove disastrous, which is typical when you’re forced to deny who you are…we all remember what happened to Elsa in Frozen).  He does encourage Clark to try

and figure out why he was sent to Earth, and what his other parents’ intentions for him were.  However, while Jonathan only has good intentions at heart, his actions really add to Clark’s confusion, distress, and fear of himself.

As a teenager, Clark goes through the somewhat typical stage of independence-seeking that all teenagers go through, and as an adopted kid, this includes the occasional “You’re not my real father/mother” retort that makes you want to punch him in the head.  However, tragedy strikes (as it usually does), and Clark comes to regret those comments (as he should).  Fast forward, though, and Clark’s a grown up man traveling from place to place in search of his identity (the song “I Can Go the Distance” from Hercules would fit in well with this part of the movie).  Eventually, he finds a Kryptonian spaceship in the Artic, in which he is able to learn more about his home world and the parents who gave him up so that he could survive its destruction.  When he encounters General Zod (the bad guy), Clark is faced with the decision to either help the General turn Earth into a new Krypton, or protect the people of Earth from destruction. 

OBVIOUSLY he chooses to protect the people, but if you really break down this decision, it’s a lot harder than it might seem at first glance.  Clark has spent his whole life feeling different, as if he doesn’t really belong anywhere.  He searches for any clues that will answer the millions of questions that are constantly swarming through him about where he comes from, and who he is.  When he finally discovers everything, he is given the option to completely embrace the identity he has found…or create a new identity based on who he was, and who he is.  As his Krypton father Jor-El states, “Born on Krypton and raised on Earth, you had the best of both and were meant to be the bridge between two worlds.”

Space dad with baby Superman

Superman is neither just Kryptonian, or just of Earth, but both, and he eventually realizes this and finds his purpose to be the protection of his adopted home.  While it is an extreme example, I’m sure there are a ton of adopted kids who could resonate with some part of Superman’s journey of identity.  I know I can, but most especially with his conclusion.  I have no desire to meet my biological parents or know where I “come” from.  I am completely happy with my life, and I my family is the most important thing in the world to me.  However, after years of anger and pain in regards to my biological parents, I have come to understand that they are a part of my identity as well, especially my biological mother.  If she hadn’t made the choice to give me up, I wouldn’t be where I am right now, surrounded by all of the people I love.  Like Superman at the end of Man of Steel, I understand that both my parents and my biological parents (where I am and where I come from) are hugely important to how I see myself and relate to the rest of the world.  Their decisions and actions have influenced my identity, and I wouldn’t be me if I never had all of them.  I think it’s important, in any search for identity, to acknowledge what has come before and what is happening now.  We are formed and molded by every aspect of our lives, whether large or small, whether we realize it or not.  I am not Superman, but Superman isn’t so hard to relate to anymore.  

Farm dad with pre-teen Superman          

See you next time,

Erin B.

And because I like to end on a laugh...

 

"Who Am I to Judge?": Why I'm Cautiously Optimistic About Pope Francis I

There’s been a lot of buzz about Pope Francis’ first extensive interview since his election, which was released to the public last week.  As the resident Catholic of Her/Story, I figured I should spend some time reflecting on what the Pope had to say in what proved to be a wave-causing piece.  Before I dive into the article, however, I want to share my initial thoughts about our new Pope.  I’m not gonna lie…I was hesitant when he was first elected to fully embrace him as my spiritual leader.  I knew very little about him (he was no even a blip on my Papal radar…I was pulling for Cardinal O’Malley myself).  Immediately after he was elected, I heard mixed responses from my fellow Catholic-people.  Most of what I knew and heard was good and encouraging: he’s from Argentina and is the first Pope from this side of the Atlantic Ocean, he was a member of the Jesuit order, and while serving as Bishop in Argentina he passed over many of the “perks” of the job to live a simpler, more humble life.  So that was good.  Not so great were rumors that he was ultraconservative, and that he was negatively involved with past political conflicts in Argentina.  Again, though, I knew very little, so I decided to withhold my ultimate opinion until I saw what he did with the position.

Six months later…I’m really starting to like this guy.

He is turning out to be a bit of a rebel-rouser, which I greatly enjoy, and he hit the ground running when it came to implementing some changes to how things are done, especially by the Papal Office itself.  Pope Francis continues to maintain his modest and humble lifestyle, not living in the papal apartments, but in the less elegant guest house.  During Holy Thursday last year, he washed the feet of juvenile inmates…including the feet of a couple of girls, which had never been done before by a Pope.  I won’t get into all of the reasoning behind not washing female feet…just know that this was a significant moment in the history of the Vatican.  He began to rework the Curia to de-centralize power, and then there was his now widely known comment in regards to gays and lesbians: “Who am I to judge?”

And now, with his big interview, he has given me more reason to be optimistic.  He called the Church out for negatively obsessing over gay marriage, abortion, and contraception.  That is not to say that he approves of any of the above (one step at a time, people), but he acknowledges that “The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you.”  He has been criticized by the more conservative side of the Church for not speaking out about these issues yet.  But the Pope wants to turn the Church away the path that it seems to have found itself barreling down, which makes it appear rigid, uncompromising, inhospitable, and exclusive.  Instead, he wants the Church to put its focus back towards Jesus, and work on healing “wounds” and warming “the hearts of the faithful.”  Whereas Pope Benedict sought to protect the church by solidifying the core of ardent believers, Pope Francis seems to want the Church to be a welcoming community that all believers can feel at home in.  True, there is still a long way to go for the Church to be considered completely inclusive, and I don’t think even under this Pope we will see same-sex marriage accepted, or the ordination of women into the priesthood (although he does say that the role of women needs to be seriously considered, and a stronger theology of women developed).  I truly hate using political terms when discussing Church matters, but I wouldn’t put Pope Francis as a liberal, or a conservative for that matter (his passion for the poor and social justice would not fit the mold).  Instead, he is in the middle, trying to balance traditional doctrine and modern ideals that seem to have only clashed in the past several years.  I remain cautiously optimistic, however, in what Pope Francis could do for the Catholic Church.  If nothing else, he is setting the stage for a future we might not have thought as possible before.

What are your thoughts on the new Pope and what he’s been saying and showing to the world?  Let me know!

Bye for now,
Erin B.

For the English translation of Pope Francis’ interview, following the link to the American Magazine website: http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview

Summertime Recap

Hello, loyal Her/Story readers!  It's been a while, hasn't it?  Sorry about that, but summer...ya know?  This post isn't going to be anything real intellectually or spiritually substantial (I gotta ease back into this), but I kind of wanted to tell you all a little about my summer and what shenanigans I managed to tangle myself in.



Me at the JFK Museum

I spent the whole month of June in Boston, and was super poor so I didn't do a whole lot.  What I did do, though, was pretty sweet.  I finished editing manuscript one of my trilogy (there may be a promotional blog post about this later...stay tuned).  This was significant because editing is my LEAST favorite part of the whole book-writing process.  I was able to explore the city, though, and that was great because I hadn't been able to do a ton of that kind of thing during the school year.  I marched in the Pride Parade, which was an experience I will never forget.  I visited museums (I highly recommend visiting the JFK memorial museum and library if you're ever in the area), and spent time with many of my friends, growing closer in my relationships since we were without the overshadowing presence of school stress.  I even went to Maine, which. Is. GORGEOUS.





Glorious Maine

Most of my summer, however, I spent in Iowa with my family.  Circumstances made it necessary for me to fly home for an extended period of time, but I wasn't really upset about it.  I love Boston, and I love all of my friends there.  But I never miss Boston like I miss Iowa (

and when do miss Boston, it's mostly because of my friends there).  When I miss Iowa, I get this dull ache in my chest, like my heart is desperate to be there.  A lot of that has to do with my family (save for a cousin in Texas, pretty much my entire family, immediate and extended, is in Iowa and Nebraska), but some of it really has to do with the state itself and what goes on there.  I love Iowa in the summer.  Near the middle of summer, it gets really beautiful when the fields are green for miles and meets a wide, pure blue sky.  When faced with that, I can't help be feel happy and content.

I loved being home.  I got to watch my little brother rock at varsity baseball (he's going to be a sophomore), and help my sister prepare for her next life adventure...college.  I got to spend time with my mom and my dad, joking, teasing, pranking, and fighting.  I was able to see much of my extended families, through reunions of various sorts.  I hung out with some of my closest friends, and even participated in one of their weddings.  I turned 24!  I also was able to find work, and received a much appreciated scholarship that's going to go a long ways to ease my financial burdens over these next few months. 

All-in-all, my time in Iowa was wonderful, and I'm sad to be leaving.  I'm not sad to be going back to Boston, though.  Like I said, I miss my friends there and am ready to get back into a routine with school.  I have one year left before I'm forced to face the real world, and though I would love to come back to Iowa (or nearby) right away, I'm leaving myself open to whatever opportunities may arise in the near future.  I'm happy with my life, and I'm happy with where I think it's headed.  But, as summer starts drawing to a close, it's a little bittersweet.  I know that I will never be able to repeat several of the experiences I had over these last few months, and that next summer will look very different that this one has.  That's okay, though...it's part of growing up (or so I've been told).  So, I hope you all had a great summer as well.  I also hope you stay with Her/Story, and continue to read and interact with us.  We love doing this, and as we enter our second year of blogging together, we hope to continue doing this for a while.  Until next time!

Erin B.

The Pain of Love...And Why We Want It So Much

Feel free to listen to this before, during, or after you read this post.  It's just a good old-fashioned love song :)

 

I struggled to think of something to write for this week’s post.  Seriously, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t come up with something that would make a significant piece that would be worth writing...let alone reading.  But then, as I lay on my couch watching 27 Dresses it struck me…I could write about love.  I’ve written about love before, but that was more about loving everyone in a way that would keep us from being assholes to each other.  This time, I want to write about the one-on-one love (mostly romantic, though I am not discounting friendships and familial love by any means) that both fascinates and terrifies us…that drives us towards committing ourselves (whether for the rest of our lives, or for just the present moment) to another person.  I am writing this as someone who has never actually been in love, but has observed it enough to have some sort of understanding of how it works…I think. 

Love has actually been on my mind for a while now.  I have quite a few friends who are getting married, engaged, in serious relationships, or have reached a point in their lives where they are ready to intentionally search for a love in a way they hadn’t been before.  I’ve also been watching a lot of romantic comedies lately (I am currently unemployed and have a lot of time on my hands).  Now, I know that Hollywood’s depiction of love and romance is not always right…and not always healthy…but I think there is some truth in what is portrayed, at least as far as reflecting society’s obsession with love and finding love.  We sing about love, we write about love, we read about love, and we flock to see love portrayed on the big screen in various scenarios.  Love makes us laugh, cry, hurt, and feel more joy than we probably ever thought possible. 

Love can be impossible.

 

Sometimes, we scoff at love because we don’t want to seem squishy and sappy (as I write this, I find myself wincing at some of the sappiness that is leaking through…but we plunge ahead!).  We harden ourselves to it because our world is sometimes so cynical, there seems to be no room in it for love or the desire and hope for love.  We can have the wrong ideas and expectations of love, thinking that it’s supposed to be this force that makes us happy all the time, every day.  The reality, though, is that real love is oftentimes one of the most painful things we can ever experience.  Love is terrifying.  It makes us vulnerable and opens us up to a special kind of hurt that only that person who we give our love to is capable of inflicting on us.  We face heartbreak, hopelessness…and outright rejection.  Love can make you want to curl up into a little ball and never face the world again.  It can make you want to lock away your heart and never give it away, so that you never have to feel that kind of pain.

 

Complicated: Check.  Scary: Check.  Doesn't Always Go the Way You Hope: Double Check

 

For all the pain love can make us suffer, however, we still obsess over it.  As mentioned before, I just finished watching 27 Dresses before sitting down to write this post.  I love that movie for several reasons, but one reason is because it shows that sometimes you find love where you weren’t looking for it.  Love can be complicated, and I always appreciate movies that portray this.  I also watched Love Actually for the first time, and, well, I loved it (teehee).  I liked that it showed different kinds of love…and that not every couple ended up living happily ever after.  It’s closer to real life.  While I do love the stories where the couples overcome every obstacle to be together (I’m a hopeless romantic at heart), I recognize that that is not always the case.  Love can be gritty…and sometimes it can be hopeless.  Another movie I watched that reflects this is My Best Friend’s Wedding.  Sometimes, no matter how hard you try or how much you wish it, your love is not always returned and it does not always win.  It’s sometimes a harsh reality, but it doesn’t mean you give up on love.  You just can’t let the heartbreak stop the rest of your life from continuing on. 

 

Love isn't always where you think it will be.

 

Ultimately, though, love and being able to love is worth fighting for.  I don’t think any group of people demonstrates this better than the LGBTQ community.  I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to walk in the Boston Pride parade not that long ago, not as a member of the community myself, but as an ally who believes no one should have the authority to tell someone who they can love and what kind of person they’re “supposed” to be.  I think it is an amazing testament to the importance of love that people are willing to fight so hard for their love to be acknowledged as equally important and as worthwhile as others’.  I think we could all learn something from the LGBTQ community about the importance and commitment of love…because I think the rest of us too often take advantage of love and too easily throw it away.

Despite all of the pain and fear that love can throw into our lives, however, it is a truly beautiful thing.  To truly find love is to not settle for the shallow, feel-good love that ends when the honeymoon phase is over, but to strive for the kind of love that causes us nearly as much pain as joy, that gives us the courage to fight to keep it, to throw all of our cards in on the person we think we can make a real life with.  If you are lucky enough to find this kind of love, the love that meets the test of time, the kind of love where you lay everything you are out in the open for the other person to see, the kind of love you are willing to fight and work for…then you are the reason the rest of us keep hoping, keeping searching, and keep risking the pain on the off chance that we’ll also find that joy.  Love is never neat and clean, and it shouldn’t be.  That much emotion, that much dedication, should be something that challenges us every day and makes us grow as individuals and as couples.  I am not in love, and don’t think I can honestly say I have ever been in love…but it is something I hope for, and will continue to hope for.  Not everyone feels the same as I do, and that’s okay.  Love can come in all shapes and sizes, and people might not always want to find romantic love.  But I think it is one of our greatest capabilities as human beings, and despite what real life often shows me, I will always be secretly sappy and I will always cheer for, and hope for, love.              

A little treat for all those hopeless romantics out there (like me)...and because I watched this movie this week as well :)

 

With love,

Erin B.



 

Iron Man 3 and How to Survive Graduate School Finals

I just finished finals, which consisted for two fifteenish page papers, two ten page papers, and two classes.  Needless to say, I have very little to offer in the intellect department this week, but I wanted to post something anyway as a kind of brain detox.  So between this and countless episodes of Boy Meets World, I am letting my brain relax a little bit and not think about the apocalyptic components of Biblical texts and about how people in Victorian America adapted the Gothic style of architecture to Protestant values so it could become a part of their domestic Christianity.  I got mini-headache just typing that sentence.  Anyway, the following post is a two-parter, and neither section has really anything to do with the other.  Why?  Because I said so, that’s why.  The first part is a short little review of Iron Man 3.  It’s short because I can’t make it long without giving away spoilers, and it’s still so new that I am less confident that everyone has seen it.  The second part of this post is a survival guide of sorts.  It’s a list of things to remember/do in order to survive graduate school finals (though most of the list could be applied to any level of finals-taking-torment).  So, let us begin.

Part One: Iron Man 3 Review

I’m not going to lie…I freaking loved this movie.  I’ve heard that it’s been getting kind of mixed reviews, but I was blown away by it.  Not only was it epic, action-packed, with a bit of romance, but it was also HILARIOUS!  There are so many zingers in this movie (that Robert Downey Jr. delivers perfectly, by the way), that I was laughing about as much as I was thinking, “Holy shit, that’s awesome!” (in regards to explosive fight scenes, high-tech badassness, and Downey Jr. getting thrown into various walls).

The movie has a different feel to it than the first two and The Avengers.  Tony Stark is dealing with a lot of deep, personal stuff throughout the whole thing, and I think he is actually in the suit less than the first two (but when he is in the suit, epicness ensues).  Not only does Tony have to deal with his own issues, but he has to balance being a superhero with his relationship with Pepper Potts, as well as track down an enemy he doesn’t even know where to begin to find.  Ben Kingsley as the villain of the movie, the Mandarin, is wonderful, and he’s a bad guy whose terror lies in what he represents…fear in something that you don’t fully understand and can’t know what to expect from.  The gadgets that Tony has in this movie are also really, really cool.  They range from an electrified garden-glove, to the seemingly boundary-less J.A.R.V.I.S. we have all come to know and love.  And of course, there is the Hall of Armor, displaying all of the previous models of the suit from the first two Iron Man movies as well as The Avengers, which is just plain nostalgic-cool. 

There is a lot of symbolism in this movie, playing into the deeper issues for the characters.  Again, I can’t really go into detail without giving away significant moments in the movie, so you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.  Overall, though, Iron Man 3 is less “look at all of the neat stuff I can do because I’m a superhero” and more “what are some of the consequences of this hero-stuff?”  Granted, I think The Avengers is still the best movie Marvel has put out so far, but really, how do you beat something that’s pretty much every Marvel movie (literally) rolled into one sweet package?  There are also a lot of references in Iron Man 3 to the events of The Avengers (some of those events being the cause of Tony’s inner turmoil), so it’s a really smooth transition between the films and continuation of the overarching storyline shared by all of these movies of a larger universe with extraordinary individuals existing within it.  In summary, go see Iron Man 3, or don’t be cool.

Part II: Erin B.’s Tips to Surviving Graduate School Finals (Or Other Levels of Finals-Taking-Torment)

1.      Plan ahead.  I know, I know, you’ve heard it before, and it’s easier said than done, but seriously…if you are staring down a week in which you have more than forty pages of paper-writing due, you need to plan that week out.  There are only so many hours in a day, and only so much time you can consecutively spend staring at a computer screen before your eyes cross or you pass out.

2.      Go where you can be productive.  If, when studying at home, you are at risk of easily giving into temptation and watching four episodes of Boy Meets World back-to-back as a “study break,” then you need to get the hell out of your house.  Personally, I found I could put up a better fight surrounded by my studious peers who could make me feel guilty enough to actually focus on my work.

3.      Caffeine, caffeine, caffeine.  This one is pretty self-explanatory.  If you try to avoid drinking caffeinated anything in your everyday life, good for you…but all bets are off during finals.

4.      Nap in public places.  If you need a nap, I suggest taking one in the library lobby or somewhere equally accessible to anybody.  Why?  Because then you won’t be tempted to keep sleeping after your 20 minutes are up.  Every time I try to take just a 30 minute nap at home, I’m lucky to be up after two hours.  Avoid naps where no one can find you.

5.      Don’t let your social life die.  This one may surprise some people, because it might make more sense if I said do let your social life die.  But no, your social life doesn’t have to die, it just has to get mono and not make out or swap water bottles with anyone for a little while.  Interacting with people is fine, healthy even, so that you don’t become a zombie-shut-in who forgets how to actually talk out-loud.

6.      Watch what you eat.  Try to consume a least one thing during the day that isn’t going to leave you hyped-up on sugar and caffeine.  Remember, your body still has to be able to function once the week is over.

7.      Don’t listen to the Les Miserables soundtrack while trying to write a paper.  Just don’t.

8.      Protect your space.  If there are undergrads filling up the space in your library, don’t feed them or they’ll come back.

9.      Take dance party study breaks.  Just do.

10.  All’s fair in love and war…and finals week.  Finals weeks are not like any other time of the year, so don’t think that you will be able to function like they are.  Writing quality can plummet, friends can turn into enemies, and harmless undergrads can seem like the most annoying things in the world.  But no worries…it will all balance back out once that final exam or paper is done.                    

The Day After the Elections: Let's Talk About Love

It’s the day after the elections, and my Facebook and Twitter have been bombarded by statuses and Tweets exclaiming either exhilaration or bone-deep disappointment.  Sitting in class this morning, I listened as people either aired their angsts or sat in glee of their perceived victory.  While a part of me is relieved that the whole mess of an election is over for now, mostly all I feel is frustration so intense it almost brings me to tears.  I feel this way not because my candidate won or lost, or because my ideals were upheld or dismissed.  No, I feel this way because all of those Tweets, statuses, and conversations are showing me exactly what our country is still missing.  In the wake of some of the most vicious, bloodthirsty campaigns I have ever seen, I think we as a people need to take a good long look at ourselves and really see what it is we have become, and what we need to do to change it.  You’ve heard it before, and I’m saying it again.  Our society is broken, and it’s going to take a lot more than politics to fix it.

Remember him?  Nice guy.

To that end, I want to talk about love.  I don’t mean “Romeo and Juliet” love, or I’m-on-fire-for-you love.  I want to talk about good old-fashioned, all-inclusive, unconditional, world-changing, fire-in-my-heart, Jesus-kind-of-love.  Yeah, I’m going to talk about Jesus.  If you’re reading this and thinking “Oh great, a Bible-thumper” or “No! Not Jesus” let me just stop your train of thought right there.  First off, you obviously need to read most posts in this blog.  Secondly, even if you don’t believe that Jesus is God Incarnate and the Savior of the World, I think we can all agree he was a pretty decent guy with a really good message.  And since so many people during this election process have been throwing around Christian “ideals”, I think it would be a good idea to look at the man himself.  What Jesus says about Love in the Gospels is a message I think our country really needs right now, whether or not you won last night.                                                

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (NASB John 13:34)

            What kind of love are we talking about, exactly?  It’s not an easy kind of love, but it is an all-consuming one.  It’s the kind of love that keeps you from judging someone based on what they look like, or where they stand in society.  It might not lead you to the most popular choice, but it is the kind of love that makes you listen to someone and get to know them before you come to a conclusion about their character.  This is the kind of love that keeps you from turning your back on someone in need.  The kind of love that causes your heart to ache when you hear of a grave injustice in the world, and then that ache drives you to do something about it.  It’s the kind of love that doesn’t shut out people who have been deemed “undesirable”, but rather seeks those people out because you recognize their importance.  This is the kind of love that demands you respect someone not because of what political party or ideology they hold on to, or if you agree with them about certain issues, but because they are human and you are human. 

Jesus healed the lame and the sick, gave sight to the blind, dined with tax-collectors, and let the little children come to him.  He reached out to the marginalized, the “undesired”, the people society pretended didn’t matter.  Was Jesus wealthy and influential?  No.  Was he a great political leader that everyone rallied around?  Not really.  Jesus was simple, a poor carpenter who caught the attention of a few people in his society, but he saw that the world was broken and change needed to happen.  He believed everyone deserved love and respect, and specifically paid attention to the people in his world that needed it most.  In the end, his beliefs and his teachings about love and acceptance got him killed…but we are still talking about him to this day.  What if our society was like that?  What if we actually gave a damn about the people around us, even the ones we sometimes wish would just go away?  What if we weren’t so focused on being right all the time, or being in charge, and instead focused on the members of our society who need our help the most?  What if we didn’t think about what political parties people aligned themselves with, but instead helped those in need and accepted people’s differences simply because it is the right thing to do?  What if, just for a moment, we didn’t think about ourselves?    

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”  Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (NASB Mark 12: 28-31)

            Jesus holds up “love your neighbor as yourself” as one of the most important commandments, second only to the commandment that there is one God and you should love God with everything you have.  The commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” even beats out murder and honoring your father and mother!  In this passage, Jesus is relaying to his listeners that, next to God, love is the end all be all.  It’s not “love your neighbor as yourself if…” or “love your neighbor as yourself unless…”  No.  The message is “love your neighbor as yourself” no matter what.  The end.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Well, in the past few years our country has been doing a shit job of this.  Even Christians, who are supposed to adhere to what Jesus has to say, have allowed themselves to be swept up in the negativity and brokenness of a two-party system that only pits people against each other.  What if we did listen to this message, though?  Or one like it?  What if we, as a people, adhered to a message of compromise, compassion, and understanding instead of the currently popular one of “us versus them”?  What if, instead of thinking of the other party as the enemy, we thought of them as a partner?  What if (and this one is really crazy so brace yourselves) we treated everyone with the respect and dignity we would want to be given in return?  Did I blow your mind with that one?  It’s okay…take a moment to collect yourself before you read on.

But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (NASB Luke 6: 27-28)

            Why did we let it get this bad?  During the entire campaign process, I was disgusted by the low-blows and out-and-out attacks the candidates threw at each other (you should read my post about political ads to get the full extent of how awful I thought all that was).  What disturbed me more, however, was how the American people treated each other.  Neither side is guilt-free for stereotyping, name-calling, finger-pointing, or just plain ignorance when it came to the people of the opposing party.  I have no doubt that feelings were hurt, and friendships were fractured if not completely broken.  And for what?  To elect someone they don’t have a personal relationship with into a seat of power from which he most likely CAN’T fulfill everything he promised because too many factors go into the governing of this country.  

This video kind of sums up the whole campaign.

Yes, people want change and people want equality for all, which are very good things to want to work for.  This is all well and good (I’m not going to lie, I was really hoping certain people wouldn’t get into power after several very inappropriate and idiotic comments about rape), but it is not worth destroying relationships and people over!  Change can happen without being nasty about it.  Debates and campaigns can happen in a respectable manner that doesn’t attack a candidate on a personal level, merely a political one.  And they don’t even have to attack!  There is a saying, “Kill them with kindness”.  If a candidate presented themselves in a way in which they treated their opposition with respect and civility, I would be much more inclined to choose that person because they didn’t feel the need to publicly humiliate their opponent.  But that just doesn’t happen anymore.  The American people feed into the attack ads and low-blow campaigns because we respond to them.  We eat them up like they’re the truth, but they’re really more like shit-popsicles, filling at first but they leave you with a bad taste in your mouth and a nasty gut-ache later.  People are divided and just refuse to work together if they are not one the same side, and the whole nation suffers for it.                

 

            I have presented a lot of questions in this post, and not a lot of answers, but that’s because I don’t have them.  As much as I hope and pray that things will get better, I don’t know what is going to happen in the next four years.  I do know that change needs to happen, and a little love would go a long way in this country.  We have an opportunity to steer the country in a better direction, but we have to stop fighting and actually work together.  As I finish this post, I can’t help but wonder “what would Jesus do” if he was here now?  Most likely, he would curse a whole lot of fig trees and start flipping tables left and right before settling down and telling us we are all idiots who need to get over ourselves and work through our shit.  And he would be right.

"Beauty and the Beast": Reclaiming the Beast as the Good Guy

 

Watch the prologue to get you started :)

 

The idea for this blog post came to me when I was watching Beauty and the Beast with my roommates.  Somehow, we started talking about some of the negative interpretations people have towards the movie, and I found myself defending the film.  I don’t even remember how the conversation started, but I felt so strongly afterwards that I knew I had to share my perspective with the world.  So, lucky you all get to read it.  First off, I will admit to a bias: Beauty and the Beast is my FAVORITE movie…ever.  I have the lines and songs memorized, and collected various toys and figurines in my childhood (and present young adult life) that had to do with the movie.  Bias aside, though, I think it is a movie worth defending.



I'd be pissed off too if I had to spend my teenage years looking like this

The common negative message that is taken from Beauty and the Beast is “if you love him enough, he will change.”  To people, this movie seems to imply that a girl can change her man even if he is in some way abusive.  This is obviously not a message that we want to give to our young people, especially young girls, but I honestly do not see that in Beauty and the Beast.  Okay, okay, I suppose I could see the whole “her love will change him to a human” thing running along those lines, but I think a lot of people give the Beast a hard time, and he doesn’t deserve it.  Belle changes what he looks like, but not who he is.  I would like to offer a more positive interpretation.  Let me break it down for you.  First off, let’s look at the Beast instead of Belle.  If you pay close attention to the movie, you figure out that the Beast was eleven when he was cursed (the rose is supposed to wilt when he is 21, and in the song “Be Our Guest”, Lumiere sings “ten years we’ve been rusting…needing so much more than dusting…”).  Not only does the enchantress’ actions seem a little hasty (what eleven year old is really going to know what love is?), but you realize he spent his very confusing teenage years as a beast with no other human interaction (because, you know, everyone else in the castle is a piece of talking furniture).  OF COURSE HE IS PISSED OFF!  Also, wouldn’t you be wary of travelers when the last one to visit your home changed your species?  So, forgive me if I am willing to forgive the Beast’s couple of temper tantrums in the beginning of the movie.

Let’s bring Belle into the picture.  Does anybody else notice that she doesn’t fall in love with him until after he becomes less of an asshole?  He doesn’t change his behavior because she loves him and her love has some magical healing quality, he ultimately changes how he acts because he loves her…he just doesn’t know how to show it.  It has been ten years since he has encountered a human, and he probably never had many encounters with women before Belle.  He doesn’t know how to act, so he is demanding and yells a lot at the beginning because it is what he is used to.  When he sees that his actions actually drive her away (she literally runs into a wolf-infested forest in the middle of the night to get away from him) he realizes he needs to rethink his behavior. 

The Beast is never a bad guy, and really has a huge heart.  He is just awkward and very self-conscious in the beginning of the movie, angry at the world and what has been done to him, and it makes him lash out at those around him.  Belle is the only person who doesn’t take his shit.  He has lived his whole life with servants jumping at his commands, and people being afraid and intimidated by him.  When Belle refuses his command to attend dinner their first night together, his response is a temper tantrum because no one has ever refused him before.  He also is in a panic because he is running out of time to break the spell, and Belle is most likely his last chance.  He overreacts, but this is in no way appealing to her.  She is actively trying to avoid being around him.

The major turning point for the two is when Belle runs away.  Again, she willingly rides into a dark, dangerous forest in the middle of the night to get away from the Beast after he goes berserk on her for sneaking into the West Wing, his private domain (which he forbid her to go into).  She is attacked by wolves, but had she not been, she would have kept going and would never have gone back to the Beast ever again.  The wolves surround her and she tries to fight them off, but there are too many.  Suddenly, the Beast appears out of nowhere and begins fighting off the wolves.  There is a bit of “why was he following her?” floating in the back of your mind…he could have realized she would fall into danger, or again, panic that he wouldn’t be able to break the spell without her could have motivated him.  Whatever the reason, it doesn’t negate from the fact that he risks his own life to protect her.  I’m not going to lie…this is my favorite part of the movie.  Then, when he has won and collapses into the snow because he is so hurt from the fight there is a moment where she almost leaves him there!  She turns back to her horse as if to keep going, but hesitates.  Finally she goes and drags him back to the castle to tend to his wounds.  So, what lesson can we take away from the movie so far?  If a guy is a jerk to you, leave his ass!  And unless he does something epic like SAVE YOU FROM A FREAKING PACK OF WOLVES, don’t give him another chance.

The great part about this whole rescue thing is that Belle doesn’t swoon at his feet and say, “I’m now madly in love with you!”  She is not an idiot.  In fact, they get into a fight almost right away!  Belle is cleaning the Beast’s wound that he received from the wolves, and he is a bit of a baby about it and yells at her, but she yells right back.  He blames her for going to the West Wing, and she shouts back that he should learn “to control his temper”.  Belle is no pushover, and the Beast knows she has a point.  The next section of the movie shows a blossoming friendship between the two.  Belle realizes that the Beast is not as rough and beast-like as he first appears, and the Beast recognizes that if he acts more like a human being, she will treat him more like a human being.  He acts a little more civilized, though he definitely stumbles along the way, and starts wearing shirts.  They come to care for each other, that much is for sure, but neither make mention of love yet, and the Beast seems to be falling faster than Belle.

A WHOLE FREAKING LIBRARY!

Let’s pause in the storyline to do a quick comparison with the other suitor in Belle’s life.  Gaston is, by all accounts, a dick.  He wants Belle only for her beauty, and would rather see her barefoot and pregnant in his kitchen (or giving him foot-rubs by the fire as he quite bluntly puts it) than living out her dreams.  Gaston, early on in the movie, even criticizes Belle for her constant reading, saying “It’s not right for a woman to read.  Pretty soon she starts getting ideas…and thinking!”  The Beast, on the other hand, knowing how much she loves books, gives her his WHOLE FREAKING LIBRARY as a gift.  In a scene that was cut from the original movie, the Beast even takes her up on her offer to teach him to read.  Gaston thinks Belle’s father is crazy and uses Maurice to try and manipulate her into marrying him.  The Beast realizes that Belle cannot be completely happy if her father is not well, and he lets her go at an incredibly crucial point in the story to be with him (more on that later).  Gaston is handsome and everyone fawns over him (except Belle of course), and this just feeds into his considerable ego.  The Beast is, well, a beast and people tend to fear him before they get to know him, so he is cautious and unsure of how to act around others.

This. Is. Adorable.

So, let’s return to the actual storyline, when things start to reach their climatic end.  Everyone remembers the lovely scene of Belle and the Beast dancing together in the ballroom with Mrs. Potts singing “Beauty and the Beast” in the background.  Classic, wonderful, but it’s the scene that comes right after that I am most interested in right now.  The Beast asks Belle if she is happy…because he gives a damn…and she says yes, but she misses her father.  Wanting to make her happy, the Beast gives her his magic mirror to check in on ole’ Maurice with.  Maurice, having set out to find and rescue his daughter because he believes the Beast to be a monster, is seen collapsing in the wood from sickness.  Belle is obviously concerned about her father, and wants to go to him.  The Beast…wait for it…let’s her go!  Even though she is still technically his prisoner having promised to stay at the castle for the rest of her life, and even though letting her go pretty much guarantees his curse won’t be broken and he will stay a beast forever, he lets her go.  He.  Lets.  Her.  Go.  Why, do you ask (because Cogsworth certainly does)?  The Beast’s answer is simple.

“Because…I love her.”

 The Beast has fallen so selflessly in love with Belle that he is willing to give up his very humanity so that she can be happy.  He is willing to give up the humanity of everyone else in that castle as well!  Belle doesn’t know about any of this…she doesn’t know staying with him and loving him will break the curse.  He doesn’t tell her.  The Beast never tells her about the curse and how it can be broken.  She leaves…and she leaves so easily, without giving any indication that she will come back, that you wonder if she is actually in love with him yet.  The Beast’s heartbreaking roar as she gallops away doesn’t even make her pause.  Of course, she eventually does come back after being locked away by Gaston, who then leads the townspeople on a man-hunt…or beast-hunt, as it were. 

Now things are really getting intense.  The Beast doesn’t put up a fight, initially, when Gaston barges into his room and shoots him with an arrow.  Really, though, what is there left for him to live for?  He can’t change back into a human because the woman he has fallen completely in love with has left.  Sure, he could try to live out the remainder of his days as a beast, but the past ten years of it haven’t been that great, and the townspeople knocking down his door to kill him just because of his appearance is probably not that reassuring either.  It’s only after he sees Belle charging towards the castle that he gets a little pep in his step and starts whooping some serious butt.  Do note, dear readers, that unlike many other Disney movies (or lots of non-Disney movies, because it’s a popular theme) the Beast is technically not saving Belle from anything (except maybe a crappy marriage).  She was captured, but the teacup Chip got her out.  Did she have to go back to the castle?  Nope.  No one was guarding her, or had put a spell on her.  She didn’t have a prince coming charging in to fight her dragons.  Belle goes back to the castle to try and stop Gaston from killing the Beast.  She wants to rescue the Beast!

I , for one, would not want to be on the receiving end of that!



There is nice little mini-lesson that can be learned from the Beast and Gaston’s showdown.  When the Beast starts fighting back, he obviously is going to win because, come on…he’s a beast.  However, when he has his hand around Gaston’s neck and is dangling him over the edge of the castle, pretty intent on dropping him, he doesn’t.  Even though it ultimately would have saved him a knife to the back, the Beast releases Gaston and snarls, “Get out”.  That’s a positive message.  No matter how much you are provoked, just walk away.  Of course, Gaston still ends up falling off of the castle and dying anyway because he stabs the Beast, who rears back in pain and knocks Gaston into the air.  That’s an accident though.  The point is, the Beast is a role model.
           
The ending then, of course, has the Beast dying with Belle kneeling over him.  As he breathes his last, tears spring to her eyes and she begs him not to die, softly proclaiming her love.  Then magic marbles fall from the sky, the Beast turns into a Prince, and they live happily ever after.  The End.  It’s nice and sweet, and everyone is happy.  So, yes, her love does change him in the end…but it changes him physically, not mentally or emotionally.  He did that all on his own, and Belle would have happily walked away and never looked back had he not changed his treatment of her.  She was able to get past his beastly appearance to see the big heart he had always had underneath.  That is the intended message of this movie.  Look beyond the physical to the beauty beneath.  And that is a message I think our world really needs right now.  So, let’s give the Beast a break…he isn’t the bad guy.

Until next time!

Erin Broich

Enjoy the original theatrical trailer before you go :)