As my five-year-old's spring trip with her dad is getting closer (she'll be gone three weeks this time), R and I decided to take her on a Mommy-Daddy-Daughter date, just the three of us. We had an absolute blast. Dinner and a movie, complete with cotton candy and "daddy will you carry me?" ("She won't ask that much longer," I reminded him as he did :-3) My heart was absolutely full the entire time.
However, as much as I love to gush about my family, what I really wanted to blog about was the movie.
It. Was. Awesome. The more I think about it, the more I love it. The scenery... The characters... The messages... Especially the messages. Scattered here and there throughout the movie were GREAT lessons that I was simply THRILLED that my children would grow up learning: Acceptance of others; independence; redemption; unwillingness to accept anything less than freedom - even when incarceration is wrapped in such pretty finery. But probably my favorite part, at least the part I can't get out of my head, was the changed lyrics in the Mob Song.
**Spoiler alert**
As the mob is on the way to the castle, singing about killing this mysterious monster about whom they know nothing, and how they're "counting on Gaston to lead the way," Gaston pipes up with:
"Call it War, call it Threat
You can bet they all will follow,
For in times like this they'll do just as I say."
Wow. If that isn't the truth. How sad, to look back at history (even RECENT history, as recent as today) and see good people band in fear to follow vicious, blood-thirsty, immoral leaders. This point is accentuated shortly afterward when the townspeople declare:
"Sally Forth, Tally Ho!
Grab your sword! Grab your bow!
Praise the Lord and here we go!"
Praise the Lord. Even as they draw their weapons to slaughter an innocent life, they are singing God's praises.
These are not evil people.
These are not even 'bad' people.
These are good, God-fearing individuals... who have allowed fear to disorient their view, and guide their actions.
The thought is heart-breaking, because truly they are victims themselves... of their own inability to look further than the borders of their "poor provincial town". And because this is happening every day...
But there is one part in the song that gives me hope: at this point in the story, Lefou has started to realize exactly how messed up of a guy Gaston is, and quietly to himself he sings:
"There's a beast running wild, there's no question
but I fear the wrong monster's released."
He sees it. Someone sees. In fact, the very someone who once considered this 'beast' a friend has started to see right through him.
And that's exactly what I see happening every day, in the everyday world.
The world seems like it's going crazy, there's no doubt about that. And in this day and age, with all of this crazy going around, it's nigh to impossible not to let the fear consume us. So many are being guided by it every day, following their own versions of Gaston, or simply allowing their fears to cloud their views.
Yet even in the midst of the chaos, I see hope shining brightly like a ray of light through the smoke of battle. Every day, someone else wakes up. Every day, someone new realizes, "Hey, they're just like me. Why haven't I accepted them before?" More and more people are realizing -truly, consciously realizing- that the golden rule we were taught as children, "Do unto others as you would have done unto you," wasn't a warning... and that it really is so important.
Maybe I'm some lovesick hippy whose delusions that we can all, one day, live in peace will only break my heart. ...But maybe, just maybe, I'm right. Maybe the many of us who have come to this conclusion... maybe we're onto something.
