Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Art of Choosing

A short reflection on the movie The Dark Knight

Dark Knight teaches me what the very meaning of choosing really is. Life, as a series of choices, forces us to choose one choice among many choices. Then, one choice will lead us to another choices, one of which we have to pick once again. Choosing is, in fact, not as easy as flipping a coin and then look at what comes up, like what Harvey Dent does. Rather, it is an art of defining which choice that will do greater good, and picking it.

Through the whole story, we will see scenes of choosing done by those involved in the story: James Gordon, Harvey Dent, Batman, Joker, etc. James Gordon chooses to pretend that he is dead in order to set a trap on Joker and capture him. Dent chooses to purport himself as the Batman and be captured so that the people of Gotham will be pacified. Batman, in the end of the story chooses to the Dark Knight, a hero needed by Gotham, yet always chased. Joker, as we know, chooses to be a terror for Gotham, the evildoer and enemy. One interesting scene is when the prisoners and the people of Gotham are on boats, each group in one boat. Both groups are given choices, to blow the other boat or be blown. In the end, both choose not to blow each other. They throw the trigger away.

When we choose, we’d better be fully detached. Otherwise, our choices will be bias or even corrupted. We won’t be able to make a fair and unbiased choice. This is what happens to Joker and Harvey Dent. Joker is a person having very traumatic experience. His father was cruel to him and his mother. This painful experience forms him to be a cruel, tough, and evil guy. His choice to be the Joker, enemy of Gotham, is surely affected by his painful past. Harvey has a different story. He is onced the hero of Gotham, the White Knight. He captured many bandits in only a short time. He also put himself in Batman’s place, to be captured for the sake of Gotham’s people. He has a unique habit. When offering choices, he will flip a coin. He always wins because it is a counterfeited coin that has same sides. In this case, we could say Harvey always has a clear and discerned choice. These all change, however, after the burning set by Joker that take the life of his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes. He blames Gordon and Batman, for not saving her life. He turned to be an enemy. Coincidentally, one side of his coins is burned in that accident too. He will have to gamble, then, each time he gives choices. When Dent is not detached from that painful experience, he cannot choose with clear mind. This is actually what Joker plans for Harvey: even the best man in Gotham can fall into his side once his choice is affected by pain and sorrow.

We do have two faces, as what happens to Harvey after the burning. One is the face of evil, one of virtue. We have to choose one

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Be Yourself

(Reflection on the movie Kungfu Panda)

God works in each of us through our personal context, along with our perfections and defects. That is what the story of Po in the movie Kungfu Panda tells me. Po’s fat body and his hobby to eat a lot, at first seemed to be defects for him, have been means for him to be a Dragon Warrior, a Kungfu expert, and to defeat the ferocious Tai Lung. Master Shifu, Po’s teacher realizes that he can’t teach Po in the he teaches his Students, The Furious Five (Tigress, Viper, Mantis, Crane, and Monkey). Shifu, therefore, teaches Po Kungfu through what interest him most: food and anything related to it. After finishing his training, the Dragon Scroll is given to him. And, a new warrior is born: Po, The Dragon Warrior. The process of becoming a Dragon Warrior itself is rather simple. The secret is that there’s no secret. You just have to believe that you are special. Let yourself to be you. This reminds me of what St. John Berchmans once said: “Do ordinary things with extraordinary zeal”. It is with that belief that Po defeats the ferocious Tai Lung, who is after the Dragon Scroll too.

At first Po doesn’t think his fat body (with his sluggish movement, of course) would be useful. It turns out, however, to be God’s grace. All people have their defects, of course, but only few are grateful for those defects or even consider them as a grace. You just have to work on them and find out by yourself. Besides, you need trust and belief. It is when Shifu put trust on Po that he begins to look up and see himself in a different way. He was convinced about his destiny as the Dragon Warrior by putting trust on Shifu as his master. Finally, Po has to believe in his own capability of being a Dragon Warrior.

Po, once wanted to be one of the Furious Four, has become greater than them. Yet, he is not someone else. He’s still the same Po, who won’t reject any offer of steamed rice bread or a bowl of noodles. Just be you.

God works on every person, in his WAY, that is Gods way and that person’s way.

(St. Ignatius of Loyola)