MovieQuote Meditation: "Rebellions are Built on Hope"

It would seem like hope is in short supply these days. I don’t really need to elaborate on why people think that the world is in a really bad place (or why I have to agree with them).

I’m going to tell you something that you might not believe:

There is still reason to have hope.

There are a lot of bad things happening now. And bad things will happen in the future. But there are still a lot of things in this world that are good. And many good things are still waiting to happen.

Last December, a little movie called Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out. This film was about the team of Rebel spies who stole the plans for the first Death Star. Other than the obvious aim to make a profit, why would Lucasfilm want to go back and tell this story?

Wired

It’s like when a leader in my church brings up a story from the scriptures to make a certain point. We already know who wins. We know what’s going to happen. We already know the obvious moral of the story (the good guys win). But in the retelling there is a point being made that isn’t quite so obvious. Rogue One is about the battle against the odds that a mismatched team of heroes had to overcome to accomplish the feat that led to Princess Leia running from Darth Vader at the beginning of A New Hope--odds that included doubt from the leaders of the Alliance itself.

Lucasfilm’s point, whether or not intentional, was that everything those rebels worked for, everything literally fought and died for, was based on a shred of hope that the empire’s most dangerous weapon could be destroyed, and they could take down the empire and help the galaxy to be free of oppression.

My edit

Say what you will about the Empire’s ability to allocate resources and provide a system of order: it was a corrupt institution, run by corrupt people. The Empire didn’t care about what happened to the people it ruled over: it took what it wanted and punished those who disagreed with it. It controlled through the fear of force. Twenty years after the end of the Clone Wars, the Empire had finished constructing a superweapon that could obliterate entire planets. Now the Empire could not only punish dissent but destroy billions of innocent lives at the same time just to make a point.

“If the Empire has this kind of power, then what chance do we have?”

The Rebel Alliance council? They backed out because the odds of success were so slim. And because the Empire could do whatever they wanted. They didn’t have any way to compete with the Death Star. Not enough weapons. Not enough resources. Not realistic.

“We have hope,” says Jyn Erso. “Rebellions are built on hope.”

Cassian Andor had told Jyn the exact same thing when they were on Jedha trying to get a hold of Saw Gerrera. In her experience, there wasn’t really much reason to have hope, because she never had anyone in her life that she could count on to come through for her. Anything she hoped for never worked out. In spite of whatever efforts she made to have a life for herself, everything always went wrong. So she was kind of surprised to hear Cassian say that the Rebel Alliance operated merely on the hope that their contacts would come through for them.

Giphy

But what convinced Jyn otherwise? Seeing Chirrut Imwe stand up to a bunch of stormtroopers with just the Force and a walking stick helped her to see that anything was possible. Seeing Jedha destroyed by the Death Star had convinced her that she couldn’t turn a blind eye to the Empire’s atrocities any longer. And the hologram message from her father had given her the hint that, powerful though it was, the Death Star had a fatal flaw that could be exploited. Her father had only worked on the Death Star on the hope that by doing so he could keep Jyn safe and undermine the system he hated so much. He had built the flaw in the reactor. He knew that so much power in the hands of the Empire was wrong. And he knew that Jyn would understand that idea.

The Empire had troops and fighters and ships and endless resources. They had a weapon that could obliterate entire planets in seconds, and it was heavily protected so that attacking it would be futile. Being realistic, the Rebellion didn’t stand a chance. But Jyn and Cassian went ahead and got a team together to steal the Death Star plans from the heavily-fortified archive on Scarif because they knew that somewhere in those plans there was a key to destroying the Death Star and striking a blow against the Empire. If they could steal the plans and find the design flaw, then they had a chance to do something. At every step during the battle, everything could have gone wrong. Every main character--Jyn, Cassian, K2S0, Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze--had to find the hope to take the next step without the guarantee that they would succeed--without the assurance that they would live to see their effort rewarded.

“Do you think anyone is listening?”

The Battle of Scarif was actually a huge decision point for the Rebellion: either they took the opportunity to do something about the injustices of the Empire, or they just walked away. And when a small group of rebels decided that something needed to be done, there was no turning back.

Bustle

Sometimes winning a real victory is not about how many guns and ships you have. It’s about using your brains. And your heart.

“We will take the next chance and the next, until we win or the chances are spent.”

The fundamental thing is, rebellions are about hope. Hope that an unjust government CAN be overthrown. Hope that improving the system will bring provide life, liberty, and happiness for others. Hope that the risks to get those freedoms are worth it. Rogue One is a film about the sacrifices that heroes in a war-torn galaxy made so that hope could be possible.

Geek n' Sundry, via Pinterest

In real life, when it seems like everything goes wrong, it can seem more logical to think that there is no point making an effort to better your lot, because it won’t work out. But when you do whatever it takes to reach your goals, the little things day after day, your hope can become a reality, even if it takes shape slowly.

Whenever you see an opportunity to do something, to make a difference, to change the way things happen, take it. Do what needs to be done even if your chances of failing are astronomical. Take action or else your enemies will win. As a great Jedi master once said, “Do or do not. There is no try.” Either you take action or you don’t. The ability to act is in your control. To attempt the thing is to DO the thing. But you have to believe that your effort will be what is needed.

Favim

Sometimes hope is a lot less substantial than a message from your dad informing you of a reactor flaw and a thermal exhaust port. And sometimes you know that the odds of you getting whatever you’re hoping will happen are a lot steeper than someone being able to actually hit a two-meter exhaust port with a missle.

But it’s okay to hope that things will turn out for the better. Because it’s not unreasonable that they will. You don’t have any reason to believe that you’re going to fail. Your life can be as happy and rewarding as you want it to be. It IS within the realm of possibility. Even when the rest of the world is collapsing, there is still reason to have hope that things will be all right--that you will be all right.

When the time comes and you have the chance to make a difference, seize it. Even if you fail. Even if you lose. Even if you die, it's worth it.

Pinterest

Have courage.

Have hope.

MovieQuote Meditation #3: 'Til the End of the Line

I’m not going to lie, I would have killed for a best friend like Bucky when I was in middle school. Like Steve, I was unpopular and didn’t really have any peers my age I could talk to.

But I’m older and wiser now. I strive to be a friend to others the way Bucky was to Steve and vice versa: loyal, kind, and willing to help the other person be happy.

The words “I’m with you ‘til the end of the line” don’t have to mean anything, and yet to an entire fandom they embody the boundless devotion and loyalty between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. They invoke the moment when it looked like Steve would pay the ultimate price for being Bucky’s friend. Steve uttered them to show that he was willing to let the Winter Soldier do what he was trained to--if that was the only way to reach the man he hoped was somehow still inside.

Via hollywood.com

To me, “til the end of the line” means that you are willing to support and stay with the other person no matter what. It’s true that this applies literally, but also consider this:  if they want to be alone, you give them their space but keep them in your heart.

Take Steve after his mother’s funeral in the flashback in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Bucky offered to let Steve come stay with him. Steve, however, wouldn’t hear of it. Though he had health challenges he made it a point to take care of himself, to stand on his own two feet. And what was more, he wanted to be alone with his grief for a while. But Bucky made it clear that he didn’t need to--and Bucky knew that no one ever has to suffer grief alone, not without a friend by their side.

Via sites.google.com

I’ve found myself in situations where I’ve had friends having a difficult time right when I wanted to do something else with them. But when I understood that my friends had different needs, I put aside my own expectations so they could take care of themselves. The fact that we didn’t end up hanging out quite the way I expected did not change the fact that we were friends. Showing someone that you are their friend means giving them whatever they need to deal with their challenges--and that can mean that you are letting them take their time. Through whatever the other person has to go through, through whatever they choose to do or how they decide to deal with it, you stay with them.

Captain America: Civil War coming out on May 6th marks the long-awaited day when Steve and Bucky will be reunited.  However, the circumstances of that reunion will be trying for both of them, and even without a war raging around them, our favorite super-soldiers aren’t going to automatically have a perfect relationship again.

Via newmediarockstars.com

Why, for instance, did the Winter Soldier leave Captain America lying on the bank of the Potomac and go off on his own instead of wait for the man he knew was his friend to come around? Why at no point before, during, or after the events of Age of Ultron did Bucky not turn up again? In my opinion, Bucky simply wasn’t ready. He had seventy-plus years of physical and emotional trauma and PTSD and heaven knows what else to deal with. He had to figure out how to live with himself and either hide or find some way of getting a normal life or both--and none of that is easy with a metal arm. He could have simply wanted to figure out himself first. In fact, he may even have been afraid to go back to Steve and didn’t want to at all. If that’s the case, I think Steve will understand--he might be frustrated, but he’ll understand, in the end.

Looking for someone who didn’t want to be found probably wasn’t easy for Steve or Sam Wilson or anyone else involved in the search. But when Bucky does turn up, Steve will be ready to do whatever it takes to help him. In fact, Steve will fight and die for his friend because in the past, that’s what Bucky did for him. Their relationship is unique because Bucky was Steve’s closest friend in the formative years of his life, and he’s the only friend, no matter how damaged, that Steve has left from his past. He was the ‘friend in middle school’ when Steve was the unpopular kid. Seeing Bucky become the butt of a government reprisal against superhumans, spearheaded by people that Steve considers bullies (and you know how Steve feels about bullies), will push Steve to the brink. 

Maybe Civil War will be dark and gory and maybe it’ll take some uncomfortable turns for the development of all our favorite characters. But there’s reasonable hope, in my opinion, that Steve will be true to himself, be the good man that Doctor Erskine saw him as, the man who became a hero because he wouldn’t rest unless the best friend who had given him everything was safe.  

Via geeksout.org

The important thing is, do YOU know what you can give to the people you care about?

MovieQuote Meditation #2: Have Courage and Be Kind

Growing up a Disney girl, I liked the original animated Cinderella but I was never super crazy about it. The remake that came out last year, however, is currently one of my favorite movies. I love that the characters are deep and three-dimensional. I love the music score by Patrick Doyle (because nobody can compose a waltz like he can).  I’m not a huge fan of the dress but the transforming scene is above and beyond equivalent scenes from other versions of the story. I love the all-star cast and being a huge MCU nerd I loved seeing Hayley Atwell and Stallan Skarsgard. I love, love, LOVE the fairy godmother because she’s a boss.

Via cinematiccrashcourse

But one of the things I love the most about Cinderella is the message:  “Have courage and be kind.” In the year that has passed since Cinderella came out, I have had a lot of time to reflect on the meaning of those words. In fact, they got me through some difficult times.

To have courage means to keep going in spite of opposition. Life isn’t perfect.  It is too easy, the moment we are confronted with something difficult, to just turn around and walk away, give up, and stop trying.  But when we have courage, we continue doing what we know is right. We keep on trying in spite of the odds.

Via playbuzz

One of my favorite parts of Cinderella is probably one of its darkest moments.  After her stepmother and stepsisters leave for the ball, Ella runs out to the well in front of the house and cries.  She is at the end of her rope.  We do occasionally give up and burn out, and that’s OK. When those moments come--not if, when--ask for help.  Don’t worry about the things you can’t control.  Just get back up.

Kindness is treating other people the way you want to be treated.  It is showing courtesy and respect to everyone in spite of the ways in which you are different from them.  You don’t put others down because you don’t know them, or because you don’t like them. And you have a cheerful, positive attitude about life, and not give in to the despair even when that seems like the most reasonable thing to do. When you are kind, you share your positivity with others. You see things, in the words of the narrator, “not as they are, but as they could be”--you see the world for everything that can be changed for the better, you see people for their potential. It is looking beyond appearances, because, as any lover of stories knows, appearances are often deceiving. It is withholding judgment.

Via thehunchblog

Ella first meets Kit when he is out hunting in the woods.  She’s having an awful day, she’s hitting her breaking point with how her stepmother and stepsiblings treat her.  She could have treated Kit with resentment or complained to him about her problems. She could have back-talked him because he looked like a rich snob in the same category as her stepfamily.  But she only rebuked him for hunting an innocent stag.  She recognized that he was showing gentlemanly concern for her and she showed him respect in return. Ella saw him for his goodness and didn’t balk at his manners and his dress. She saw that he only wanted someone to treat him as “Kit” and not a prince.  Being kind to Kit was what helped Ella to win his affections--not just her good looks, but her sensitivity. It is being kind and showing respect to others that opens doors and creates opportunities.

Via ABC news

‘Courage’ and ‘kindness’ aren’t words that are used very often together. But having courage isn’t just about facing things that are scary to everyone: it is facing things that scare you. Being kind is not allowing the threat to have power over us, it is not downplaying the threat, it is being considerate of others in how we respond to a challenge, not just worrying about what’s in it for yourself. 

Ella never stood up to her stepmother until the very end, because Lady Tremaine trying to keep Ella apart from Kit was neither right nor fair.  Before that point, Ella had nothing to gain from fighting back. And after that, Ella forgave her stepmother because she had no reason to hold onto a grudge--isn’t holding onto grudges and grief what poisoned Lady Tremaine’s heart in the first place?

Via whatsonnetflix

Lady Tremaine thought, perhaps because of her own upbringing and because of her own personal losses, that the only way to get what you want in life is to take what you want by force.  But Ella understood that if you have courage and be kind, then you will have what you need, and then the rest can take care of itself.  It is not the material things like ball gowns and titles and wealth that mean anything in the long run.  It is things that aren’t measured or counted that make the most difference.

Next week: Til the end of the line