"You are all connected."

"Man thinks they are each alone in this world. It is not true. You are all connected. One act can one day affect all."

I love Lady in the Water. I know, I know. Most people are absolutely appalled by the film, and with 24% positive reviews on RottenTomatoes.com, it's clear the critics didn't care for it either. Even still, I'm captivated by it every time I watch it (and it's not just James Newton Howard's gorgeous score).

There's a term for everything, so I'm sure there's a term for this, but I don't know it. In any case, I love movies about how one individual touches the lives of many. Examples: Lady in the Water, WALL-E, and The Terminal. In each of these stories, the main character affects the lives of those around him/her in extraordinary ways. Story makes people believe. She rallies a group of ordinary humans to do something great by showing them that each man has a purpose that is intergrally related those around him. WALL-E gives purpose to everyone he comes in contact with by inspiring them to reach out. His own intense loyalty and selfless love for EVE reminds people around him of what is important in life. Viktor brings a group of otherwise ordinary people together by inspiring hope in them with his own undying optimism.

I love stories like these. Maybe because these characters reach out and touch me the same way that they touch those in the film. For the sake of film as an art, stories like these make the audience part of the film. Rather than watching from the outside, we are invited to be amoung those who are affected by the main characters. In a way, these kinds of films are true reminders of the fact that, as the adage goes, truly no man is an island. We exist in a complex tapestry that both allows us to influence others and allows others to influence us.

We may not all be Storys, or WALL-Es, or Viktors...But hopefully that won't make us blind to notice them if they one day come into our lives.


Love and peace,
Aemilius