I Am Not My Brother’s Keeper… Or Am I? : What The Summer Movies Have to Say
I Am Not My Brother’s Keeper… Or Am I? : What The Summer Movies Have to Say
(By: Stacey Tuttle)
Up, Transformers, My Sister’s Keeper. What do an animated kids’ movie, an action blockbuster and a tearjerker drama have in common? Three very different movies, one common theme – a question as old as Cain and Able: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Up: Strangers helping strangers
Little Russell wants to earn one final Wilderness Explorer badge, and to get it, he has to help the elderly. Carl Fredrickson is elderly, but wants no help. Not only does Carl not want to be helped, he doesn’t want to help anyone else either. He doesn’t want to help Russell get his badge. Doesn’t want to help Kevin (the bird) be reunited with his family or Doug the dog be freed from an evil master.
Transformers: Friends helping friends
Sam wants to go to college and be normal. Never mind that his friends are asking for help, or that he is their only hope or that they have been a help to him in times past. “I’m sorry, but it’s not my problem,” he explains. He wishes them well, just doesn’t want to have to be part of the solution.
My Sister’s Keeper: Family helping family
“Designer Baby” Anna Fitzgerald was genetically engineered by her parents to be a perfect match donor match for her elder sister, Kate, who is sick with Leukemia. Anna has been forced to be her sister’s keeper literally since the day she was born and her umbilical fluids were harvested. At 11 years old, she has finally had enough. Donating a kidney will mean sacrifices the rest of her life…not donating a kidney will mean her sister dies.
Am I my brother’s keeper – it’s an interesting question. How much am I required to get involved, to help, to save…in my family, with my friends, even for a stranger? If Sam is right (Transformers) and it’s not our problem, then at what point does it become our problem (whatever the “it” may be)? If Anna is right and she has a right to choose, then at point is it right to choose to help? Or right to choose to put down your personal rights for the rights of someone else? The Bible has a lot to say on this subject – the entire basis of Christianity is founded on a man who laid down his right to be God, as he became human. And then continued laying down his rights as he suffered and died on behalf of the sins of mankind – so that they might have the right “to be called children of God” (I John 3:1). The apostle Paul talks about laying down his rights for the good of others, even to the point of making himself a servant to all in I. Corinthians 9-10. But, not everyone is willing to listen to what the Bible has to say on the subject, so what do the movies conclude?
Up: Strangers helping strangers
Mr. Fredrickson is fairly forced into helping Russell at first. And then, through Russell, he is forced into helping others as well… but the initial resentment and begrudging disappear. In the end, both Mr. Fredrickson and Russell find they receive more than they give. Russell finds a father figure he never had. Mr. Fredrickson finds love and happiness again. In restoring Kevin to his family, Russell and Mr. Fredrickson find a family in each other.
Transformers: Friends helping friends
Sam said it’s not his problem, but the transformers problems soon became his. This is an interesting point. Evil is rarely content to stay put. It grows. (Think of the Nazi’s – just because it wasn’t on American soil, didn’t mean it wasn’t coming.) Sam got involved because he had to – but once involved, his mentality began to change. He began to see that what affected his friends affected him. His passion for a cause that was bigger than his own selfish interests infected others – engaging them in the battle as well. And, in saving the transformers, he himself was saved.
My Sister’s Keeper: Family helping family
Interestingly enough, Anna’s fight for emancipation was more a fight to free her sister than it was to free herself. Anna was actually, every step of the way, laying down her life for her sister’s. While it questions if a person can be forced to be her sister’s keeper, it never questions that a person should be her sisters keeper. Interestingly enough, in freeing Kate, Anna herself was freed.
The movies are unanimous in their conclusion – we are our brother’s keeper. And the movies stretch our definition of brother – our family, our friends and yes, even strangers – our brother is our fellow man. What if we lived in such a way that we actually took that to heart? What if we did treat our fellow man as our brother and took it upon ourselves to be his keeper – not to control our brother, but to help our brother? Admittedly, it will probably mean putting aside our “rights”. That’s pretty tough when our culture is all about telling us that we “have rights”. In fact, our entire legal system is founded on protecting our rights. So, it’s a bit counter-cultural to lay those rights aside in our desire to help our fellow man. And truthfully, helping and serving others is usually inconvenient, sometimes costly and possibly even dangerous. However, what are the rewards? Based on these summer movies alone you see that besides feelings of love, joy, satisfaction and harmony, being your brother’s keeper also brings back to you the same help you give to another.
Questions for Discussion:
- Do you tend to claim your rights, or lay them aside to help another?
- Who is your “brother” that you are in a position to help?
- Do you think America ought to be helping other countries – does that fall in the scope of being your brother’s keeper?