Cool Hand Luke - the authentic Thoreau

People talk about being an individual, but few people actually live it out.  

Emerson taught it, and Thoreau tried to live it for a few years by a pond. 

"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."

He lasted two years before packing up and moving back to the city to protest taxes and other governmental abuses.  It was admirable, for sure.  He was a man living out his conviction, and was willing to pay the consequences to prove a point.  But as America entered into the tumultuous 60's, the desire to live freely as an individual became a mantra for the disenfranchised generation that had seen what conformity had done to their parents generation.

Enter Cool Hand Luke.

What I love about this movie is the complexity of Luke.  He's a hero without the heroic trappings.  He's a role model uncomfortable with his status.  As Roger Ebert pointed out in his initial review of the movie, Luke was a classic anti-hero, a man who demonstrated a heroic character combined with an edgy willingness to live as he wanted, regardless of the fallout.  A war hero who couldn't maintain his rank; a leader who didn't really want to lead.  A man who inspired others, but left them to find their own way.

Yet as he returned to the movie in 2007, Ebert had a change of heart, reflecting what I see as a new understanding of individuality.  "I'm no longer sure he's an anti-hero in "Cool Hand Luke."  I think he is more of a willing martyr, a man so obsessed with the wrongness of the world that he invites death to prove himself correct." It was easy to identify with Luke's quest to "stick it to The Man" in 1967.  That type of bravery was desperately needed as the country wrestled with issues of civil rights and death was a constant companion to those who defied the practices of Jim Crow.  Death was the ultimate insubordination.  But when the film is viewed through a 21st century lens, it can come across as an unnecessary sacrifice.  Living is the new dying.  Those who want to change things, who want to stand up to injustice, need to stay in the fight, persevere through the trials, and instigate change through constant action.  The world needs leaders, not examples.

It is that very question that keeps "Cool Hand Luke" as a relevant film.  What are you willing to do in the face of tyranny?  Are you Dragline, who appears to turn himself in to the Captain, yet stays alive to continue the message that Luke started?  Or are you Luke, who shows the way, pays the price, and lives on as a legend?  Luke challenges us to stop hiding behind our excuses ("Callin' it your job don't make it right, Boss") and live a truly free life.  That's my boy, Luke.

You're killin' me, Smalls

Coming of age movies are the soft-serve ice cream of movies: predictable, consistent, and just the right amount of sugar.  It's what I love about them.  The best coming of age movies take me right back to my childhood, both the good and the bad.  It lets me face my childhood fears (dogs) and relive the glorious moments (pick up games in the park).  It reminds me how long ago it was, yet how close it is in my mind.

Having watched a few coming of age movies recently, it reminded me how diverse the genre can actually be.  The process that we all go through, from innocence to knowledge, is familiar yet foreign, frightening yet unavoidable.  George Lucas captures those conflicting emotions brilliantly in American Graffiti.  Curt has to make a decision, the biggest decision that most of us make - what am I going to do with my life?  What makes his journey so familiar is his pushing the boundaries.  I'm sure his whole life, he did the right thing.  He studied when he was supposed to, joined the right clubs, did everything he needed to in preparing for college.  But when it came time to leave, he realized that he didn't know himself very well.  It was only through the Pharaohs that Curt could learn that he was capable of doing anything - stealing, vandalism, maybe even a blood initiation.  College would be easy after that night.  When people talk about maturity, I think what they really mean is "Do you know who you are?".  The best coming of age stories help a character realize, in the immortal words of Christopher Robbin, "Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

This is what caught my attention about Training Day.  Not everyone will recognize this as a coming of age movie, but Jake Hoyt learns a lot about himself in one day.  His journey is the classic "descent into Hell" that many heroes go through, fighting through the temptations  and Siren calls of money, power, and control.  I loved Denzel Washington's brilliant performance as Alonzo Harris.  He's the dark side that calls to all of us, promising a path to all that we want, but not telling us until too late that it is a muddy path that many get stuck in, and no one comes out clean.

In The Truman Show, I see the "adult as child" reality that Truman lives in, and realize it is the coming of age story that we all lived.  His world, he finally discovers, is a complete fabrication.  Nothing is real.  Not his marriage, his friendships, his job.   Even his weather is carefully controlled to elicit particular reactions.  In many ways, it is what we are all afraid of as we stand on the precipice of adult life - what I know, I know, and what I don't know, I really don't know.  But like Truman, we have a sneaking suspicion that there is more to life than this.

And that is what coming of age is all about.  It doesn't matter if you are young or old.  We are constantly in a process of learning, growing, changing, and adapting to our environment.  These changes are, in the moment, difficult, but the reality is, once we have seen the possibilities, we can never go back.  Truthfully, we probably don't want to go back, because innocence and ignorance are cousins, and both of them can get you into trouble.  I think that is why I like American Graffiti the best of the three movies.  When I look back at that time in my life, I just want to talk to my high school self, and tell him it is going to be okay.  In fact, it is going to be great.  So do yourself a favor.  Get in your car, and cruise the strip.  There are adventures out there, waiting for you to experience them.

Red Dawn, Rocky, and The Quest for the Perfect Story

Two suns?!  Land Cruisers?  Talking robots?  Sign me up.

I discovered movies at an early age.  Having a few older brothers, I could always talk one of them into taking me to a movie, and by then, my parents had grown tired of the fight to protect their child.

I remember seeing the original Star Wars (1977) at a drive-in.  I was barely able to see over the dashboard of our wood-paneled station wagon, but what I saw amazed me. Space travel.  Light sabers.  A young man who was much more than he seemed.  I was hooked.  I was also supremely disappointed that Christmas when I unwrapped my light saber, yet I couldn't cut the arm off my brother.  Technology had a long way to go before I was going to get my dream of living in the Star Wars universe.

I'd train there.  Minus the buckets.

As an avid reader, I was used to books allowing me to escape the boring, mundane existence by transporting me to other worlds, whether it be Middle Earth or the Wild West.  Yet movies were different.  The visuals freed up my imagination to concentrate on the story and the characters.  I didn't have to imagine what a dirty, inner city boxing gym might look like - I saw Mighty Mick's Boxing Gym in all its dilapidated glory.  Instead, I could focus on putting myself into the story.  When Mickey called Rocky a bum, he was calling me a bum, because I knew I wasn't making the most of my opportunities, just like Rocky.  Rather than struggle with my math deficiencies, I could imagine myself as a Wolverine, fighting a guerrilla war in Colorado in defense of my country.  Movies, like all great stories, provided an escape, and I was happy to climb through the looking glass (sorry, 11th grade math teacher!).

Wouldn't you rather be here than sitting through Calculus?

I like movies that challenge me, not exploit me.  Anyone can make a movie to scare me.  Put enough blood and gore into anything, and I'm hiding under my seat.  But few can make a movie that disrupts me.  Schindler's List is an amazing movie not because of the many disturbing scenes of violence and casual cruelty, but because in Oskar Schindler, I see a picture of me, full of myself and my comfortable life, oblivious to the suffering around me.  He rose to the challenge - would I?  Have I?  Could I?

So there's my filter, my criteria for a great movie.  Does it transport me to a different place, and does it disrupt my thinking enough to make me reflect on the movie?  Hopefully, I will find movies that can do that.  Hopefully, I can talk about movies in a way that will help you to see the good, the challenging, and the bad as well.  I invite you to join the conversation, and make your opinion heard.  Let's be open, honest, and respectful.

Let's go to the movies.