12/28/2009

Up

Finally saw "Up" - the Pixar movie. One of my boys received it as a Christmas present. Just a really well done movie; I finish seeing a Pixar movie and I feel respected, catered to, challenged. It is so unlike the feeling I get from most entertainment. I don't think I've ever seen a movie for children whose main point is that it is the workaday things in life that are our adventures and that grand acts may be respected and celebrated, but they are nothing compared to the little bits of living. From The Incredibles we learn that not all gifts and talents are equal and that the world needs exceptional people who have to break a few eggs from time to time to make omelettes. From Up we learn that little moments can be exceptional; that these are the heroic moments for most of us. The disgraced adventurer in Up says "adventure is 'out there'" and the movie's whole point is that adventure is embedded in the mundane. Something I wish I would have known as a younger person. If a child is unusually gifted, he or she needs to cultivate an appreciation for the ordinary and a suspicion of high achievement which too often comes at an unacceptable cost.