We Still Make the Circuit

It amazes me how strong people are. How they manage to endure, overcome, and basically just kick adversity in the butt, even while dealing with 9,034,803,986 times more than I could possibly ever imagine. It's incredible. I use that word a lot. Also amazing. And wonderful. Anyway, back on topic.

I just finished reading two books that left me astounded (I use that word a lot too), I am halfway through a third, and watched a movie that left me floored.

Escape by Carolyn Jessop is the story (true) written by herself of her life in and flight from the FLDS community. The abuse, cruelty, and brainwashing that she lived through leave me in awe of the strong mother that she is. Because that's how I would describe her. As a mindblowingly loving and strong mother.  I want desperately to be a mother that, like she, would be willing to risk everything I had for the welfare and wellbeing of my children.

Puppet by Eva Wiseman is not a completely true story, but it is based on the last blood libel trial in Hungary. If you, like me, had no idea what a blood libel trial is, it was when Christians would accuse Jews of stealing Christian children for their blood, which they would then use to make Easter bread. This was, of course, always completely unfounded, but the bigotry and hatred of the villagers almost cost the death of many Jews, until a Christian girl by the name of Julie Vamosi proved that the girl in question, Esther, had committed suicide. The amount of hatred and unfounded accusations that were shown in the book astonished me, but even more than that I was so proud of the strength that Julie had to do what she knew was right, even through being threatened by her abusive father and the most powerful men in her community.

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela is his autobiography. I have been fascinated by Mandela and the South African journey to freedom and the end of apartheid ever since I watched Invictus with Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African rugby team captain. I happen to love Matt Damon...anyway back on subject. His life, his fight for moral rights, and his eventual victory fill me with hope and inspire me to do better with what I have. The poem that the movie is named for, Invictus by William Ernest Henley, is now my favorite poem (well, one of them) and has been committed to my memory, which for me is quite a feat.

Finally, I have been on a Matt Damon-movie watching spree. I'm watching every movie he's been in that is not rated R. (He's been in a lot of R-rated movies, unfortunate). The latest I watched is one of his first, School Ties which is the story of a Jewish boy, David Greene who receives a scholarship to attend a prestigious prep school to play football for his senior year. The catch is: it's a Catholic school. And he's Jewish. As I said. He chooses to conceal his religion after hearing many of the boys make racial slurs. Against Judaism, obviously.  SPOILER ALERT. Well...Matt Damon plays his friend Charlie Dillon. And after David starts dating Sally, the girl Charlie is in love with, Charlie finds out that David is Jewish and spreads the word. The bigotry and hatred and prejudice of the boys of the school is then revealed, and I won't tell you the ending, but sitting there watching this twenty year old movie I started steaming. I couldn't believe how hateful the boys were. But David...David stood up to it. He got in a few fights, but he remained the stronger person. Always.

It is an inspiration to me. That is my favorite part of books and movies: most of them are just a stupid story, but some make me want to change my life. They inspire me. They are some of my stars.

Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold), Dan Seals