Family magic

I saw Brave last weekend.  Opening Day, actually, at a matinee, in a theater full of children with their moms, and sometimes dads.  And that was appropriate, because the movie and the experience afterwards reinforced the importance of family.

I'm not going to give away a secret about the movie, or I'm going to try not.  If you've seen the preview (if not...)

 

then you know that the movie is about a Scottish princess who tries to change her fate because her parents want her to get married to one of three Scottish goofballs.

To get out of this, the princess, Merida, does something that turns out to be horrible for her family. It's an accident, of sorts, but a selfish and horrible one.

Yet the mother's reaction in the movie is just what I'd expect from a mother.  She doesn't hold a grudge, and even though she's justifiably angry, she spends the movie obviously loving her daughter, growing closer to her, and helping solve the problem Merida created.  The film isn't quite as good as some of the best Pixar movies, but the message is.

And then after the movie I went to the restroom.  You should know, at this point, that when guys use urinals we just pull down whatever covers our bottom half just far enough to take care of business.  At least, we learn to do that over time.  When I was in elementary school, I once dropped trou all the way down in the boys' room in sort of a "feast your eyes" moment, though the intention was just to pee.  I got laughed at by enough older boys (one would have been enough) that I never made that mistake again.

Well, there was a wee lad in the men's room at the theater who made the same error, and both halves of the moon were showing as I entered.  But this laddie's older brother, seeing his brother's predicament, went and stood guard behind him, so that his backside was protected from strangers' eyes.  Then after the older brother lifted him up to reach the soap and sink to wash his hands.


Family creates the kind of bond that makes otherwise young and immature people do simple and selfless things.


It's no wonder that life on Earth is a family-centered plan.