Anyway. Carys has pressed me often for more information about this mysterious movie, intrigued by the artwork on the DVD that Dad gave her for Christmas. I've refused to tell her anything...I just told her that her Grandpa promised to watch it with her Someday, and she would have to wait until then. Well Someday finally came yesterday. And I had forgotten just how much I love that movie until we were all piled together in the family room watching it.
Every genre of literature is neatly packaged in that wonderful film - drama, comedy, satire, tragedy, poetry. I hope they never remake it, and we can forever associate the fantastic characters to the legends who portrayed them first. The movie is timeless. It came out in 1987 and my kids were still glued to the screen despite its lack of animation, digital enhancements or CGI elements. I don't know how much meaning they drew from it the first time around, but I'm sure we will be watching it again and again. I'm going to pull out every metaphor, every allusion that I can, and quote this movie over and over until they know it as well as I do.
Some of life's biggest lessons can be found there, along with some of the best one-liners of all time.
"People in masks cannot be trusted." If there is a bigger metaphor anywhere, I'd like to see it. Sometimes the toughest adversaries are the ones who come wearing the mask of friendship. How many times in our lives will we misread the intents of an acquaintance? How many times will we be fooled by appearances? Painful lessons, yes, but important ones.
"Inconceivable!" This is going to be my new go-to response whenever the kids ask me if they can do or have something.
"Hear this now. I will always come for you." If there's anything I want my children to know, it is this. Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them, if they need me, I will always come for them. My parents gave this gift to me; they rescued me from deep pools and shallow ones. They came, every time I called for them, and every achievement I ever made, every risk I ever took, every failure and every success was possible only through the security of that safety net.
"We are men of action. Lies do not become us." This. Just - this. Even when the truth is hard to hear, truth is still what develops our integrity and defines our character.
"This is true love - you think this happens every day?" It doesn't. It really doesn't. And sometimes you think you have it, and you don't. And sometimes, you don't recognize it when you do have it. A tricky thing, love. But when you find it for real, and you know it for real, hold on real hard.
"There's not a lot of money in revenge." I hope my kids develop a sense of pride and integrity that prevents them from ever seeking revenge for an injustice. I hope that I can model that always for them, and live an authentic life free from the desire to hurt when I have been hurt. It just begets more hurt, and there's no recovering from that terrible cycle.
"Rest well, and dream of large women." Okay, this isn't a life lesson. It's just the funniest thing ever to say to your 9 year old when you are tucking him in at night.
"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." Oh yes, life is pain. Sometimes it hurts a little, sometimes it hurts a lot. I'm finding as I get older that the parts that hurt a lot are the parts I've come to value most. We learn the most from our biggest failures and heartaches; sometimes the heart aches with the loss of something so good, so wonderful, that the pain is a reminder of what we were able to experience, if only for a little while.
And, finally: "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a little while." True story.
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