Saturday, January 22, 2011

Lessons we can learn from A Walk to Remember

I’m sure many of you have watched A Walk to Remember, the movie. Many also have read the book, written by Nicholas Spark. Watching the poignant story came to life is quite a memorable thing, added with such a compelling pair of leads. The movie is full of lessons, really. Here are some I personally gathered...
1. You never can judge a book by its cover. You never can judge a person by his/her appearance, or his/her surroundings and circle of friends. There is such a thing called benefit of the doubt. However bad a person is, and however wrong his choice of friends is, his heart might be good. Peer pressure pressed Landon to be friends with the naughty group, but his good heart still compelled him to save and apologize to that boy, whom was so eager to be in that group.
2. Jealousy is a bitter thing. Especially when you’re the bad one jealous of someone who is good, and because of it you do something bad to that good person. No good thing can come your way. Belinda’s aim from distributing the corrupted picture of Jamie was to get Landon back. Well, she got that scornful look from him, and that’s it. He never looked back again.
3. Even that movie was almost ten years ago, there was already the technology of corrupting or in nicer word, editing a picture. And that was Kodak pictures, not even digital ones yet. As the years gone by, we were introduced with digital cameras and digital everything. Editing pictures are only a click away. Lesson to ponder here, girls, is that even then, more than five years ago, people can do whatever to your pictures. What about now? Yup. People can do more. Technology advances, and so does people wicked intention. Be careful what you post on the net, whatever pictures, whatever videos. You don’t want your face to be plastered on that corrupted flyers (or in these years, everywhere on the net) like Jamie’s did.
4. There is such a thing called courtesy, and courting. Not many men use those these days. There is a proper manner in asking a girl out, even for Christians, as shown in the movie when Landon went to see the Reverend to ask Jamie out. Well, how many guys do that these days? Asking the parent for permission to date the daughter? We, Muslims are not supposed to date. But, even so, we do have the proper manner in asking a girl for her hand in marriage. By asking her wali, her parents or her guardian. How many Muslimin do that these days? Forget Facebook, forget sms, forget phone calls, those are not, and I repeat ARE NOT the proper channels for you to propose, however romantic you do it. Doing it the proper way shows your love and respect for the girl. The aim is for a lifetime, ladies and gentlemen, and not for just a few passionate moments. It’s no wonder when we hear people got divorced through sms and phone calls so easy these days, they might propose through those methods too, before!
5. Talking about parents, this movie teaches something about parenting too. About the scar a parent left to his kid when he walked away. It lasted for years. It’s not an apparent scar you see on your skin, but it’s the scar which hurts the most. Scar on your heart. But then, at the end of the day, your parents are still your parents. No matter how hard, or how hurtful it got, or how grown-up you’ve become, once in a while you do need that loving hug from your parents, those strong shoulders to cry on. I didn’t shed a tear throughout the movie except for the scene when Landon hugged his father tight and cried his heart out after finding out that the old man was willing to pay for Jamie’s home care. That was for me, the saddest, most poignant moment in the movie.
6. We can learn a lot from other people thoughts and opinions, no matter how shallow or dumb they might seem to be. Take that quote from Dolly Parton, for example; ‘know who you are, and do it on purpose’. That was nice, and brilliant too. And surprisingly came from someone whom we thought never could get pass that blob of yellow hair of hers. She does have a lot more quotes we can ponder upon and be amazed of actually. Collecting quotes from famous people and quotes that are meaningful have been one of my hobbies for years. And I learned a lot from it. You should try it too.
7. Besides quotes, I’m also a sucker for good lyrics. I don’t do sappy love songs, but I appreciate meaningful lyrics, the one that can touch your heart in a lot of ways you can possibly imagine and last long. Everlasting words, evergreen songs, whatever term you use. And A Walk to Remember movie has one heck of a soundtrack. The best thing about this movie is, it is in a way religious. Stop for a while and ponder the lyrics for the song Only Hope which Mandy Moore’s character, Jamie sang in the play. And analyze the lyrics for Learning to Breathe, sung by Switchfoot. These songs are not dedicated to a lover. The lyrics are dedicated to Him. The Creator.
8. We learn something deeper from the movie too. Jamie’s dream was to witness a miracle. We learnt from the movie that the miracle was Landon. This shows that a miracle to each and everyone of us does not need to be by seeing a rocket flying out through our window, or encountering aliens, or watching comets. A miracle is deeper. More mysterious. It’s in us. And too many times, it’s in front of us, but we refuse to see it for what it is. For Landon to fall in love with Jamie and changed to be a much better person was so out-of-place, that it became a miracle. Think about that, and reflect back. What happened in your life that you thought wasn’t possible, but it happened anyway? That is your miracle. If it’s good, be grateful for it. If it’s not, it is still a miracle, because in a way, anything bad that happens to us teaches us to be stronger, and that is miracle in its truest form.
9. Well, yeah, I said the movie is a bit religious. It’s about keeping faith. And for those who have lost it, it’s about finding it. It’s not that easy to find, because you can’t see it. You can only feel it. You will feel it when you believe it. For us, Muslim, we have a strong guidance. We have our holy Quran. Believe in it because it can never be changed or corrupted, that is His promise. Believe in Him, believe in the Prophet, believe in the Book, you’ll be fine.
10. Last but not least, of course, the movie teaches us about love. Love between lovers, love between parents and their children, love between friends. The sacrifice it takes, the fairness, the tears and laughter, the lesson to be good, it’s all there. So, here’s the famous quotes about love, taken from the movie, you remember it;
“Our love is like the wind. I can’t see it, but I feel it.”
And then, there’s also the list of what love actually is, quoted in the movie, taken from the Bible.
“Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous,
Love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end.”
And these, are the benefits that I get from the movie, and the quotes along the story. :)