Jakubczyk on Life

Cinderellaman - another pro-life movie

It was Saturday night and I said to my wife. "Let's go see a movie. Let's go see Cinderellaman." I heard Hugh Hewitt mention it on his radio show as being worth seeing and whjen someone said it was Seabiscuit on two legs, well that cinched the deal. So we had dinner with the children, all took and evening swim - a regular event in the summer in Arizona, and after putting the little ones to bed, slipped out to the late showing.

What a great film. Every aspect of the movie was full and complete. Based on a true story, the story resonates with an understanding of the nature of the human person, with all of his virtues and vices, an appreciation for the noble purpose to which we are all called, and a recognition that to be a man, one must live for something greater than oneself.

I won't spend time being a movie critic other than say all of the actors gave inspired performances and i would expect this to be on everyone's list for the various film awards for 2005.

Now on to the pro-life dimension.

For those ofus in the right to life movement, respect for he person is the cornerstone of our position. We believe in the person, his or her relationship in the family and the role of the family in having a strong and stable society. We acknowledge that the man must stand up and defend life and protect his family from evil. We reverence the role of the mother in bringing new life into the world and remind people that raising a family is the most challenging and rewarding work on earth.

Well, this movie applauds the family. The husband loves his wife and the wife loves her husband and children. The hero will not suffer the dissolution of his family and we see to what lengths the protagonist will go to keep a promise that he made to his son.

There is respect for manual labor and the duty to provide for one's family. One sees the pain and frustration as these men during the Depression seek to find honest labor. There is also the reality that not everyone cares about the plight of the downtrodden. Yet it is not the troubles that end up breaking people but their own despair that does them in.

It is ironic that this most powerful of films in support of life and the family shoulkd deal with the very dangerous sport of boxing. Yet it is that very contrast which brings home the message that loving and protecting your family and getting a second chance to to it is what it is all about. In an age today where people do not fight to preserve their families, where quitting and leaving a family is the "world's" anwser to tough times, this film screams out that one whould never give up - that defending and protecting those treasures which God has given us, is always worth the effort.

James Braddock's story is truly one to inspire us to be the best we can be, to do the best we can do, and to live life with a sense of purpose and direction. His story tells us that virtue is its own reward and it is always better to do the right thing.

Finally throughout the movie, one could not avoid sensing that the virtue of hope is so much needed today as it was throughour the Depression. In religious art, the virtue of hope is sometimes drawn as an anchor. In the story, it is hope which keeps Braddock anchored to his family and his family to him. Hope is what compells the Right to Life movement. We believe in the future and we hope for a day when all children will be allowed to be born. These children in turn will be the hope of their parents and of their children. Such it is that everything we do has an historic relevance. This is why we promote life and abhor he taking of innocent unborn human life.

Let us all be wittnesses to hope. A hope that is anchored in a respect for the dignity of life. A hope found in creation and the Creator.

posted by Jakubczyk on Life @ 1:44 AM