July 6, 2010
Malayabaly, Philippines
**WARNING – Toy Story 3 plot spoiler**
I’m not sure if you have seen Toy Story 3, but you should. It is a great movie. I must admit, I saw it but not in a theater. There are tons of pirated movies in Asia, NOT that is makes it okay but this one was at the children’s home and so, I watched it. I was intrigued by the spiritual parallels. Those of you who know me, especially my team, will know that I LOVE spiritual parallels and can find them in most places and things. This movie was no exception, in fact it was almost too easy. It was oozing with messages of identity. I decided it would be a good lesson for the minors. You can’t keep spiritual parallels to your self!
This past Saturday, we watched it. It was in English and so I had them listen for words they understood and try to write them as best as they could. I was surprised at the amount of words they actually picked up. Surprised, but proud. We went over the correct spellings and pronunciations and called it an English lesson.
I also had them keep an eye on the purple bear in the movie. Which was perfect as well, both are words we are working on. And oddly enough – both are fairly hard words for them. Purple sounds more like furfull, and bear sounds like beer. But despite the pronunciation breakdown, I wanted them to watch the plot of the beer, I mean bear.
Lotso, the purple bear with a strawberry scent, was a favorite stuffed animal of his owner, a little girl. He went everywhere with the little girl, even on vacation where he was left with two of the girls’ other favorite stuffed animals. They made it back to the girl, but not before she found another Lotso bear to take his place. At that point, Lotso made the decision that he was unloved and told the other two animals the same, that they were unwanted and unloved. They ended up at a daycare where Lotso was a controlling dictator of all the animals. He was angry because he felt unwanted. He was mean because He felt unloved. His behavior was directly based on his beliefs. And so is ours! If we believe the same things about ourselves, our actions will show it.
Woody and the gang ended up at the same daycare because Andy, their owner was going to college and the boxes to keep and donate got mixed up. Lotso tried his best to persuade them that their owner didn’t love them. He even went so far as to say that they all were just trash waiting to be thrown away. Woody and the gang didn’t fall for it because they believed they were loved and had a great purpose – to be played with by a loving owner. Hence, the plot, to escape Lotso and get back to their purpose.
In the end, Lotso ended up as trash – he became decoration on a trash truck, the very thing he thought he was. And Woody and the gang ended up loved and living out their purpose to be played with, the very thing they thought they were.
What do you believe about yourself? That is what you will become. Actions follow our beliefs, not the other way around. It was beautifully portrayed in this movie. And sadly, it is painfully evident in life. Take the minors for example. They didn’t wake up one morning and say, today is the day I want to go to jail. They made agreements that they weren’t worth much and that they were unaccepted. So, they acted out of those beliefs and ended up in jail. Not all of us end up in jail, but all of us act out of our beliefs about ourselves. What do your actions show about you?
