Pay it Forward
Director: Mimi Leder. Cast: Haley Osment, Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Jon Bon Jovi. (2000. 113 minutes)
Adapted from Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novel, it presents the inspiring story of Trevor McKinney, a pre-teen schoolboy who initiates a practical way to change the world. Trevor’s mother Arlene is struggling with alcoholism and has to do double work to provide for the child. The abusive father has practically abandoned the family. A new social studies teacher, Eugene Simonet, changes his life. Simonet, a discerning teacher, opens his class asking the pupils “Think of an idea to change our world and put it into action.” Only Trevor takes up the challenge in earnest. He plans to do three important favours for needy people. Instead of a return favour, he would ask each recipient of the favour to “pay it forward,’ that is, to do similar favours to three others who should in their turn pass it on. Trevor takes a homeless drug addict home for the night, providing a bath and some money to restart his life. This enrages Arlene. The man in return repairs Arlene’s truck. Trevor’s next task is to bring his mother and Eugene together, hoping to make them happy. But they are cautious about the friendship on account of the wounding experiences of their past, made worse when his alcoholic and abusive father returns home. However, in the course of time they realize that they have to take that risk in order to live meaningfully. Trevor’s third task is to help a timid fellow schoolmate deal with constant bullying from others. He understands that some people are scared to change their situations even when they know they are bad, giving up hope. The boy grows into the realization that goodness is infectious and can change those who receive it. Trevor’s small “pay it forward” movement creates a revolution of compassion and charity. One of the beneficiaries of the movement is a Los Angeles news reporter who is mystified by a surprise gift of a car from a millionaire who was paying forward a favour he had received from a black man in a hospital. The reporter’s investigation makes him realize the great impact the movement has been creating. He interviews Trevor on his twelfth birthday, bringing public attention and gaining nationwide support. The movie shows how ordinary people can change the selfish world around them by simple acts of kindness and putting others before oneself. Goodness is never wasted, although we may not know the impact of our acts of kindness directly. The final scene is inspiring, sad and moving.
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story
Director: Peter Levin. Cast: Thora Birch, Michael Riley, Robert Bockstael, Makyla Smith, Kelly Lynch, Jennifer Pisana, Aron Tager, Ellen Page. (2003.104 minutes)
This movie is the real life story of Elizabeth Murray, the famous American motivational speaker and teacher. Elizabeth (Liz) and Lisa Murray are brought up in New York in a deeply dysfunctional family. Though the couple loved their children, Liz’s father is an irresponsible drug addict who is also attached to TV quiz programmes. Her mother’s drug addiction is aggravated by her schizophrenia. The children do not have even proper food or decent clothes to wear to school. Liz has to earn her livelihood while still a child. She is very intelligent like her sister, but hates school because she finds herself out of place among the better off classmates. Both her parents are infected with AIDS through shared drug needles. When her mother is taken off to a sanatorium with tuberculosis and insanity, Liz is also moved to a government care home. When she is fifteen, she goes to live with her sister and grandmother. But there also the girls have to deal with a sexually abusive grandfather. Liz runs away with a friend. But she reaches out to her mother when she learns that her mother is dying of AIDS. Her father lives on the streets. The shock of her mother’s death changes her. Liz refuses to follow the tragic course of her parents’ life and returns to school, where she shows herself to be exceptionally hardworking, completing her four year programme in two years. Good at writing, she earns a scholarship from The New York Times to join the world-famous Harvard University in 2004. Despite all that she went through, Elizabeth has no bitterness towards her parents; she felt loved by them. But the experiences of her childhood have taught her precious lessons for life.
Prof Gigy Joseph
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