Okay, you guys. We watched Spanglish as suggested. I'm not sure what I think.
Warning: spoilers ahead! If you don't want to know how the movie turns out, stop reading now. (Personally, I like spoilers. They save me time because I don't have to go back and watch an intriguing movie the second time.)
On the one hand, as Hollywood goes, I figure they think the husband/father and the maid (or nanny or whatever she was) did the right thing, in that "nothing happened." It was refreshing to see a husband being patient with a nutty wife, and being good to his children without undermining his nutso wife.
And yet, it seems to me that the movie glorifies adultery. Not in the way that so many Hollywood movies do. But still, I can't get over the fact that the husband and the nanny ended up on a romantic date, dinner by candlelight with soft music in the background, cuddling the evening away, and even kissing a few times. In my mind, that's cheating on his wife -- Bill Clinton's opinion notwithstanding. It's adultery. Man oh man, if MY husband were "just cuddling" or "just kissing" another woman, I would not be a happy camper! Even though the relationship went no further than that, and even though they put an end to seeing each other [the nanny quit her job], what happened between them was still wrong. Seriously wrong. And yet, we're left with the impression that we're supposed to say "good for them!" that they denied their desires and didn't indulge fully in the adultery that lured them.
The biggest "hooray!" in the movie went to the mom/nanny when she pulled her daughter away from the upper-class white world. The mom had to quit the job to avoid temptation. But the daughter didn't want to leave the Anglo world. She liked her private school and the nice clothes and the friends and the fancy-schmancy house and the pool and all the other trappings. But the mom/nanny knew it was bad for her daughter's values. While the daughter was yelling "I hate you!" and "I'll never forgive you for this!" the mom remained calm and collected, never budging from doing what she knew was right (though highly uncomfortable) for her daughter. That was the shining moment of the film for me!
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I'm not telling you anything you don't know... but that never stopped me before!
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I agree, it's adulterous. On the other hand, the temporal benefit of ending it when they did was great. Our sins have temporal and eternal aspects. While the man who calls his brother a fool does not temporally injure him, he is in danger of the fires of hell. Likewise, the families of murder victims only wish the killer had stopped at "you fool!"
In the movie, the two people struggled with the flesh, then stopped and resisted further temptation.
btw, I liked that movie.
Don't see "Lost in Translation." ;-)
I appreciated that, although what had already happened was wrong, they ended it there. So many movies have pushed the idea that if you *want* to that means it's okay. I liked that the mother was willing to do what was best for her child in spite of her child's anger.
ReplyDeleteI have neighbors who could use that lesson. :)
If you'll remember, I said that she makes the right decision in the end. ;) That is certainly not to say that there were not sinful decisions made all around before that!
ReplyDeleteI agree, her pulling her kid out of their house at the end is the shining moment - that's what makes the movie for me. Hollywood is always trying to say that it's "love" that matters most - more than family or job or country or religion or anything. In this case, "love" wasn't what mattered, but making the right decisions for one's family.
I agree with all you guys! I'm glad they decided to stop it where they did. That's not a normal Hollywood response to desires of the flesh. And the decision to do what's right for a kid instead of indulging him/her -- whoa! That was awesome! But there's still this little bit of me that rebels at the message that "at least they stopped before they did anything." Nevertheless, Scott used an example I've used with my kids: if you're going to sin against the fifth commandment, I'd a lot rather you did it by calling your brother a name than punching him, and I'd likewise prefer that you stick to "only punching" than resorting to knives or guns. I think I like the movie, but I'm not sure. It's not something I'm rarin' to see again right away like "Searching for Bobby Fischer" or "Anne of Green Gables" or "Luther."
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