Hope? Rebellions Are Built on Hope

In anticipation of the new Star Wars movie, I decided to rewatch much of the previous saga. I say much because even though I tried to watch the prequels I just couldn't finish them. So I gave up on the prequels and jumped into Rogue One.

Now for me, Star Wars has always been space fantasy and not strictly sci fi. Star Trek is sci fi. Star Wars is wizards in space. If you think about the differences in the films, hopefully the distinction will be clear.

What this also means is that as much as I enjoyed Rogue One, it did not fill me with the same sense of awe as watching Star Wars when I was a kid. It is too gritty, too real. It inhabits the same universe, but it is a war movie in space, not wizards in space (except for the parts that were, which were my favorites scenes). The parts related to faith and the mystical, while present, were secondary to the story-telling even as much as they were primary for many of the characters.

Dangerous Waters

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were each attending to some things in the evening. I believe she was working on a sermon and I was folding laundry. I put on a familiar movie that would not be too distracting from our tasks. I decided to put on Moana, which has become one of our favorites.

When the movie begins our title character is a toddler starting to learn the way of life expected of a chieftain even as she is constantly drawn to the ocean surrounding their island village. Without giving away anything critical to those who might not have seen the movie yet, there is a particular scene where Moana is playing in the sand staring at the waves when the sea begins to pull back, exposing a conch shell. As she approaches and picks it up, the sea pulls back again exposing another shell. A path forms in the water with the sea to either side as she picks up each shell in turn.