Welcome to Day 10.
Another rainy day here in the New York area, and it felt like it got dark at around 3pm! All good, though, all my fellow movers and shakers, because today means we’re two-thirds of the way there. (-:
Yep, we’re a day away from single digits, and our goal is just on the other side of that hill.
So, speaking of hills…
Climbing up them and getting to the top often provides us with a slew of metaphors. Thanks to things like books, poems, stories and, of course, movies, if we’re lucky, we can sometimes get a ringside seat for the action.
As we’ve discussed in recent weeks and over the last few years – for those of you stalwarts who have hung in with me since we started – there’s something about the human condition that inspires solidarity.
When you think about it, for all the times you fall short on things, whatever they are, those few times when you get to celebrate a moment, or a goal or you overcome some fear or challenge that just won’t stop gnawing at you, maybe the payoff is that one galvanizing moment. Yeah, that “jesus, we just did that” realization when you look at those around you and think in terms, not of “you” and/or “me,” but of “us.”
In the film Spartacus (1960), there is such a moment of solidarity, an homage to the real-life Spartacus, who led a slave revolt against the Roman Republic in the 1st Century BC.
As historians have taught us, and the Oscar-winning film reiterates, the defeat of the slaves prompts the victorious general to ask which of the dissidents is the leader. In a watershed moment celebrated not only in film, but also serving as a metaphor for what we might call “human cohesion,” Spartacus never gets the chance to reveal his identity. Instead, a host of others deliver the now-famous affirmation, “I’m Spartacus,” the ultimate “I’ve got your back” sequence. And if we fast-forward 20 centuries or so, more of that celluloid magic helps lift us once more.
At the end of Dead Poet Society (1989), the story of an influential educator ultimately condemned by the establishment for his unconventional teaching methods, we find ourselves rapt in another pivotal sequence, another chance for us to see what a real tribute looks like. From “I’m Spartacus” to “O Captain! My Captain!” Maybe not all that much has changed in 2,000 or so years.
OK, so it’s corny, predictable even, but raise your hand if you’ve seen either/both the films and found yourself holding back tears.
Hmmm…a crusading leader of slaves and a nurturer of young minds. Sounds like some pretty cool human fabric type stuff to me.
If you haven’t watched either film, see if you can find the time.
See you all tomorrow for our first single-digit countdown day.
“If you want to lift yourself, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington, educator and reformer (1856 – 1915)
JFish
@Copyright 2024 by John L. Fischer
Pingback: John L. Fischer