Seeing through the Window of Movies

Art, music, and literature all come together in a movie, and when they all come together just right, something beautiful happens. A window opens, and you glimpse something in yourself that has been hidden from you for maybe all of your life. Or you glimpse something in someone else. Or, in a rare moment of transcendence, you glimpse something beyond.

. . . Movies give you the opportunity for a couple of hours to look at somebody else’s life. And sometimes that can change you.

Ken Gire
Windows of the Soul

There are “feel-good” movies—usually starring big celebrities with cute and syrupy plots that make you wish you’re the girl (or the boy) on the screen. And then there are “think-hard” movies—movies that stay with you long after the last image has been projected on screen. Movies that will make you think before you sleep, think when you wake up, and think when you’re in the middle of doing another task.

I can count with the fingers of one hand movies that have made such an impact on me. The latest: Million Dollar Baby.

As I think of Maggie, the female 31-year old wannabe boxer, struggling to convince veteran trainer Frankie to take her in, I think of the last time I felt as passionate about something. Is there a dream I should be pursuing? When was the last time I was willing to risk everything in exchange for one thing? Will I ever feel the surge of ambition run through my body and consume my soul once again? Or could it be that I am already living that ambition as I punch in my timecard day after day?

As I think of Frankie, the lonely father who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter by writing her letters weekly (all of which were returned to sender), struggling to make peace with God, I think of my own standing with God. Is there something I need to forgive myself of, a sin that makes me think God is sometimes far when He is actually near? Why am I, at times, so stubborn in believing that I am unlovable, unforgivable when God thinks otherwise?

Ken Gire believes God can show Himself through the window of movies. He can speak to us in unconventional ways. I agree. The dolby surround sound was faint compared to the sound of God’s voice I heard—asking me something about myself—through the story.

The poster shows Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank. She with her body poised like a boxer, he with eyes piercing through her. But Million Dollar Baby is not just about boxing. It’s about following your dreams, risking it all, taking the chance, living with regret, forgiving yourself, loving till it hurts, making peace with God.

I walked away from the darkened cinema with a heart heavy with emotions and a mind full of questions. But being transfixed by the movie for a couple of hours did something to my eyes. Somehow, it made me see more clearly. No wonder, I was seeing through a window to my soul.