Movies That Demonstrate Achievement in Civic and Public Affairs
Here are two stories of achievement that demonstrate perseverance over time will help to achieve success in reaching the goal.
By Colleen Pulley
Sometimes in our cynical 21st century daily life, we forget that there is entertainment that lifts us up. They are there to remind us of what is important in life. Recently we have been reminded, twice, about those important things in life; first with a movie entitled “Amazing Grace”, and the second time by a movie entitled “Astronaut Farmer”.
Though Amazing Grace focused upon the early 19th century struggle by William Wilberforce to have slavery abolished in England. The Astronaut Farmer was a fiction centered around the dream of an ex-astronaut to build his own rocket and go into outer space.
The story of Wilberforce’s battle against slavery began with him as a twenty-one-year-old member of parliament. One of his schoolboy teachers was John Newton, who was a priest at the school William Wilberforce, and his lifelong friend, William Pitt, attended. John Newton was an ex- slave trader, who became so guilt ridden at the misery he had caused to over 20,000 slaves, that he eventually left the trade and became a priest. He inspired Wilberforce, and Pitt, and many others during that time to turn against slavery. He wrote the song “Amazing Grace”, which became the theme song for England’s battle against slavery.
What the movie displayed clearly was the struggle that must be endured to win. It doesn’t matter if the cause is just or not. Many righteous causes have fallen by the wayside because those who lifted its banner at the beginning, soon find they do not have the strength to sacrifice everything to see the thing to the end.
Wilberforce endured ridicule, character assassination of the worst kind, and loneliness, and only had a small group of fellow supporters. It was not until his lifelong friend, William Pitt, introduced him to a handful of hard-working abolitionists, that his support began to grow and was solidified.
Though Wilberforce was right, and he and his friends worked tirelessly to overthrow the slave trade, after fifteen years, he was still unable to pass a bill in the House of Commons abolishing slavery.
Racked with ill health, (he had suffered all his life with colitis), which eventually led to his addiction to the narcotic effects of Laudanum. At this point Wilberforce is taken to the country by his cousin to rest and get his health back. It is at this point he is introduced to another passionate, wealthy abolitionist, Barbara Spooner. The two of them find the soul mates they have been waiting for all their lives, and after a short courtship are married.
With his wife’s help and encouragement, Wilberforce is able to overcome his addiction and return to the fight against slavery. The battle that started in 1815 finally ended in victory in 1833. Three years before Wilberforce’s death. Unfortunately, his friend William Pitt proceeded Wilberforce in death by several years, never seeing the victory of the cause he so strongly supported. Wilberforce was buried at Westminster Abby, next to his friend, William Pitt. Two men, who had the dream, and the fortitude to see it succeed.
Now the second movie, though fictional, is a reinforcement to the story of William Wilberforce. I liked this one too. It centers on Charley Farmer, a man in his forties, who gave up his dream to be an astronaut in order to come home and save the family farm in Texas, when his debt-ridden Father commits suicide instead of facing the loss of his farm.
Charley is like many of us. He has a family and knows many of the people he grew up with in the little town. As a matter of fact, I think that he was treated a little like Jesus must have been treated in Nazareth. “You’re a nice guy Charley, but you are not an astronaut, so forget your dream. You are only a farmer’s boy.”
But Charley, like William Wilberforce, is the inspiration of his family, and with resolve faces the struggle against all odds, including the bureaucracy of big government. Many of his friends think he is crazy, and after a failed attempt to launch, that nearly kills Charley, his family temporarily lose hope, and the vision of his dream. It is at this low point that Charley withdraws from the fight. He is on the verge of losing everything, his farm, and his family.
It is Charley’s family that finally realizes he must attempt to obtain his dream, because they realize it had also become their dream. They begin encouraging him to rebuild his rocket. Charley’s money trouble is taken care of when his wife’s father, a crusty old fellow who lives with them dies, leaving them with a windfall of several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With renewed energy, and the support and strength of his family, Charley once again builds his rocket, and as expected, goes into outer space. The realization of Charley’s dream is shared to a certain level, with all the town’s people. It touches us, because to a certain degree, we are all “Small town America”, who at times never see our dreams realized, and yet do a little dance in the street for one of our own, who overcomes life’s obstacles.
Two thumbs up, not to one, but TWO movies produced by a generally jaded Hollywood. These movies are uplifting and edifying. They focus on the power of perseverance to succeed in the face of adversity. In Wilberforce’s case for a righteous goal, and in Charley’s case in a life-long dream. In both cases they became better because of their perseverance. This unexpected demonstration, by Hollywood, makes us applaud the movie studios and producers when they remind us that there is good in the world.
Hopefully, we can all, in small ways, dare to dream. Maybe this example will show us once more that to strive for a righteous goal is the most important thing we can do. Do yourself a favor, try to see these movies. Until Later...Colleen
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