Transformers


Drizzling rain. Mid-30 degrees. Pick your movie/film, watch, and write a reflective essay as a college assignment. Perfect time to curl up on the couch and enjoy another world.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from "Transformers." I remembered the cartoon original as a little kid. Seemingly ordinary cars, trucks, and helicopters would transform into good and evil robots. Awesome battles would erupt between the opposing forces. Of course, the good Autobots always won. What stuck in my head were the last five words intoned as the show faded out: "More than meets the eye."

This 2007 version is not bad. The robots are visually believe-able in their transformation and humanly logical in their motives to find the Cube, in which lies the fate of their planet. Sam Witwicky is the ordinary high school student looking for love and ends up getting called to be courageous by protecting the Cube from the evil Decepticons. Although, the Autobots have sworn to protect him, it is still a close battle as buildings fall, streets get blown up, and the US military brings out tanks and fighter jets. The action is spectacular, although a little confusing.

2 1/2 hours later, I finally understood why I liked the show so much as a kid.

It is the ending of the movie. Optimus Prime (head of the Autobots) has just demolished Megatron (head of the Decepticons) and all the evil robots are carted off to be buried and frozen in the big blue ocean. Optimus looks into the stars and comments,

"I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there is more to them than meets the eye."

Sometimes, people are petty when they cut in front of you in traffic.
Sometimes, people are vicious when they talk behind your back.
Sometimes, people are problems when they don't keep their commitments.

Sometimes there is more to people than meets the eye when they send billions of dollars to Haiti.

p.s. The US Bishops put out great honest reviews on movies.
http://usccb.org/movies/
p.s.2. Clipart taken from http://clipart-for-free.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life with Ashes

Image
It was time to move. Goodbye to Allen Parkway and hello to Florin Wood. Our family was moving from Houston to Sacramento. This was over 20 years ago and the day comes back with ashes. And a smell. My dad had piled all our old clothes, furniture, and knick knacks into a huge heap in front of our yard. He poured gasoline generously and lighted it with a smile. My mom looked on regretfully. All seven of us kids were delighted with the dancing flames. The neighbors didn't care. We lived in what they called the ghetto part of the world and since we were not shooting at anyone, we were okay. "We're starting a new life," my dad reassured mom as our van entered the highway. "No need to hang on the old stuff." "It was pretty dinky, wasn't it?" my mom replied hesitantly. Our years in Houston were our first years living in the United States, far away from the land of our origin, Vietnam. What dad burnt was the few possessions we accumulated fro
Read more

Teddy Bear

Image
"Dear God, I love you so much, I want to give you everything. You can have my Mom, my Dad, my sister, my teddy bear. No, I take it back. You can have everyone, but I want to keep my teddy bear." Love, Little Boy. Fr. Roch hardly lost a beat in his lecture of sin as he told his joke. Sin is putting ourselves above God. Not willing to let go. In actuality, God never wants everything. He just wants the teddy bear. What we think is necessary. Photo source: www.funkyfriendsfactory.com
Read more

Bingo!

Image
Sisters at Salerno's Artichoke Lucia.  Baked with Italian cheeses and breadcrumbs. Grilled fillet salmon on a bed of blanched spinach and mushrooms, topped with pine nuts. 8oz. marinated and charbroiled steak topped with sauteed mushrooms; served over linguine. Saturday night at Salerno's. It was time to "open community." Every year we choose a venue to celebrate the beginning of our time together as a religious community.  This year the venue chose us. "Bingo!" An almost audible gasp escaped from the surrounding tables. Sr. Leslie Thu at our table had won another bingo game. A Knight of Columbus member handed her a sealed envelope. Her eyebrows arched in delight. It was a $50 Walmart gift card. We cleared our cards and another round started. It was the Knights of Columbus Sisters Appreciation Luncheon. It was on a early Sunday afternoon. They had sent the invitation two months ago. Sr. Jacinta Ngân had "highly encouraged"
Read more