I do not usually take this space to comment on popular culture, but this time I will make an exception because something rather remarkable happened the other night at the Oscars, the movie The King's Speech won best picture.  The press releases, of course, are saying that there is nothing at all remarkable about this because, after all,  the film is the type Oscar voters tend to love, it is a period piece, about royalty and is of course British.  While this is definitely true, the remarkable nature of it lies in the revolutionary nature of its plot.

            At least since the time I was a child there has been one theme that has permeated Hollywood and that theme is to be true to yourself. It is called by many other names like follow your heart, seize the day and being authentic, but it all comes down to the same thing - do what you want without regard for anything else.  The plots generally follow a path where the hero is trapped in some sort of situation in which other people have expectations of them and only when they realize that they are not beholden to other people's expectations are they truly free and able to break out and be themselves.  And it is upon breaking free from the constraints of society that all is set right.  This plot is repeated over and over again from movies like Dead Poets Society, Titanic, Dances with Wolves and pretty much any Disney feature made since 1990.  The idea is that only when we follow our own desires, will the world be right.  It is self absorption dressed up as benevolence. 

            The Kings Speech though is none of this.  The protagonist is a reluctant character, who tells us that if given his druthers he would be home with his wife and children, but because of a brother who has followed his own desires, he now must become king.  And it is here where the movie becomes revolutionary, at least by today's standards.  The brother who has followed his own will is portrayed as a selfish, mean brat while the brother who does his duty is the hero.  He is the one we admire and respect when the film is all done.  We know that it is not his first choice to be King, and because of that we respect him all the more because he does what is right without regard for what his personal desires may be.  His allegiance is to something greater than himself. 

            I do not know if this is a portent of things to come, but I do hope so.  This movie rightly points out that inward looking people are rather shallow and trite and that those who subvert their will to the greater good are life's true heroes.  And of course this relates to us as Christians (you knew this part was coming).  For in Matthew 16:25 Jesus says "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  Christianity is just that; it is a living beyond ourselves.  It is not inward seeking, following our own heart, but is rather seeking after God's heart and doing his will.  And it is only at the point where our hearts and God's heart are the same that we are able to become fully human.   

            Before I close I must point out that this movie is rated R, so it is not one for the whole family, but the message is one that I hope other forms of popular entertainment will soon imitate.

+Fr. Philip