The Giver….A movie review!
The movie stars Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep… with Brenton Thwaites, Katie Holmes, and Taylor Swift (a very brief part) among others.
The Captain and I went to see this movie and I have to admit….there is a bit of irony here.
Perhaps you have read the book, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, published in 1993.
I understand the book was a required reading for many in their high school years, though that was long after I left school. 🙂
The book and movie is all about a government who controls every aspect of one’s life….there are NO choices.
This includes who to marry, what to eat, where to work, how to speak (example: please and thank you’s…which is a good thing :))…and what children to raise. (Not so good)
Everything is literally black and white….the film has no color until the young boy, Jonas, starts to see what life used to be like for their group of communities.
Jonas sees parties, feels happiness…love, sees sunsets, good things, bad things…but most importantly he sees “choices”.
In this sort of Utopia, there are no choices made by each individual. Choices are made for them by their governing powers.
Jonas (who has been chosen to be the “receiver” )… is able to see the past through the teachings of the “Giver”….played by Jeff Bridges.
“The Giver”… reminds me of the old medicine man in a tribe…or the older matriarch or patriarch of a family who holds all the memories of days past.
Below are a few quotes from the book, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry.
“Well…,” Jonas had to stop and think it through. “If everything’s the same, then there are no choices! I want to wake up in the morning and DECIDE things! A blue tunic, or a red one?”
“Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.”
― Lois Lowry, The Giver
“…how could you describe a hill and snow to someone who had never felt height or wind or that feathery, magical cold?”
― Lois Lowry, The Giver
The author, Lois Lowry sums the movie (and life) up perfectly…forgive my pun! 😉
“Submitting to censorship is to enter the seductive world of ‘The Giver’: the world where there are no bad words and no bad deeds. But it is also the world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.”
― Lois Lowry, The Giver
I have to admit that in the beginning, …..when God gave all of us a “free choice”…..He certainly made and knew us well. 🙂
Have you seen the movie “The Giver”?
What are your thoughts?
Have a great Monday!
Me
Kari, I haven’t seen this movie, but I certainly want to see it.
It reminds me of Plato. When people closed their eyes to what was going on around them. They became slaves and gave up the right to make choices. When you become complacent this is what happens. Fortunately, there is always someone who has their eyes opened to what is going on.
Hi Sandy…I remember I had to do a paper on Plato in college and I was amazed at his astuteness ….it is a good thing there are the Jonas’s of this world who refuse to buckle under. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by…
Me