In Government the students are beginning their study of the Legislative branch, and as part of that they will be watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I had never seen it before, so I picked it up and watched it this weekend to make sure I was ready for the discussions in class.
As much as I love classic movies, I wonder how could I have missed this classic for so many years? It was practically love at first sight. Besides starring Jimmy Stewart - it is the story of an innocent, idealistic youth leader who is hand picked to be the pawn of corrupt government officials. As his world is shattered around him he remains constant, uncorruptable and a sadder but more determined man. He stands tall, the everyman's David facing down the political Goliath while bombarded from every side, refusing to back down from what he knows to be good and true. "Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: 'I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will.'"
Even as I chuckle at the inherent cheesiness and the main characters incredible naiveté, I can't help but be touched - because as pragmatic as I am - I am an idealist at heart. I know the world is full of greed and corruption, but that doesn't mean we can't give our all to make something better.
So many of my hero's are those who knew that one plain simple rule, love thy neighbor - Mother Theresa, Corrie Ten Boom, Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Greg Mortenson, Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc, Winston Churchill, Frederick Douglass, Desmond Tutu, Chief Joseph, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Albert Schweitzer... the list just keeps going.
Call them naive, foolish, blind, or whatever else you like. Like Don Quixote, they tilted with the worlds' windmills. And they brought down giants. They were fighting for those lost causes. They are the ones worth fighting for, even dying for. "Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties."
No comments:
Post a Comment