I recently watched the most recent version of “A Star is Born.” I chose not to go when it was in theaters because I remembered sobbing in the theater while watching the 1970’s version with some friends. We all ran out of tissues, but someone had brought a roll of toilet paper. We kept passing that roll back and forth till the movie was over.
People love a good movie, although everyone has an opinion as to what a “good” movie is. Mostly, I think we want to identify with the characters and what they are going through. Sadness in movies starts early in our viewing days. Bambi’s mother dies, Simba’s father dies, and the Toy Story characters have to keep adapting to new families. I don’t want to say that sad movies teach us compassion as much as they make us experience the God-given ability to feel empathy and love for one another.
These days, I’m afraid that as adults, we have an easier time feeling compassionate about fictional characters than we do real people. Maybe we feel overwhelmed by all of the problems in the world. Maybe we feel so helpless that we don’t think we can help. Maybe the pain hits too close to home if we have gone through something similar to someone else’s experience, or we might be afraid that the same bad thing will happen to us. Perhaps we think people bring on their own problems (and sometimes this is true), so we think they deserve the consequences of their actions. There could be hundreds of excuses for not reaching out a helping hand.
The thing is, while we make our excuses, the needs of others do not go away. While we argue and wonder about what should be done, nothing gets done. There have been several times in my life when I didn’t know what to do, so I did nothing. Afterwards, I felt guilty for not saying or doing anything. In the meantime, people are hurting. Sometimes, all they really need is to know that someone cares about them. We need to care, and we need to show that we care.
So, if you know someone going through cancer treatments, clean their house. If you know someone who has lost a loved one, call them a month, two months, a year later to check on them. The grief does not end at the funeral of a loved one. Donate to charities, call your senators and representatives to give your opinions, invite friends over to your house, keep in touch with family members even if you don’t get along. We do not need to agree with people in order to show them love and respect.
The ending scene of Streisand’s version of “A Star is Born” has her character belting out “Watch Closely Now,” and it still resonates because it shows strength and hope after tragedy. It shows resilience of the human spirit, and it shows how her character’s fans, strangers to her, supported her. Let’s take that action into the real world by supporting each other. Watch closely now, and fill a need where you see it.
“Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4