I mentioned in my vlog that we watched The Giver on New Years Eve. And guys, it was SO good. I have always liked the book, and have read it quite a few times, and so I was excited, but a little nervous, to see the movie. I just wasn’t sure how they were going to bring it to life. BUT, holy wow, they did such a great job. Sure, they changed a few things, but over all — amazing.
And so, I wanted to share with you what I learned from The Giver. The book touched me, but the visuals in the movie were astonishing and have stayed with me these past two weeks. But first, a brief synopsis, so you understand where I am coming from. The Giver is set in a utopian (or is a dystopian?) community, where “sameness” is valued. Everyone wears the same clothing, there is no color, there is no pain, there is only the here and now. Memories of the history of the people reside in one man only — The Receiver of Memory. The rest of the people are blissfully unaware of things such as war, starvation, intense physical pain, and death. When children turn 12 years old, they are given their assignments from the Elders — the jobs they will have for the rest of their lives, and Jonas is chosen to be the new Receiver of Memory, which makes the old Receiver, The Giver. One memory at a time, Jonas learns the truth about his community — what they are missing, and why. And once he learns of these things, he only wants to share them with the community. He understands that love and color and beauty and dance and song are things everyone should experience, even if that means there can also be war and contempt and contention.
And so, what did I learn?
I learned that life is beautiful.
My very favorite part of the movie is how they portrayed the memories that Jonas receives. They are bright and vivid and draw you in. They show heightened emotion. (You can view some of the memories on this clip.) There are so many experiences to be had in life. Some we may never experience, but some we will. And all those moments and experiences, make up our life, and that life is absolutely beautiful.
I learned that being different is beautiful.
We all look different — whether we are slim or not, tall or short, brunette or blond or auburn, dark skinned or light skinned… The list can go on and on. And that only deals with our outward appearance. Inside there are vast differences as well — our interests, our dislikes, our favorite color, our favorite books, our religions — there are so many many differences. But that is what makes us unique, that is what makes us lovable, that is what makes us special, that is what makes us unique. We should embrace our differences, embrace ourselves and learn to love them.
I learned that there is hope and beauty and love and joy and color in the world.
We live in a beautiful world. All you have to do is look out your window to see that. Of course, there is opposition, but if it were not so “righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.” (2 Nephi 2:11) We deal with the bad, because it shows us the good – as Og Mandino stated, “I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”
And it deepened my testimony of the knowledge of a true and living God.
I highly recommend the book and the movie to everyone and anyone. It highlights just what it means to be human, the emotions and experiences we face are so unique and so special. And God created it all for us. We are not here by accident, we are here by design. The beauty we see each day is made for us to enjoy. God loves us, He sent us here to learn and grow and make choices. Yes, there is pain and death and war, but God also gave His beloved, firstborn Son to die for us, to make all that go away, so that we can once again become whole and worthy and enter into Their presence. And that is what life is all about.
PS, you should read this piece that Lois Lowry recently published about The Giver and also this piece about The Giver Quartet. They very nearly made me cry.
Wife to Kyle, and momma to Abe, Eliza and Jonah. I'm a stay-at-home momma by day, and a blogger by naptime. I graduated from BYU with a degree in Human Development, and I love to read more than anything. I love my Savior, and sharing His love for others is my greatest passion.
