This Movie Changed Me

What does it mean to be good? What does it mean if we aren’t good? Whose fault is it? These are just some of the questions that animate Amadeus, a fictional portrayal of famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his musical rival Antionio Salieri. These questions also inspire Sue Phillips, a Unitarian Universalist minister. She first watched the movie in the late ’80s, just as she was coming out and understanding her place in the world.

Sue Phillips is the co-founder of Sacred Design Lab. She was also the first Director of Strategy as part of the Impact Lab here at the On Being Project. An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, Sue is the co-author, with colleagues Angie Thurston and Casper ter Kuile, of “Design for the Human Soul.”

Career Girls is a love letter to the friendships that shape us in our formative years, and the nostalgia that accompanies us once we’ve grown out of them. The indie movie follows Annie and Hannah, college friends who reunite for the first time since they graduated six years ago. Karen Corday, a writer, was the same age as the characters when she first saw the movie. She says it helped her feel seen and comforted to know that her experiences “just living as a person in the world” were worth exploring.

Karen Corday writes about feelings, songs, movies, relationships, memories, old things, karaoke, and books. Her writing has appeared in publications like “Brooklyn Magazine,” “The Washington Post,” and Brit + Co. You can find the beautifully insightful piece she wrote about “Career Girls” on her website karencorday.com.

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The movie Brown Sugar is, at its heart, a tribute to hip-hop — complete with a soundtrack featuring artists like Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Mary J. Blige. It follows Dre and Sidney, childhood friends whose love of hip-hop is what connects them throughout their life. This coming-of-age story celebrates how love and music feed one another — an idea that spoke to Nick George. From the first time he picked up the DVD at Walmart as a college student to his life now as a spoken-word poet and community leader, Brown Sugar has accompanied him as a grown-up in life, in art, and in love.

George is an author, poet, and the founder of The Listening, Inc — a community organization that connects the performing arts to healing, mentoring, and social impact. Nick is also an adjunct professor at Central Virginia Community College. You can hear more of his wonderful storytelling wisdom in his TEDx talk “Revenge of the Snap.”

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Contact takes the sometimes opposing forces of science and religion and puts them in conversation. The movie is based on a 1985 novel by Carl Sagan about Ellie Arroway, a SETI scientist who discovers a radio signal that could suggest extraterrestrial life. During her search she encounters Palmer Joss, a Christian philosopher who challenges her convictions as a scientist. Ellie’s pursuit of meaning outside of religion — an oftentimes lonely endeavor — was an experience Drew Hammond had never seen portrayed in a movie before. A high school teacher, Hammond says the movie granted him permission to stay curious and pursue the questions he has about the world — and it continues to shape how he interacts with his students.

Drew Hammond is an English teacher at Eagan High School in Eagan, Minn. He’s also an award-winning public speaking coach, a published playwright, and a former stand-up comedian. He is featured in the documentary “Figures of Speech,” which is out on Netflix.

Find the transcript at https://onbeing.org/series/this-movie-changed-me/

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Black Panther made all sorts of history — as the first Marvel production to feature a primarily black cast and the first superhero movie to receive an Academy Award nomination. For Zahida Sherman, a writer and college administrator, taking her students to watch the movie in theaters felt like participating in a historical, cultural moment. “It was just black joy, all day long,” she recalls. In portraying a wide range of black identities — both superhuman and mortal — Sherman says the movie offered her permission to be herself and see that anything is possible.

Sherman is the director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Oberlin College. She was formerly the assistant director of black student success at the University of the Pacific. Find her writings on race, gender, and adulthood in Bustle and Blavity.

Find the transcript at https://onbeing.org/series/this-movie-changed-me/

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Ratatouille is a Pixar feast. The tale of Remy, a rat who dreams of becoming an excellent chef, is a delight to experience in all five senses. One particular character — Anton Ego, the restaurant critic — brings A. O. Scott back to the heart of his own work as a New York Times’ chief film critic. He says Ratatouille changed how he understands the work of criticism. This conversation is not just about food; it’s a reminder to return to our love for our craft — whether that’s food, movies, or something else altogether.

A.O. Scott is a chief film critic for the New York Times and is the Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University. His book is “Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth.”

Find the transcript at https://onbeing.org/series/this-movie-changed-me/

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Groundhog Day is a classic movie for two groups of people: Bill Murray fans and anyone who was alive in the ’90s. But writer Naomi Alderman falls into a wholly different category of fandom. The author of The Power first watched Groundhog Day when she was 18 and has seen it dozens of times since then. She says the movie has offered her solace for her existential angst and helped her devise a routine for the times when she’s stuck in a rut.

Naomi Alderman is a professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University. Her books include “Disobedience,” which was adapted into a feature film starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams. She's also a game writer whose work includes the alternate reality game, “Perplex City,” and the fitness game, “Zombies, Run!”

Find the transcript at https://onbeing.org/series/this-movie-changed-me/

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Our podcast This Movie Changed Me is coming back with a new season of movie magic, featuring conversations about favorites old and new — from Groundhog Day and Black Panther to Coco and The Exorcist.

New episodes coming to your podcast feed Tuesdays starting in September. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.