Tonic Pop

12 Monkeys

Rating:  R (for violence and language.)

Genre:  Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: Terry Gilliam

Written By:  David Webb Peoples who wrote co-wrote Blade Runner & Unforgiven, he was joined on this writing project by his wife Janet Peoples – what a team! What great peoples.

In Theaters:  Dec 27, 1995  

On Disc/Streaming:  Mar 31, 1998

Runtime:  130 minutes

Studio:  Universal Pictures
 
 

From a budget of 29.5 million it grossed 168 million. Well done Terry.

This time-travel film is intense and intriguing and was one that showcased in my opinion some of Bruce Willis’s finer work acting-wise. Both Jeff Bridges and then Nick Nolte were originally slated for the part but due to unavailability Bruce was locked in. Any one of them could have pulled this off I reckon but Bruce sinks into the role beautifully. As mentioned The sci-fi was directed by Terry Gilliam, who by virtue of being a member of Monty Python receives legend status no matter what. His radical spin at directing solidifies it. Admittedly he’s had a few misses but I think the balance of crazily brilliant films are is in his favour. Time Bandits, Brazil, Fisher King… 
 
 Bruce Willis plays James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035. He makes a parole earning deal to travel back in time and thwart a devastating plague that wipes out a large percentage of the earth’s population. At least that’s what he believes he is doing initially. Makes you wonder – is there a James Cole wandering around earth right now? 
 
 If you’ve seen it – I need to say no more – if you haven’t – I need to say no more. Plot-wise that is.

Brad Pitt shakes off his pretty boy image to boldly grab his role as a paranoid rambling, twitchy skin bag of fleas on speed by the proverbial horns. He does it in a way that you want to pick through his monologues and make sense of them because you get the feeling there is sense to be found. With that said, in a new interview with the New York Times Magazine, he confesses his own feelings on the role.

Quote - “I nailed the first half of 12 Monkeys,” “I got the second half all wrong. – end quote
Have you seen it? What are your thoughts on Brad’s turn? Go to the Tonic Pop Podcast Facebook page to leave a comment.

12 Monkeys also co-stars the ageless and underrated Madeline Stowe playing Dr. Kathryn Railly
 
Christopher Plummer also pops up

 Deal with the gloom of foreordained disaster is a main theme “Suck it up” 
 

“Are you going to save us Mr. Cole?” the doctor asks “How can I save you?” says James Cole asks, “This already happened. I can’t save you. Nobody can.” 

That thought makes the moment from the film that I want to draw our lesson from oddly special. It’s the scene where Cole hears Fats Domino’s ‘classic ‘Blueberry Hill’ come over the car stereo. The joy of music prompts him to stick his head out of the window of the travelling vehicle like an excitable canine and proclaim “I love the music of the 20th century!” “I love this air! Love to breathe this air!” 
 
 This bewilders the good Dr who is driving. Someone who is, like many of us are, desensitised to the small pleasures that are far from abnormal to our existence. 
 
 This is such a cool teaching moment – a lesson that prompts us to consider pausing every so often and allowing ourselves to relish fleeting pleasures, moments of joy. We watch Cole transition from an acutely focused need to fulfill his mission – rampaging through the time he has been allotted to finding time to enjoy the world’s final moments.

It’s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest — by longing for things to come it will lose the ability to enjoy present things. — Stoic philosopher Seneca, wrote in his Moral Letters, 

How often do we let the good moments pass without allowing a brief pause to celebrate? I don’t mean streamers and a cake every time joy blows a kiss but taking a moment to enjoy life’s gems with a nod and a tip of the hat. A moment of 

·         honor

·         lauding

·         observation

.         a touch of veneration. 

Maybe your child welcomes you home – stop and soak that in – they may not always do that

Maybe you get a thank you from a colleague, 

Maybe the sky gifts you a rainbow. 

Maybe someone lets you in at a busy intersection.

Little moments – they will likely give you a little boost to your soul without having to think about it but why now hold on to it for a touch longer than normal? Why not allow these multiple moments to create a greater collective experience by savouring each? 
 

Imagine you sit down to the most expensive meal you’ve ever had before you. Let’s say you sat down in a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and had a plate of scallops before you (I love seafood so that’s where I’m going but choose your own adventure) – throw that scallop down your gullet if you like – let it barely touch your tastebuds – what was the point of that? You just wanted sustenance? You may as well have saved a lot of money and scoffed down a filet o fish.

Savour the moments?

Feel, enjoy, and extend our positive ‘in the now’ experiences. 

Here are 5 things that we can do to enable positive moments to have a greater effect:

1.   Pause and pay attention when something positive, no matter how big or small, comes your way. 

2.   Practise gratitude – be grateful for whatever caused the positive emotion

3.   Capitalize on the moment. Extend the moment by putting your joy on display, speaking about it, sharing it – just as Cole did with his head out of the window. 

4.   Avoid the trap of becoming preoccupied with planning for grand positive events while multiple positive moments pass you by. “Daddy can I show you a dance I made up?” “Maybe later sweetheart I’m planning our trip to family togetherness park.”

5.   Practise being more alert to moments. Don’t just look up – look around. When I used to work as a lifeguard we were taught to be constantly scanning our area of purview. To focus on only 1 spot could cause you to not only zone out but to miss out on concerns in the periphery. 

Here’s the thing – we have little to no control over many of the impromptu moments that can put a smile in your file, a ding to your wing, a flame to your brain so when they come be prepared to grab them. And if you’re not getting enough of these  - create your own. Pat your cat (not a euphemism) – watch the sun set, have a bubble bath, be playful, have a little dance when ‘The Safety Dance’ comes on over the radio – if it ever does anymore – does it?. Collect these experiences whether unexpected or planned and don’t hold off until that island vacation to refill your happiness bottle.

Shaun of the Dead. 

How to become a romantic lead in your own life as shown by the unlikeliest of romantic leads.
 
 Director: Edgar Wright

Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
 
 Budget:

GBP4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

 $3,300,000, 26 September 2004

Gross USA:

 $13,542,874

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

 $30,076,102

 
 Summary: Shaun is dumped by Liz, his girlfriend because he is a slacker and lacks motivation. He doesn't put a lot of effort into their relationship. Shaun loves her and wants to win her back. His plans, however, are interrupted by the Zombie Apocalypse. So he and his even more deadbeat, slacker friend, Ed, embark on a courageous journey to rescue Shaun's mum, his stepfather, Liz and Liz's flatmates and take them to the safety of the local pub, The Winchester.
 
 It has all the hallmarks of satire. Irony, commentary on current social issues. But is it Romantic comedy satire? Action film satire? It plays with a bunch of the usual tropes found in these genres. It really is a multi-genre weave. The portmanteau ‘RomZomCom’ has been coined to describe it. In simplicity it is a romantic comedy wrapped in a zombie flick. The zombies are representing the challenges that are often faced in a relationship story. Shaun of the Dead is like a video game where the hero character must battle through different levels to win – in this case win back – the heart of his love. Edgar Wright used a similar game play concept in Scott Pilgrim Vs the World. 
 
 I think the Brits do the “everyman” romantic lead well and Simon Pegg is evidence of that.

So what are some lessons that we can draw from Shaun’s character arc that lead him back to his being with his love. 
 
 1. The influence of toxic friendships. Not FRIENDS per se but friendSHIPS.

Ed, played by Nick Frost, is Shaun’s bestie. The writers establish their relationship and backstory early and show how their relationship affects other relationships. 

So, what began as a triangle, with Shaun, Liz and Ed at its points has turned into something much more complicated. It’s a Gordian knot which never becomes untangled but becomes more manageable and balanced as we’ll see later in the story. 
 
 In remaining tight with Ed, Shaun seems to be clinging to his childhood and the avoidance of responsibilities that come with maturity. As horrible as it is the zombie outbreak provides a coerced opportunity to step up and take on a hero’s obligation.   

We are all guilty of being on the wrong side of this – of at times letting a digital 3rd wheel into our relationships. Maybe we’ve been the victims of it. 

An unhealthy relationship with a virtual third wheel leads to phone snubbing or “phubbing,”.

We can list thousands of advantages to the tech in our hands but do we seriously consider the downsides particularly the effect on our interpersonal relationships?

 Just as Shaun could be in the same space as Liz but not truly present, do we find ourselves sharing space with someone but because of a device in our hands, we are detached from the moment?
 
It used to be that the big 3 disputes for couples' were sex, money, and kids but now smartphones are joining that club. 

In a study from Baylor University's researchers surveyed 453 adults to find out the real effects of phubbing. Phubbing is defined in the study as “the extent to which people use or are distracted by their cellphones while in the company of their relationship partners." 

It was found that those who were phubbed by their partners felt conflict that led to lower relationship satisfaction. “These lower levels of relationship satisfaction, in turn, led to lower levels of life satisfaction and, ultimately, higher levels of depression," explained one of the study's authors, Dr. James A. Roberts.

Another study from Brigham Young University examined the same issue and the researchers concluded that phubbing, or what the researchers coined ‘technoference’ (but mouth – I prefer phubbing,) can be damaging not just to a relationship but to a person’s psychological health as well.

Overall, participants who rated more technoference in their relationships also reported more conflict over the use of tech – particularly smartphones and consequent lower relationship satisfaction, more depressive symptoms, and lower life satisfaction. By allowing technology to interfere with or interrupt conversations, activities, and time with romantic partners—even when unintentional or for brief moments—individuals may be sending implicit messages about what they value most, leading to conflict and negative outcomes in personal life and relationships.
 
 So while it’s probably no surprise to anybody but the most dense among us that technology can be a catalyst for annoyance and conflict what this study is showing is that a person’s engagement with technology can actually send their partner into depression. 

Another study done on young adult relationships, which was published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture showed a significant link between higher levels of dependency on smartphones and higher levels of relationship uncertainty. Not only that but participants who observed that their partners seemed highly dependent on their smartphone were significantly less satisfied in their relationships than those that didn’t note dependency.

Why? What is it about smartphones? 
 
 Because often it feels, that you are having an emotional affair right in front of the very person you are supposed to be truly engaged with.  

The mentioned studies and many more that have been conducted conclude that phubbing feels like rejection – and maybe it feels like that because that’s what it is and it hurts.

“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.”
― Albus Dumbledore

When you are mid conversation, mid-meal, enjoying a show together, having any romantic moment and your virtual third wheel interrupts and you give it your attention what is that saying to the other person in the room?
 
 “My phone is more important than you right now,” 
 
 We create a rubbish mountain of repeated rejections, many are just mini-rejections but they add to the pile that that eventually consumes the home and under the weight of that mountain peace and joy are crushed to death. 

All of these studies have shown that it is not smartphone use, in general, that affects relational health.  There is no need  Rather it is the “psychological reliance on these devices, and one’s need to constantly be connected with his or her smartphone, that potentially affects relationships and not actual use.”
 
 Some questions we could ask t thao determine whether a phone has become a negative 3rd wheel include:
 
 

Is my phone causing emotional infidelity?
 
 

Do I unwittingly or unthinkingly ignore your partner or kids etc. when you’re gazing at the phone?

Is it so noticeable and blatant tha...

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. — Anon 

 Huck Finn is Twain’s magnum opus. We know the gist. It is his story of a runaway boy (Huckleberry) and an escaped slave’s (Jim) travels on the Mississippi plumbs the essential meaning of freedom. The book has caused controversy and conflict in libraries and schools across the US.
 
 “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a dangerous book. As all life manuals are." – Jay Squires – novelist

Toni Morrison (may she rest in peace,) describes and even celebrates “The hell it puts the reader through” as being exactly the point of it.

Ernest Hemingway went so far as to praise Huckleberry by writing that “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
 
The morsel that I want to talk about today is a moment that really sets off the overarching theme of freedom. Before we get to that moment let’s talk about the main theme.
 

What both Huck and Jim seek is freedom. The setting of the Mississippi river gave Twain an opportunity to contrast and throw into conflict the protagonist’s floating log raft, sleeping under the stars style of freedom with the existing civilization along the mighty river. 

Both Huck and Jim seek freedom but they have different ideas about what that freedom looks like.

Jim wants freedom from literal slavery and to an existence that will allow him to be with his wife and children. 
 
 Huck on the other hand has discovered that while escaping an abusive father to live with Widow Douglas, may have afforded him freedom from his father’s violence, in his mind he was now well fed and well-dressed but with a figurative collar and leash attached to himself. 
 

Then he was kidnapped by his father and he was back to literal captivity in an isolated place where he was physically abused and locked up whenever his father went to town. 
 
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
 
 Huck’s dad going off to town for supplies was the stimulus. 
 
 Huck faking his own death and running away from not only the hut but the whole town was his response.
 
The space between was where his decisions were made. 
 
 We have a freedom to choose our responses.  

Choice is an indispensable element of freedom.

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. – Amelia Earheart
 
 Now, the argument could be made, and I’m sure followers of Kantian ethics would make it, that in escaping the clutches of his legal guardian and faking his own death, Huck made a wrong decision being that he was acting dishonestly. 

“What’s the use you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right and ain’t no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?”
 
Huck muses on this question as he struggles with the dilemma that would see him doing the strictly speaking honest thing (turning Jim over to the escaped slave hunters,) or lying to keep him safe from recapture. 

 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, complicates our standard teachings of right and wrong. 

The morality that Huck Finn abides by has more to do with following his heart and his gut instincts than strict definitions of right and wrong. 
 
 If Huck hadn’t made that choice in the space between stimulus and response, how might his and Jim’s life ended up?

Let’s talk about George McFly.

George was an overthinker. He was a bit gawky and dorky. And he was toes to eye-balls full of self-doubt. 
 
 When his son Marty went back in time and caught up with his none the wiser teenage Dad, he son saw in George potential but realised that those fitting adjectives were holding him back. 

Now, if you haven’t seen the film – firstly – what the? Second – spoiler alert – 

Marty unwittingly stuffs up an important moment in his parent’s timeline when George was to almost literally fall into his future wife’s arms. Instead, Marty ends up becoming the twinkle in his own mother’s eye. Yeah that sounds weird. 

Marty realises that he now needs to help get the timeline back on track or he and his siblings will never be born. 

George has lost his accidental opportunity to date and initiate the path to marriage. Now he must take control of the situation but the problem is as we indicated earlier – the guy has no confidence around girls, especially Lorraine who he is infatuated with.
 
 There are 2 big moments in George’s attempts to woo Lorraine that set him on a path to reaching his potential, a potential which would exceed the position he was in as his former future self.
 
 1. George and Marty had come up with a plan to make George look like a hero at the school dance. The plan went awry though and hapless George found himself facing the large and fierce town bully Biff. Biff was sexually abusing Lorraine and when caught by George gave George the opportunity to just walk away. 

George had a decision to make. He could walk away with his face intact and pretend he hadn’t seen anything, or he could stand up to Biff and defend Lorraine’s honour.

He chose the later. With a clenched fist he swung an almighty punch which landed cleanly on Biff’s jaw – knocking him out. 

 This got him the girl – not the violence per se – but the willingness to put his timidity to the side and stand up for what was right. At least initially. When dancing with Lorraine at Enchanted Under the Sea, he almost reverted back into his old, weaker self when another boy intimidatingly cut in their dance. As he walked away from the confrontation we see that this just about ended the idea that Marty and his siblings would ever exist. 

But then he realised something – THIS was his moment and it was a moment that he could never retrieve and likely never repeat.
 There is a Balance that must be found between thought and action and most of us find that to be a real challenge. 

Sometimes we spend an inordinate amount of time imagining what our event, project, creation whatever – is going to look like and be like – we could be worrying about every problem that may pop up or on the other end of the spectrum dwelling on and daydreaming about how wonderful it’s going to be

Thinking and planning is a necessary phase. But so is action.

George found himself in the right place at the right time, but history would only consider it the right place and time if he made use of the opportunity that was presented. 

George had made a decision to act – but he still had to act. He had to do it with tremendous discomfort as it went against his very nature. We can only guess what may or may not have happened due to inaction but we can always analyse the ripple effects of action.
 
 As Gregg Krech writes in his book The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology, external reality remains exactly the same after your decision to ask someone out, to write a book, or leave your job. What matters is “creating ripples”, as he puts it — actions, however tiny, that alter things in the world outside your head.

Inaction is an expensive habit. 

Dale Carnegie said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

See Action on the other, no matter how big or small leads to Momentum and will animate your life. 

It can be really uncomfortable to take action but that’s okay. The lack of comfort in the process of taking action transforms into confidence. That’s how it was with gawky George and that’s how it can work for each of us. 
 
 I’ll share our final thoughts from the great Charles Dickens

This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in.
 
 
Music by Mayan Fox
www.facebook.com/mayanfoxofficial
www.mayanfox.com

“Forget the hearse coz I never die.”
 
 Bon Scott, whose real name was Ronald, was born in Scotland in 1946 before moving with his family to Australia in 1952. The name Bon was a nickname given by his classmates and was a play on ‘Bonnie Scotland’. 
 
 In his late teens Bon spent a short time in Fremantle Prison's assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution. These stints were a result of charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge, and stealing 12 gallons of petrol. He attempted to join the Australian Army, but was rejected and deemed "socially maladjusted"

As we know his main legacy is his music.
 
 Before his death in 1980, with ACDC he wrote and recorded 7 albums including the international version of High Voltage which was a mix of the first 2 Australian release albums ‘High Voltage’ and ‘TNT’.

In a poignant twist Bon’s last recording was an improv jam on the ACDC blues rock ballad, and arguably one of their best songs ‘Ride On’ which he jammed with some friends from the French band ‘Trust’. It’s a song about reflecting on mistakes but moving on and trying to create something better to leave behind.
 
 Broke another promise
 And I broke another heart
 But I ain't too young to realize
 That I ain't too old to try
 Try to get back to the start
 
 Days later he was found dead – a result of acute alcohol poisoning. 
 
 His legacy didn’t end with his own albums though, he had also hyped up Brian Johnson while he was alive to the rest of ACDC and told then how much he admired him as a front-man. This gave comfort to the band to carry on with Brian as their lead singer and the album that followed, which was a tribute to Bon, is to date ACDCs biggest selling album and not only that but the 2nd highest selling album of all time behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller – or 3rd if you include the Eagles Greatest Hits compilation.
 
 Most of us want to leave a positive, indelible mark on this world. We want to know that people left behind feel that our life mattered. We want to leave something behind that can influence the future.
 
 In considering what we want our legacy to be it need not come with the idea that it must be something so large that it incites a pilgrimage. We need not leave behind world or even local fame.
 
 Ralph Waldo Emerson said ““To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”  
 
 If we make a conscious decision to leave a positive legacy, no matter grand or how simple we can start purposefully building it.

How do we want to be remembered? 

Coming to a knowledge of what we would like our legacy to be allows us to consider our steps. It can help us to avoid recidivism, of repeating an stupid moves and undesirable behaviour.
 
 

It can help us see more clearly the world we are creating. It can help us understand our life’s purpose. It can help us to realise that our life does matter. 

What Will Your Verse Be?
 
 in his poem ‘O me! O life!” Walt Whitman ponders his life’s meaning
 
O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
 Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
 Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
 Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
 Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
 Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
 The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer:

That you are here—that life exists and identity,
 That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

We all have a verse to contribute. It might come in the form of a book, a charity,  a life of volunteering, mentorship, artwork, crafts, a garden, stories, a blog, a movement…
 
 It need not be a platinum record, it’s just that reminder that puts a smile on the face of those who are left behind and helps them to lead better lives and want to leave their own legacies.

I’ll let Author Ray Bradbury give us our concluding thoughts.

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way. . . and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.” 

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was an instant success and has gone on to sell over 40 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages. It is a classic of modern American literature and won the Pulitzer Prize.

It is written from the perspective of a child, Jean-Louise Finch, nickname: Scout. Scout narrates her story as an adult looking back on her existence in Depression-era South from ages 6-9 and the view she had at that time and place of race and justice. 

On a personal note, this is one of my favourite novels and I even convinced my wife to give our youngest daughter the middle name Scout. I almost got her to agree to it as a first name but the fact that her brother had a dog named Scout threw a spanner in those works.

One of the great things about To Kill a Mockingbird is it’s cast of beautifully ugly, fascinating characters.  Mrs. Dubose is one of them. She's a disturbingly sour old lady. She sits on her front porch and viciously hurls abuse at Scout and her brother Jem any time they walk past her house.

The natural tendency for many of us – at least I might say that mine might be – to throw some spite bombs back at her – let them land in her shawl covered lap where it is rumoured that she hides a confederate pistol. Watch her explode.

Atticus the hero of our story, has been blessed with empathy and patience. Coupled with the wisdom of experience and inside knowledge, rather than ripping into Mrs. Dubose, (which with his intellect and lawyerly rhetoric he could do with ease,)  He instead would, as he passed her house each day, he respectfully takes off his hat and wishes her a courteous and joyful “good afternoon”. 

This is what incites Scout to proclaim that “It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”

To Scout’s mind, her Dad was like a knight taking a birthday cake to a dragon and inviting it to blow out the candles. 

She saw his ability to remain charming and controlled as powerful. She was right.

Atticus had his own idea about what he saw as bravery. 

He knew that Mrs. Dubose was ultimately harmless but that her personality had been afflicted in the final steps of her life’s journey by intense pain. He never excused her abuse but he was able to provide context and give his children and opportunity to learn empathy.

Dubose was addicted to morphine and she had vowed to quit and become clean before she died. 

After she passed away Atticus explained that she had been battling a terminal illness that caused her extreme agony. She had been taking morphine to ease the pain but realised that she had become dependent and so by her own volition had stopped taking the painkiller. She knew that the disease would get her in the end morphine or not but she wanted to die a woman free of her addiction. With this knowledge the children were able to understand that her willingness to compound the pains of her illness with the pains of withdrawal in exchange for a short moment of freedom, was indeed a courageous decision. 

"Real courage, explains Atticus, is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin any-way and you see it through no matter what."

The Atticus lesson came at a time when his son Jem, who was almost a young adult, was beginning to face the social definitions, stereotypes and conventional teachings of what it means to be a man. A definition that tells us that courage has its own spotlight. 

In the sageness of Atticus, courage is a decision. It is a decision to enable moral courage. In many cases it is a decision to do something that may have negative effect on the enactors life but they do it believing that what they are doing is the right thing to do. 

With that said, the list of positives far out-weigh the negatives because with each courageous decision we make, we are resigning from what we are and stepping towards what we can become. I believe that with every moment of courage, a person’s mind expands and becomes more capacious; a person’s posture improves, stature increases, confidence grows and the spirit rises to new planes, in a state of liberation.

Thank you for listening.

Nate Hamon

Intro and Outro Music: Lioness by Mayan Fox

Fair warning – In today’s episode we are going to talk about death in a candid and forthright way.

Originally titled, simply, ‘Star Wars’, this film was retroactively given the title ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’. It is the first installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, the first of the franchise to be produced, and the fourth episode of the "Skywalker saga".

As always, there will be spoilers:

The moment we are pulling out of the film to take a lesson from is when Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi is battling one of film history’s greatest and most iconic bad guys, Darth Vader. Midst battle Obi Wan was taunted by Darth and in response, likely in acceptance of his inevitable demise, the sagacious Jedi returned serve with a warning;

“Strike me down and I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

Obi Wan had in life learned a technique from his mentor Qui-gon Jin that would allow him, after death to continue to communicate with the living. So could Ben have considered his ability to be a kind of 'spirit guide' as being more powerful than his physical presence in the world?

Partially I think. That coupled with a moment of realisation that occurred just before he was killed. Obi-Wan, turns and notices Luke. Luke has to this point not quite understood the gravity of accepting and pursuing his role in the fate of the galaxy. In noticing Luke, in that short but lucid moment I think Obi sees a motivational opportunity. He isn’t scared of his own death but rather is scared of the death of everything he stands for and fights for. He knows that Luke is the hero needed for the time, for the rebellion to succeed and so if witnessing his mentor’s death at the hands of Darth Vader will drive Luke into accepting his role as a future Jedi Master and subsequently battle and bring down the evil empire, then he will, through Luke, become more powerful.

Death as a motivator is a theme that is used in a lot of the Star Wars films from, Obi-Wan training Anakin after Qui-Gon Jinn is killed by Darth Maul to Rey staying the course and searching for Luke Skywalker after Han is killed by Kylo Ren.

It can be very hard to accept but life and death go hand in hand. Whether you believe in the afterlife or that death is the full stop in a person’s life one thing is true; death is only the end of a chapter. Just because 1 character dies doesn’t mean the story has ended. The book continues to be written on the pages that follow and the characters that have come and gone can continue to influence the story.

Obi Wan’s death was a motivator for Luke - how can we use death as a motivator?

When my granddad recently died at the young age of 100, many of us lost a close friend and an inspirational figure. The days that followed saw family gathering and sharing stories of his many escapes from death, his adventurous lifestyle and his powerful work ethic. In the mix was discussions of his many faults and failings. There was no political correctness or fear of insulting  the dead because that would have been a dishonest remembrance and Granddad being someone who had no trouble speaking his mind would have come back to haunt us. But what was discovered was that everything he did rippled into our existences and speaking for myself, I found motivation as I used the excuse of his death to remember his life.

So how can we take the opportunity that death presents, to become more life motivated?

1. Gather the Lessons Left Behind.
The body may join the earth below but the lessons remain. It’s up to us what we learn from those lessons, or whether we learn anything at all.
In an age where multiple incessant distractions have become a real threat to productivity, and our attention spans have become shortened,  the death of a loved one can be a good opportunity to pause and consider the expanse of their physical existence and pull lessons from their life into yours.

2. Get Some Perspective
The death of a loved one is a great time to pause and gain perspective on what really matters in life. How quickly do any petty concerns we might have with someone melt away when they pass. Little disturbances disappear, we become less myopic and for a time, if we allow it and don’t withdraw into ourselves, we can see things with a greater scope.

3. Realise the Value of Time
There’s nothing like a death to force a revisitation of the adages “life is short” or “you never know when you’re gonna go”. It’s hard to stay motivated when consequences are delayed because action is delayed. When the delay is because of our own inaction then regrets can be debilitating. We don’t need to fool ourselves into thinking that we need to play catch up for years of procrastination though. It’s the next move forward that matters most. 

4. Consider How Indelible Your Impression Will Be
What impact did your loved one have on you? What impression will you leave on others? Rarely if ever is a funeral rife with talk of all the expensive clothes the person purchased or how big their house was. That is fine and impressive in life but in death it is more often the substance of a person that is discussed. It is how a person made you think and feel that leaves the strongest mark.

I'll leave you with a quote from author and more Jack Kerouac.

"I hope it is true that a man can die and yet not only live in others but give them life, and not only life, but that great consciousness of life."