Vision

This afternoon my wife and I took her sisters and a friend to see October Baby which premiered last Friday. I don’t frequent film theaters, well, frequently anyway. As a matter of fact, I can still count on my two hands the times I’ve darkened the doorway of a commercial movie house. I don’t believe in giving my hard earned cash to further the sin-sick and sin-hardened Hollywood film production machine.

But this was different. It was unabashedly a Christian film. And I’m glad I went.

October Baby follows the story of a young lady who has grown up unaware of her own birth story and the complicated issues surrounding her entrance to our world. Health problems stemming from her premature birth and other issues she encountered while still in the womb (no spoilers here) cause her to look for answers. The film grabs your attention from the start, pulling you through each emotion-filled moment as she discovers who she really is.

I was genuinely impressed by the raw emotion and true-to-life experiences faced by ‘Hannah’ who faces the reality of her past, a cruel rejection and the empowering freedom of forgiveness. This is a story that is relevant to our world. The themes in this film could have been taken from any one of the myriads of  heart-breaking, living, breathing, walking stories of real people in our cities today.

I laughed and ‘throat lumped’ (guys don’t cry in movies) along with everyone in the theater and found the following quote by the cathedral minister poignant and true. Apparently Hannah was worried he’d reject her too, because she was a ‘Baptist’ and he was some kind of more traditionalist Christian (perhaps Episcopalian? Maybe someone can clarify in the comments). He just smiled when she clarified her denominational position and sitting down next to her entered a dialog in which he stated:

Because we have been forgiven by God, we should forgive each other. In Christ you are forgiven, and because you are forgiven, you have the power to forgive, to choose to forgive. Let it go. Hatred is a burden you no longer need to carry. Only in forgiveness can you be free, Hannah—forgiveness that is well beyond your grasp, or mine, a forgiveness that you can’t find on a trip or even in this cathedral. But if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed.

Leaving details to the imagination, I will say that both my wife and I found many correlations to realities near and dear to our hearts. Little pieces of the puzzle like: 1991, Jonathan, and ‘failed abortion’. It left a resonating impression in both our minds that we will not soon forget.

Every life is indeed beautiful

Go ahead. See it. And write your opinions and thoughts in the comments below.

Oh, don’t be in a hurry to jump up and leave as soon as the credits roll. Powerful back story from the actress, Shari Rigby.

 

Favorite Quotes from the movie October Baby:

 

Behold!
What a piece of junk
It’s vintage class
It’s vintage junk

This is your cousins?
What does he look like?
Not nearly as good as the car.

It’s now or never!
Come on!
Who’s that?
Sir, this is a library.

Who are you?
Bmac, his cousin.

Dude, what’s that guy’s problem, man?
It’s your beard, you look like the unibomber.

I wouldn’t go ten feet in that thing, if I were you.
She can HEAR YOU!

You should go on one of those reality shows
Nah, I don’t think so, those things are rigged I think
Tow Truck!
Sir, step away from the vehicle.

He’s the owner and the driver

Who came up with the idea to take a bean and turn it into something that tastes like a hamburger… REMOTELY!

This is literally the worst hotel I’ve ever seen
It looked better on the internet
Where? At normanbates.com?
hotelmonkey.biz

You can just go to New Orleans with everyone else and your posse.

Look, I’m leaving… don’t follow me!

Dude, her dad’s going to kill you man, he’s scary man.

I don’t need your charity, Jason.
Ya, you do.

I wasn’t hitchhiking, I was walking
Right, and that’s equally smart

The cheapest we have is 110, unless you are triple A
Oh, we are. We have all three a’s

Well, this is awkward
Ya…. definitely only one bed…

Are you asleep?
I literally just layed down
Are you ok down there?
Well, I usually prefer the king sized floor but this is all they had

Goodnight…
Goodnight…
I can feel you down there judging me
Like I’m some kind of Christian home-schooled freak or something
I have a wild side… you’ve seen me play scrabble… I’m WILD!

There’s no refund… no matter where you umm… sleep

I can’t believe you just broke in.
I didn’t break in, the door was open
It was the back door! And you PRIED it open…

My dad’s gonna kill me…
Oh… my dad’s gonna kill me…
He’s gonna kill you too!

My wife has this thing she says To be Human is to be

beautifully flawed

Life isn’t always black and white… so, hate the

crime, not the criminal…

I’m the one who took her in the back and prepped her

for the procedure…
The abortion?
Yes… the abortion

For some of the girls, I was their only friend

I didn’t see non-viable tissue… I saw the face of a

child

I’m gonna go… sleep in the ice machine or something

Hate is a burden you don’t need to carry

do you believe in bridges

I was born October 7th, 1991 at Mobile General

Hospital… I gues I came here because I thought that

meant something to you…

Oh, I’m sorry, uh, who’s this?
I uh, I have no idea… I don’t know
I’m Hannah…
Hi Hannah
I don’t know where you got your information from… I

don’t know what you’re referring to…
Perhaps Raymond down the hall can help you with your

civil dispute… I’m sorry.

You have no idea how I feel about this and you can’t

know until you have a daughter of your own

You know, if you had been here I wouldn’t have had the

audacity to drink something called … hand grenade

I don’t remember anything… nothing… not the

argument.. not the fight… not this guy… this

little shiner… oh, and look it comes with a court

date… for free… disorderly conduct

I have a criminal record Jason… I want to go home

I’m actually… a Baptist… I guess you should know that.

I need to know what your intentions are towards my daughter
I love her
You need to call her

What? A date? Like… me and you?
What about my dad?

I dressed for dinner… five times actually

 

---

 October Baby Music Playlist – iTunes is the exclusive seller of these tracks

 

 

Posted on March 26th, 2012 by Josh Champagne
Filed under: Audio / Video