{"id":7725,"date":"2023-03-15T19:56:36","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T19:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=7725"},"modified":"2023-03-15T19:56:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T19:56:38","slug":"the-whale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/15\/the-whale\/","title":{"rendered":"The Whale"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Surprised by Love<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Overtly anti-Christian though it may be, The Whale<\/em> offers a vision of forgiveness, love, and reconciliation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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by Donna Kathryn Kelly<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Director Darren Aronofsky\u2019s\u00a0The Whale<\/em>\u00a0is unforgettable: a sad, dark tale that lingers in the mind, inviting self-reflection, contemplation, prayer. The Whale<\/em> follows the final days of Charlie, a morbidly obese man who lives in the self-imposed prisons of his own body and apartment. We learn early on that Charlie is divorced and has an estranged adolescent daughter, that he is dying of congestive heart failure, and that his binge-eating issues were trigged by grief after the death of his partner, Alan. While Brendan Fraser\u2019s remarkable and haunting portrayal of the lead character has deservedly garnered nearly universal accolades\u2014including an Oscar, as of a few days ago\u2014the movie\u2019s writing is so beautifully nuanced and layered that we\u2019ll likely see many disparate interpretations of the film\u2019s meaning in the weeks to come.<\/p>

Great films do this: they leave different people with distinct, and sometimes very different, impressions. The Whale<\/em> is definitely not a movie that will be enjoyed by everyone. For example, it\u2019s definitely not wrong to interpret this movie as being decidedly anti-Christian. In fact, my first takeaway was that this movie is overtly hostile to conservative Christianity. As the story goes on, we learn that Charlie\u2019s partner, Alan, took his own life, and that Charlie, as well as Alan\u2019s sister, Liz (Hong Chau), blame Alan\u2019s death on his inner conflict between his traditional Christian upbringing and his sexual orientation. The movie unabashedly implies that the fictional church at issue, New Life, is at fault for Alan\u2019s suicide, and the script is peppered with invectives against Christian evangelism and New Life\u2019s teachings.<\/p>

But as I watched, I was surprised to find that the movie\u2019s plot featured a distinctly Christian vision of the power of love, acceptance, understanding, forgiveness, and redemption\u2014a vision that permeates the film and defines the relationship at its very heart. The plot of The Whale<\/em> focuses on Charlie\u2019s final attempt to reconcile with his daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), before he dies. Ellie is an angry teenager, filled with hate for Charlie after his adulterous affair and his lack of contact with her for a significant portion of her young life. It is clear that Ellie has abandonment issues stemming from Charlie\u2019s perceived lack of interest in her and her well-being, and that these struggles have led her to act out bitterly and sometimes even viciously. \u00a0<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Charlie hasn\u2019t been a very good father, and that he has chosen his own happiness and fulfillment over fostering a relationship with his daughter or caring for her needs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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While there are various and sometimes conflicting reasons given for the lack of communication and contact between the daughter and father, what is evident is Ellie\u2019s belief that her rage and resentment are warranted\u2014and, indeed, she may very well be right. While Charlie offers vague and flimsy excuses for why he had no contact with his daughter for so many years, the movie does not really present any justifiable explanation for his lack of meaningful efforts to build a relationship with her. In short, we are left with the impression that Charlie hasn\u2019t been a very good father, and that he has chosen his own happiness and fulfillment over fostering a relationship with his daughter or caring for her needs.<\/p>

Charlie\u2019s last act, though, whether driven by love, or guilt, or a combination of the two, is to have saved a sizable amount of money that he wishes to bequeath to Ellie upon his death. He is consumed with a need to reconcile with Ellie before he dies and to show her how much she means to him. And he displays a great amount of patience, love, and hope in the process.<\/p>

Despite Ellie lashing out at Charlie repeatedly throughout the movie, he is hopeful for a second (and final) chance at demonstrating his love for her as he faces his own imminent death. While Ellie\u2019s mother and custodial parent sees Ellie as evil and beyond help, Charlie rejects that view in favor of the belief that his daughter is fundamentally a good person. He consistently expresses faith, hope, and optimism for his daughter\u2019s future. Despite Ellie\u2019s contemptuous actions and the insults she hurls at Charlie\u2014which are heart-wrenching to witness on the screen\u2014he consistently demonstrates a forgiving and open heart toward his daughter. She may keep hating him, but he will keep loving her.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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This is not a truly dark movie at its heart.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The powerful Christian message that I see at the heart of The Whale<\/em>\u2019s plot is this theme of the magnanimous father. There are undeniable echoes of the story of the prodigal son, in which a father welcomes home his profligate son, who has squandered his inheritance, with a forgiving heart and open arms. Jesus\u2019 parable illustrates that God the Father is all-forgiving, and that His love for His children is unconditional. And in The Whale<\/em>, Charlie\u2019s unconditional love for his daughter, though obviously poorly expressed and executed previously, shines through in his efforts to reconcile with Ellie and to demonstrate his love for her, despite her justifiable feelings of contempt toward him.<\/p>

The power of Samuel D. Hunter\u2019s script is in its intricacies: the interwoven glimpses of meaning and hope that gleam through the shadows. Despite its setting in the last days of a man\u2019s life, its allusions to the biblical end of days, and the compounded tragedies of loss and pain that it depicts, this is not a truly dark movie at its heart. And in the weeks since I have seen it, I have dwelt, not on the darkness, but on the story\u2019s powerful reminder that\u2014in the midst of a world full of pain, sin, and failure\u2014God the Father, the all-forgiving Creator, embraces all of His children.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Donna Kathryn Kelly<\/strong> is a poet, playwright, novelist, and attorney. Kelly practiced law for many years in the Illinois criminal justice system: first, as an assistant public defender, and later, as a felony prosecutor.\u00a0Kelly’s poetry has appeared in various literary journals and anthologies including <\/em>Southern Arizona Press, <\/em>Heart of Flesh, <\/em>MockingOwl Roost, and <\/em>North Dakota Quarterly. She is the author of the suspense novel, <\/em>COP EYES, featuring an Illinois public defender turned amateur sleuth. You can find Kelly on Instagram <\/em>@donnakathrynkelly.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Whale<\/strong> was directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter. It was released by A24 on December 21, 2022, and won three Academy Awards in 2023. It is available to stream in a number of places online.<\/em>
<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overtly anti-Christian though it may be, The Whale offers a vision of forgiveness, love, and 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