Last
night I was blessed to be able to watch "The Good Lie" on BlueRay DVD. The movie released a few months ago, and the
DVD is available on Dec 23rd. The movie stars Reese Witherspoon and some unknowns, unknowns
because instead of looking for professional actors, the decision was wisely made to
find Sudanese refugees or their family
members to bring authenticity to the film. And it worked!
This is the story of Theo and his siblings and
friends who are orphaned during the civil war in Sudan. They have been told to
make their way to Ethiopia for safety, but after walking several hundred miles
they find that things are no better there, so they change course and head to a
camp in Kenya. Along the way, Theo is
captured, but the rest of the group continue on the route to Kenya. The reach the camp and settle into life in a
refugee camp. Thirteen years later, right before 9/11, they are approved for resettlement
to Kansas City. They were, but 100,000 others are still waiting for their names
to appear on the list of lucky ones.
The first
part of the movie covers life in Sudan during the civil war. The scenery is
stunning, the acting brilliant, and your heart will break over the brutality of
war. Senseless killings, children captured and forced to serve as soldiers for
the opposing forces. But throughout these scenes there is a sense of hope, even
as children are dying from exposure, dehydration, malnutrition, wild animals and
yes, enemy gunfire. In some of the more
tender moments the brothers remember their fathers admonition to remember who
they are, who they came from, and their lineage.
They have a ritual which helps them remember. Oral history is important. Yes, there is despair, but even in the midst
of misery and pain, there is faith. A Bible is seen in several scenes, and the
children pray.
Hundreds
of miles later, they arrive at the refugee camp. Several years ago, I visited a camp similar to this in Palestine.
Some things are universal. Thirteen years
in the camp, learning to co-exist, sharing the basics, crowded conditions (at
one point there were more than 110,000 refugees there). And everyday hoping to
be able to return home, or if that were not possible, to be resettled to
another country where they could make a new start.
And one
day a new list is posted of those who have been selected to resettle. Our band
of "Lost Boys" - actually 3 young men and 1 young lady, have all been
approved to leave the camp and relocate in Kansas City, MO.
There are
lots of "laughs" as this part of their journey unfolds, but they're bittersweet because they're at the expense of someone else. So
much of what we take for granted is completely foreign to people in some parts
of the world. The airline food on their flight to the US was totally unrecognizable,
what's that machine making the ringing
noise, how can you throw away perfectly good food when so many people are starving?
If you have traveled to other countries, you know the feeling of seeing
something new, and worse, not seeing what's familiar.
Their
journey involves finding jobs, learning to adapt to the different customs in a
new culture, missing family and friends, falling into the wrong crowd. But just
as importantly the journey involves us,
as we have to learn to deal with 'different'. A part of this incredible journey is seeing
how the people who met the refugees
changed with time. Their attitudes changed as they went from seeing the refugees as
interruptions to their lives, as ignorant 'hicks' as problems waiting to
happen, to seeing them as the created in God's image people that they truly
are.
The
ending, (and I won't tell you what happens) was a little bit too "Hollywood predictable" for me,
but I highly recommend the movie despite that. I don't watch a lot of movies,
but I really liked this one on a lot of different levels: acting, local color,
scenery, life lessons, and how important it is to believe in something. Also the
lesson of an African proverb: If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to
go far, go together.
This movie impacted me in several
different ways. Karl the traveler loved the scenery and views of life in a different
country and a different culture, Karl the visitor to Palestine identified with
the situation in the refugee camp, and the living conditions of a people forced
off their land and into a strange place where everything is different, and people
live for the dream of returning home. Karl the pastor appreciated how so many
people were able to survive unthinkable situations because of their faith in Jesus.
And Karl the transplant to Utah is
starting to understand what resettled refugees go through and how individuals
and churches can and need to get involved in giving people a second chance.
On average, about 1100 refugees are
resettled in Utah each year. If Utah were a country, we would rank 5th
, between Sweden with 2000, and Norway with 900+. My understanding is that since 1975 about
60,000 refugees have been resettled in Utah.
Much of the resettlement is in the Salt Lake City area, but the area
where I live and work is poised to become a new center for resettlement in the
coming years. It's my prayer that people
will see this movie and learn from it, not just the plight of people in
war-torn far off lands, but the people who resettle in this country and what we
can do to help them make a successful transition.
To make
this more fun, Sunday evening before I go to bed, I'll draw the name of one
person who has commented on the blog to receive a copy of the Blue Ray DVD
(they sent me two - one for me, and one for one of my readers.
WARNING:
you might need Kleenex. There are a
couple of incidences of profanity, and the beginning has quite a bit of
violence.
I give
the movie an A.