Welcome back to my Bryn Mawr Blog. This is Jacqueline. I will share with you my two recent favorite movies: 1984 Wonder Woman and Soul.

Wonder Woman 1984

A stone can make wishes comes true with a price. For example, Diana wishes for Steve to come back with the cost of losing her power. A villain makes himself the stone and asks everyone to make a wish. The cost is that the world will end and the only way to save humankind is for everyone to renounce their wishes.

No one alone can save the world

No matter how strong or how determined Wonder Woman is, she can’t save the world on her own. She can only save the world by convincing everyone else to join her and renounce their wishes.

It reminds me so much of the world now. There is no single button to push that can stop COVID-19 or climate change, but there is still chance if every single person assumes their responsibility.

The Power of Acceptance

Wonder Woman’s speech is such a touching scene and it reminds me so much of the power of acceptance.

Acceptance doesn’t mean give up.

Acceptance is often misunderstood as giving up or not changing but it actually releases you from the uncomfortable emotions and feeling and lets you see things as they truly are. It’s only after you accept how things are in the current state that you can start to change them.

Accept what we can’t change

There are things that are beyond our capability to change, such as the childhood poverty or divorced parents, but there are things, such as beliefs and abilities, that are within our control. Recognizing what we can and can’t control boosts the character resilience and makes our lives flourish.

Soul

Joe who loves jazz died and his soul went to a place where new souls get their personalities. He meets 22, who has been there a long time and has difficulty understanding the human experience. Joe helps 22 discover passion, like what jazz means to Joe, but 22 can’t find any and only enjoys seeing the leaves fall down from the tree.

You don’t need to find THE interest.

We are so used to the narrative that someone find their one thing and then live a happy life ever after. I do believe that it might be true for a very few gifted people but it’s not true for most people. You can have no passion at all, or you can have multiple passions.

For example, I am someone who has too much interests and passions. I was interested in art history and anthropology in high school. I was and still am interested in psychology and chose it as my major. During the quarantine, I’m interested in drawing, vegan cooking and baking, and gardening. I used to think that it’s a process I need to go through so that I can find the one thing that I’m absolutely crazy about. But now I realize there is no such thing at the end and what matters the most is the process.

Learn to Appreciate Life Itself

The scene when 22 finds a piece of pizza tastes good and where 22 enjoys watching the leave fall down is so affecting. We are so obsessed with external possessions and validation, like getting better scores at school or making more money at work, and assume that we will be happy after the goal is met. But in the process of pursuing such goals, we lost contact with the present moment and forgets to appreciate life itself. I’d love to appreciate how the heart always pumps for me even though I often stay up late. I appreciate how the stomach consume whatever I put in even though I often consume more than enough. I appreciate that it’s snowing while I was writing this blog and I’m able to stay somewhere warm to appreciate this beautiful snow scene.

Lastly, even though these two movies are not the most cinematically pleasant movie, they are the products of this post-COVID era. Happy Watching.