Movies that Inspire Us

A successfully inspirational movie is one of the toughest feats for Hollywood to pull off.

The true testament to a movie’s impact on its audience is whether or not it causes any emotional reaction. Did the audience laugh, cry or cheer? Any movie worth anything will cause some response. Some films can go even deeper. They can reach an audience, large or small, and touch them in a way that most other movies do not. Perhaps the film was close to an audience members own personal experiences or maybe it just caught them at the right time. Still other films can actually change the way some people look at the world.

Eric:
For me, that film was Life is Beautiful. As a father I related to Roberto Benigni’s young jewish father, Guido, caught up in the holocaust. But even more, I found the story line of him finding magic in ordinary, everyday events and even in war crime situations to be the truly profound message. To save his son from the horrors going on around him Guido invents a game that keeps the truth away and his son's happiness intact. He makes possibly the worst situation imaginable, tolerable for his son. The lesson: Life is what we make of it, even when it seems someone else is in control.

Patrick:
Although times are slowly changing it is still difficult being gay in our society. We live in a country where some heterosexuals believe they have the right to deny gays of the same basic rights they themselves take for granted. Whenever I watch the movie Auntie Mame I not only laugh a lot and cry a little, I also feel hope for humanity. Mame's tolerance and acceptance of diversity, her unwavering love and support for her nephew Patrick, and her sheer exuberance at being alive throws embers onto the sometimes banked fires of my spirit. Mame teaches us to embrace life, and to accept and learn from those of us who are different.

Scott:
This was tough for me. Movies have made me laugh, cry and often kiss 10 bucks good-bye, but movies that I would actually say inspired me? That's a rare movie that can do that and I as get older and perhaps a little more cynical, they've become even rarer. But looking back to a more innocent time in my life, I was able to come up with a movie that at first might seem like a silly choice, but it's one that made me feel good the first time I watched it and still manages to do the same even to this day. And that choice would be Meatballs.

A very silly teen comedy on the surface, Meatballs also contains a lot of heart. The relationship between Bill Murray's camp councilor and the misfit camper Rudy, is touching and belies the movie's crasser moments. It definitely struck a chord with me during my own awkward adolescence and still when I watch it today, it brings up feelings of nostalgia for that time in life when it seemed that all of your problems could be solved by winning a sporting event and finding acceptance. It's a common theme in movies, the underdog triumphing against the odds, and its one that was delivered in this movie at exactly the right time in my life.

A successfully inspirational movie is one of the toughest feats for Hollywood to pull off. Too often they go overboard in their attempts and end up mired in melodrama. But when all the cinematic stars align once in a blue moon and you walk away from a movie truly inspired, treasure the moment because who knows when it will happen again.