I must be on a Disney kick this week. Monday it was Beauty and the Beast, Wednesday The Incredibles, and today I've been thinking about The Little Mermaid, Lion King, Hunchback and Tangled. Why do these Disney flicks--for better or worse--focus on rebelling against authority?
I ask because I don't remember reading (any?) "rebellion" stories in Sonlight. I recall tales of questioning presuppositions, of stepping out beyond yourself, of mischievous escapades, but none about children shaking off the shackles of parental figures. The award winning stories I read and listened to as a child were about doing great things. I don't remember being told that I was "kept down" but rather that I should keep looking up.
If you are locked in a tower, please get out. But for those of us whose parents encouraged us to follow our path, rebelling against authority shouldn't be our story. Ours is a story of longing for more as well, but we long for a dream not yet realized.
Do we confuse the longing for a dream yet to come with an act of repression?
I wonder if reading missionary biographies--in particular--helped me to more accurately see my position in the world. Learning about how God has worked through people in the past helped me develop an appetite for the future.
Do you resonate with "rebellion" stories? What books have encouraged you the most?
May the stories you hear and read and watch encourage you to continue to look up as you walk the path before you.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester
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