Watching Green Mile tonight I am struck again but Tom Hanks' character's words when he is about to execute the wrong man: "What do you want me to do John? Do you want me to let you go and see how far you get? Because when I stand on Judgement Day, and God says why did you kill one of my true creations, what will I say? That it was my job?"
I again am struck that we live in a society where many people do many things because it is their job. Sometimes we are stuck by our spatial occupation as opposed to our intention. Yet, if given the chance to save someone, what will I , or anyone say, on behalf of someone else, who we know despite it all, despite our fear, our charge to 'live right,' our unintentional or purposeful discrimination and prejudice, what will we say for them? Can we stand up now, for someone, anyone who we know is as good as they come? Who might need a little extra help? I don't know. But John Coffey's character was meant to show us a reflection, to show us we still have choices, we still have time to do some things right. Just thoughts on a Sunday night.
And to think this from Stephen King.
1 comment:
I think it's no accident that J.C., in a sense, mirrored the other J.C. You're right. It's ultimately about choices AND accountability for those choices. I would like to think that I would stand up for those people who reflect pure goodness, but as Stephen King showed us in the film, it's not usually the easiest of things to do. But then again, those things that we MUST do, especially according to our own consciouses, are not supposed to always be the easiest things to do.
On another note, I'm really enjoying your blog! Keep up the great work!
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