A couple weekends ago our In Country Coordinator, Joe Mulligan, invited us to go see Les Miserables in a nearby movie theater. I saw the play a really long time ago with Kelly, but I hardly remembered any of it. This time I found it much more impactful. This movie is amazing in so many ways—the actors, the music, the history…pretty much all of it. I also couldn’t believe how many different themes it touches on that I deeply connect with. It brings up the topics of the disillusionment with the government, the plight of women, justice versus forgiveness, the value of human life, the need for spirituality coupled with action, and the higher purposes in life.
And, yes, while I realize that Les Miserables is based off French history that happened in the 1800s, I seriously could not help but think of the current reality of the world during the movie. Here are some of the themes that affected me and their connection to the world I know and see today.
Disillusionment with the Government
In Le Mis the failures of the government are obvious. The system sets up a society in which only small percentage of the French population holds a vast majority of the money, there are no social services offered to those that are struggling to survive, and the justice system incarcerates petty thefts for many years.
These same failures still occur today all over the world, including the United States and Nicaragua. Due to lack of regulation, exploitation flourishes in the workplace, causing the rich to get richer and the poor to become even poorer. Due to lack of transparency, money that should be used for social programs ends up in the pockets of government officials and their friends. Due to corruption of the legal system, only those with money that can afford to pay the high fines and a good lawyer are able to get out of jail.
In Le Mis the failures of the government are obvious. The system sets up a society in which only small percentage of the French population holds a vast majority of the money, there are no social services offered to those that are struggling to survive, and the justice system incarcerates petty thefts for many years.
These same failures still occur today all over the world, including the United States and Nicaragua. Due to lack of regulation, exploitation flourishes in the workplace, causing the rich to get richer and the poor to become even poorer. Due to lack of transparency, money that should be used for social programs ends up in the pockets of government officials and their friends. Due to corruption of the legal system, only those with money that can afford to pay the high fines and a good lawyer are able to get out of jail.
Plight of Women
In the movie, Fontine is just a another woman in need of work to help feed her daughter. When she is unrightfully fired from her job, she turns to many different methods to earn an income. Eventually in desperation she turns to prostitution.
Are women objects, property, slaves, sinful, weak and lower human life-forms? Definitely not. Are they still treated this way? It angers me to say that in almost every society of the world these sentiments either blatantly or subtly still manifest themselves. Here is Nicaragua, it tends to be very blatant. So many men do not treat women with the respect they need and deserve. They yell out objectifying comments in the streets about female bodies. They pay women on the street sometimes as low as 30 Cordobas for sex…the better streets pay 100 (4 US$). They cheat on wives with younger girls and then later hit them when asked where they’ve been and where all the family money has gone. They threaten to kill their women if they ever leave them. They tell the woman that her place is enclosed within the walls of the house, cooking every meal over a wood burning stove, washing everyone’s clothes by hand, giving birth to multiple children, and obeying. Once I asked a woman in the bank if she could be anyone for a month who would she choose. She said her husband because he gets to leave the house and do whatever he wants.
To be poor in this world is one thing, but to be poor and a woman can be a complete loss of dignity.
In the movie, Fontine is just a another woman in need of work to help feed her daughter. When she is unrightfully fired from her job, she turns to many different methods to earn an income. Eventually in desperation she turns to prostitution.
Are women objects, property, slaves, sinful, weak and lower human life-forms? Definitely not. Are they still treated this way? It angers me to say that in almost every society of the world these sentiments either blatantly or subtly still manifest themselves. Here is Nicaragua, it tends to be very blatant. So many men do not treat women with the respect they need and deserve. They yell out objectifying comments in the streets about female bodies. They pay women on the street sometimes as low as 30 Cordobas for sex…the better streets pay 100 (4 US$). They cheat on wives with younger girls and then later hit them when asked where they’ve been and where all the family money has gone. They threaten to kill their women if they ever leave them. They tell the woman that her place is enclosed within the walls of the house, cooking every meal over a wood burning stove, washing everyone’s clothes by hand, giving birth to multiple children, and obeying. Once I asked a woman in the bank if she could be anyone for a month who would she choose. She said her husband because he gets to leave the house and do whatever he wants.
To be poor in this world is one thing, but to be poor and a woman can be a complete loss of dignity.
Justice vs. ForgivenessThe movie contrasts the two main characters Jean Valljean and Jacque and their views on justice and forgiveness. Jean Valljean, a former prisoner, is moved by a strict code of right action with a base of humility, mercy, forgiveness, and love. He understands that people make mistakes but they can grow and change. He sees that forgiveness is more life-giving than justice. Jacque, the head of police, is bound up more in unrelenting justice and punishment for sinners. He follows man-made laws and sees it as his duty to carry out this law without mercy or concern for the human situation.
Personally I think this topic is very difficult. What really is more important justice or forgiveness? Justice makes people accountable for their actions and tries to move towards making things equal, but forgiveness allows us to let go, heal, and move forward.
There is a need for both. Por ejemplo, there is still much justice to which the US needs to answer in regards to its past actions toward Nicaragua and many other Central and Latin American countries. I want the US to answer for these actions. I don’t want them to be swept under the rug like nothing happened. Yet at the same time, how can we move forward and try to form better, peaceful relations if we are all continually denouncing and hating each other? There must be some level of forgiveness and healing here. (Although maybe it’s just not possible to forgive when the United States CONTINUES to do unjust things to these countries…)
Personally I think this topic is very difficult. What really is more important justice or forgiveness? Justice makes people accountable for their actions and tries to move towards making things equal, but forgiveness allows us to let go, heal, and move forward.
There is a need for both. Por ejemplo, there is still much justice to which the US needs to answer in regards to its past actions toward Nicaragua and many other Central and Latin American countries. I want the US to answer for these actions. I don’t want them to be swept under the rug like nothing happened. Yet at the same time, how can we move forward and try to form better, peaceful relations if we are all continually denouncing and hating each other? There must be some level of forgiveness and healing here. (Although maybe it’s just not possible to forgive when the United States CONTINUES to do unjust things to these countries…)
Value of Human Life
The way Le Mis depicts human life in the movie is heart wrenching--so many people living impoverished, cold, hungry, sick, forgotten, homeless, and generally oppressed lives.
Do people still live this way? Yes!! Every day I see people being treated as less than human, their right to a human equality taken away. I see 17 people being crammed into one tiny house with a roof that leaks. I see people suffering from curable or manageable illnesses that can’t access the necessary medicine. I see men drunk out of their mind passed out in the dust at 7:45am as I walk to work. I see kids selling bags of water or cleaning car windows for a few Cordobas on busy streets when they should be in school. I see the way people react when I tell them that I am friends with people in Barrio Dimitrov, (the notoriously most dangerous neighborhood in Managua) as they assume that all people from that area are horrible and not to be bothered with.
All of these problems stem from the fact that we have such a hard time recognizing the inherent worth of people in this world. There are so many things that could focus on in order to fix this world, but I don’t think anything is going to change until we start with the basics of seeing and recognizing the individual human worth and dignity of ourselves and each person that we meet.
Our Purpose
The movie’s characters Jean Valljean and Jacque feel very different about their purposes in life. Jean sees God in the face of humans and sees it as his duty to better the horrible circumstances of those around him. Jacque sees God as a higher being that cannot be found among the low lives of human creatures. He works rather to cleanse the world of sinners and punish them for their sins.
I think it is important to side ourselves with Jean. We must remember that the Spirit of Life exists here and now in each one of us. Like Jean we must also remember that it is our duty in the world to cultivate and love this sacred spirit within ourselves and others. I am learning that the way we do this can take on so many forms as there are so many different ways to be a loving, life-giving person in this world.
The way Le Mis depicts human life in the movie is heart wrenching--so many people living impoverished, cold, hungry, sick, forgotten, homeless, and generally oppressed lives.
Do people still live this way? Yes!! Every day I see people being treated as less than human, their right to a human equality taken away. I see 17 people being crammed into one tiny house with a roof that leaks. I see people suffering from curable or manageable illnesses that can’t access the necessary medicine. I see men drunk out of their mind passed out in the dust at 7:45am as I walk to work. I see kids selling bags of water or cleaning car windows for a few Cordobas on busy streets when they should be in school. I see the way people react when I tell them that I am friends with people in Barrio Dimitrov, (the notoriously most dangerous neighborhood in Managua) as they assume that all people from that area are horrible and not to be bothered with.
All of these problems stem from the fact that we have such a hard time recognizing the inherent worth of people in this world. There are so many things that could focus on in order to fix this world, but I don’t think anything is going to change until we start with the basics of seeing and recognizing the individual human worth and dignity of ourselves and each person that we meet.
Our Purpose
The movie’s characters Jean Valljean and Jacque feel very different about their purposes in life. Jean sees God in the face of humans and sees it as his duty to better the horrible circumstances of those around him. Jacque sees God as a higher being that cannot be found among the low lives of human creatures. He works rather to cleanse the world of sinners and punish them for their sins.
I think it is important to side ourselves with Jean. We must remember that the Spirit of Life exists here and now in each one of us. Like Jean we must also remember that it is our duty in the world to cultivate and love this sacred spirit within ourselves and others. I am learning that the way we do this can take on so many forms as there are so many different ways to be a loving, life-giving person in this world.
Anyway…by the end of this movie I felt so emotionally drained. I’m not sure if this blog can fully express all the emotions that I felt and all of the thoughts that flew through my head, but at least I gave it a shot. I encourage everyone to go see the movie or rent it later or look up the songs on Youtube...if you can even do that. Thanks for reading my ramblings once again!
