Goodbye Christopher Robin
Lou Ann and I went to see the movie by the above name yesterday, here in Sedona. The movie is pretty emotional and has a lot of sadness running through it. It is the story of the creator of Winnie the Pooh, A A Milne. He was a writer and went off to serve in World War I. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Milne returns home and suffers from PTSD. His wife has a son to cheer him up but they are not very loving parents. They hire a nanny whom Christopher loves dearly as she provides him with most of his nurturing and support. Milne leaves the luxury and frantic pace of London society for a place in the country. Where he decides to write about the horrors of war. He wants to make a difference and prevent another holocaust. The nanny leaves and he and Christoper spend time together and play in the woods with stuffed animals who become the famous Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore and others.
The magic of the Hundred Acre Wood is that it takes something painfully fleeting and makes it stay for ever. The tragedy of Milne’s success is that it trapped a real child in that moment like a fly in amber and made it almost impossible for him to become that thing that every child wants to become – a grownup. Is there a threat more pathetic and painful than Christopher Robin’s cry “We’ll see how father likes it when I write poems about HIM”?
For all its shadow, what really abides about this story is the light, the sense that happiness – no matter how fleeting – is real. The fact that we are all moved and enchanted by the Hundred Acre Wood, that it calls to us, is proof that these passing moments are as real and essential as the more solid and enduring things with which we surround ourselves, that we find in them something true and paradoxically enduring, even eternal. (The above two paragraphs were extracted from a movie review at Roger Ebert.com)
The other part of my experience yesterday is that at our movie house there are six theaters of different size. The two largest were both showing Thor Ragnorak and the smallest theater had Christopher Robin. I always try to look at the positive side of life, however it makes me sad to see how much attention we give to carnage then we do to whimsy. I don’t attend movies like Thor and they may be very entertaining. I do go to movies that allow me to dream and wonder and hope for all things good. Yes, I have admitted that I am a cockeyed optimist. I will continue to share with all of you of the possibilities of the magnificence of the human spirit.
I wish for all of you to continue to discover your inner child. That place in your heart that still has magic and discovery and will never stop dreaming. From my hopeful heart to yours, Thomas