Saving Mr. Banks

Good afternoon, my darlings. Time is just flying away from me. I don't know where it is going, it is always going.......  

So, if you haven't heard, there is a recent movie just released on blu-ray, titled Saving Mr. Banks.

It is about the true story of how the original film, Mary Poppins, came into existence.  It is about how Walt Disney, the man himself, pursued the author of the Mary Poppins novels for children for twenty years to sign over the rights of the books to evolve them into a live animation revolution.

Saving Mr. Banks begins after twenty years of pursuing and when Mrs. Travers, the author, is to fly to Los Angeles, Hollywood, to collaborate with Disney to overview the script before signing the rights over.  Poor Mrs. Travers is terrified of them destroying her original character; what author isn't terrified of that? But in this case, it isn't just a "character" to Mrs. Travers: Mary Poppins is much more than just a character; Mary Poppins is her family; Mary Poppins is all that's left of the real live family that disappointed her. She cannot betray her last remaining tidbit of memory over to people that would misunderstand it and translate it into something it's not.

I don't want to tell you anymore about the story, because I want you to see it for yourself. I don't know if you  will like this movie or not, it may not be your cup of tea, with a spoonful of sugar or not....  But this movie is something deeper than expected, than I expected.

This movie is about how life can disappoint us, people can disappoint us... Even people with good hearts, and the best plans can go astray and disappoint us.

This movie is about how we love and forgive people dearly in spite of their incredible faults.

This movie is about how Mrs. Travers, as a little girl, was disappointed by life when she lost her very loving father, who subsequently was also an alcoholic.

This movie is about never losing one's imagination and dreams despite the disappointment that finds us.

This movie is about all of us; about all of our sad tales, our sad histories....  It is about how we cannot control what happened in the past, but we get to finish the story. We get to let go of all the past and all its' skeleton's and create a beautiful future not dictated by our pasts.  ..... But the only way possible of accomplishing this is by forgiving ourselves our very own mistakes; until we can be kind enough to ourselves to do that, we are only disappointing ourselves for the rest of our lives.

For those of us who have passed on from this life, it is too late to grant this forgiveness. But to all of us living, there is always hope of a new ending. There is always beauty and wonder to be found in this world; just because you may not have discovered it the first adventure of your life doesn't mean you were foolish, doesn't mean it was a waste, doesn't mean everything up to disappoint's point was useless; it just means you were brave enough with enough heart to search for your dreams.

This movie is about granting yourself the freedom to pick yourself up and try to find your dreams again. Don't be so hard on yourself for failing to find them the first time around.... We all have failed. I have failed more times than I can count.

I always struggle forgiving myself for failing. ... I tell myself I must be too stupid and inadequate to find my dreams... But then I always come back to realizing, it is never a shame to have loved: it is never a shame to have trusted and put hope in any dream, even after those dreams have become a disappointment. It would only be a shame if I were to never to try and hope in any dreams ever again.


well, I am almost confident I am overly passionate about this film and you might not find it as satisfying as myself. But despite that, I am pleased you spent this time making it through this blog, I am pleased you took the time to come listen to me. I hope in some small way, maybe I am able to share some of the hope I chase after with you all.
I wish you all a beautiful life, my dears.

with all my love,
Read Riding Hood