It is always exciting to see a movie that contains a meaningful story receive a lot of attention during awards season. This year, Les Miserable has been nominated for several awards, including Best Picture nominee for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. I was thrilled that this Hollywood version of a great piece of literature was true to the spirit of its story of redemption and grace.
I was particularly moved, this time more than any other, by the story of Fantine, played by Anne Hathaway. She was a young beautiful girl who found herself in an unfortunate and tragic situation. She was in love and had a baby with a man who abandoned her. She lost her job that was supporting her child, Cosette, and was thrown out on the street. She was forced to sell her beautiful locks of hair, her teeth and finally her body in efforts to keep supporting her little Cosette. She was trapped in a life of prostitution and misery that led to her death.
As I sat in the movie theater, tearful over the story of Fantine, I thought of how this story is not just one of fiction. It is a gross reality that today millions of men, women and children are currently trapped in slavery. A reality that is difficult to comprehend in our modern day. According to UNICEF, each year nearly 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. In the film, Fantine sings that famous song, “I dreamed a dream, when hope was high and life worth living…. But the tigers come at night…. As they tear your hope apart, as they turn your dream to shame.” The tigers she sings of are still present today…those who prowl around seeking out those to abuse, oppress, and exploit. They steal childhoods. They rip families apart. They turn hope into horror.
Fortunately, in Les Miserable, the story doesn’t end with the death of Fantine and Cosette abandoned as an orphan. It continues with ex-con Jean Valjean rescuing Cosette, because of his vow to Fantine, and raises her as his own. Jean Valjean, because of the grace he was offered and received as a desperate young man, responded with a life full of grace and mercy. His response to the miserable world he was in is compelling even in modern times as we face evils like modern day slavery.
As I sat in my comfy theater recliner I wondered, “What is my response?” What am I to do with the guilt I feel with the knowledge of other’s sufferings especially in stark contrast to my own comfort? Although I am unable to imagine the misery of those trapped in slavery, I have traveled enough around the world to have my own images of poverty and disease. I am tempted to live oblivious to this suffering I know of and it takes a conscious effort to think beyond my own world.
I am thankful that there are amazing organizations to support, such as International Justice Mission who are working to eradicate such evil. IJM’s mandate is to confront violence that robs people of their dignity, freedom, health and security. Those who work for IJM are true heroes who have committed themselves to save the lives of others.
Bill Nicholson, screenwriter for “Les Miserables” said “I am here to tell you we write a story and that’s important because stories matter. Why? Because stories form our culture…Every time we write a story we are in fact creating a moral structure and that moral structure is influencing the people who see that film…. And they add up, all these films, to a sense of what is acceptable in life and what is not. So we have an enormous power, particularly the movies that are widely seen. You may think if they’re pure entertainment there is no moral message in it, but that is not true.” Les Miserable may or may not be awarded tonight for best picture at the Academy Awards, but far more important than an award is how this story and message of slavery, redemption, and hope…will affect our culture and own lives.
“Here’s hoping someday in the not-too-distant future the misfortunes of Fantine will be only found in fiction and not in real life.”
Anne Hathaway, acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Awards 2013
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