spoiler alert: the reader

I fell asleep on the couch yesterday for like 3 hours. It was delicious. I wanted to watch the Oscars but I am the only awards show watcher in our household so Jessie suggested we go see The Reader as planned.

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That movie was incredible. I mean, I wasn't expecting anything less, but I had no idea what the entire story was all about. All I knew was that it was a love story set in post-WW2 Germany and it was a bit scandalous.

Scandalous isn't even the word. The movie sunk deep. It wasn't the love story itself or the issue revealed late in the movie; it was the questions the film begged you to answer. It was the very clever way in which it forced you to recognize the humanness of people who from afar only represent evil. It forced you to see that even the darkest souls with the most tainted records are still lives that have the potential of positively affecting others'. I was totally in awe of the gall it must've taken this writer to create a story that asked you to feel compassion for a Nazi. Not that it asked for much; on the contrary, I still found myself wanting her to die in the end, and when she did, it felt right. I also really appreciate the work the boy did: teaching her and helping her without forgiving or letting her in.

It was just incredible. I had a conversation months back with Jess about whether or not I would shoot someone if they were attempting to kill me. I answered that I most likely would, like anyone else would, but I also acknowledge that that would still make me a murderer. Am I in the right because I am defending myself? I am by law, but am I right morally? If I pull the trigger first, does that prevent evil, or am I participating in it? If I take someone else's life am I saying that my own life is more valuable than theirs? Sure, one might think that the life of a criminal's won't be missed the way a life of an innocent citizen would, but if I kill that person am I not just perpetuating the same thing they are? Won't that build my violent karma against my strength?

Certainly the character in this film did such evil that you anxiously anticipate her punishment and feel some sort of absolution when she dies. But it's hard to watch this movie without asking yourself every question that the boy asks himself. Why? And how many rights does one deserve after committing the most inconceivable of acts?

It has definitely got my wheels turning. I always say I know it's a good movie when I'm still thinking about it afterward.

Today has been horrendous at work, but I'm glad I wrote this entry; it totally preoccupied me for the entire lunch hour.