A powerfully moving masterpiece by Clint Eastwood, "Changeling" is a movie about true events in Los Angeles in the 1920's era. Christine (played by Angelina Jolie) is a single mother whose son has gone missing. After months and months of painful searching, Christine begins to lose hope. Just as things are starting look bad, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) claims they have found her son Walter. They made a huge mistake and brought the wrong boy but they still insist beyond a doubt that he is her son (even though he is 3 inches shorter than the real Walter Collins, and is also circumsized.)
Through a long run of injustice, Christine is thrown into a psychotic ward where she is allegedly imprisoned and mistreated for being an unfit mother and "crazy." But she soon finds out that she (and many others) in the mental ward are not there because they are insane, but because they are making trouble and "embarrasing" the LAPD. The doctor at the institution (likely under the pay roll and influence of the LAPD) says she can go only if she signs documents that takes the blame away from LAPD for their mistakes -- but she won't sign them.
This heartbreaking story gave a great example of what one woman with little power or significance changed the fabric of an entire city, achieved retribution for injustice and also got rid of a lot of corruption in the police force. It is a story of perserverence and not giving in to bullies (the LAPD and a system that made women far less significant). Christine never gave up, even in the face of torture and possibly death.
She lived in an "empire" that gave the message that made people in power always right, and not to challenge authority -especially if you are a person of little influece; women. In a time where it was possibly dishonerable and certainly dangerous to stand up to people who did not want to be challenged or embarrassed.
This truly displays how things should not be in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God there will be equality, not a society where men of power and influence trample everyone else. There will be justice and forgiveness rather than a blatant mistreatment of power. Things in L.A. are not as they should be, but these true events tell of a person of little power or influece who changed the very oppressive and unnacountable police department of L.A.
I'd be curious to know whether this film was made right now for a reason. One thing I read about it suggested that it was perhaps addressing ongoing attitudes toward women in our society--continuing to dismiss them as "too emotional" and not fit for high offices of power. I look forward to seeing it on DVD!
ReplyDeleteI also went to see Changeling. I have to say that I absolutely loved this movie, but there were certain parts that were too explicit to me. One of the things I perceived in the movie was that the Empire, represented by the LAPD, is completely afraid of those people who are threatening and who are going beyond what the Empire allows them to go. Throughout the movie, the LAPD officer is constantly telling Christine that they already found their kid. But, the truth is that the more she insists the more the LAPD is afraid of her. I also like how the Kingdom is embodied in the Church. The pastor of Parish is always helping Christine and against the LAPD. The movie portrays perfectly the two sides of the same reality and a persistent mother, Christine, that shows hope in every minute of the movie.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree with Sandra, this was a great movie despite some very violent scenes. I found this movie very inspiring, it's amazing that a single woman in that time period would have enough gutts to single handedly (at first) go up against the LAPD. She was a strong woman that showed alot of gumption, she was even a manager at her job which would have been quite a feat at the time. As for the comment that women in our society are "too emotional" there was a powerful scene in the mental institution when Angelina was talking to another inmate. They were discussing how the women got there and how in society as soon as a women stepped out of line or talked back men (in this case the police force) they could be sent to an institution, deemed "too emotional." Despite that powerful scene i have to mention that I don't recall one scene where Angelina isn't crying. I'm not exactly sure what to make of that. But i did love how the movie ended on hope, and i think that is a brilliant theme to leave off on. Hope is what keeps us alive, and hope is so crucial in our lives. Hope is what brought Angelina's character through and it is what will bring us through as well.
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