A Lesson from Finding Dory
Quick little blog post because I haven't written anything for a while. Annnnddddd... GO
On Tuesday, I saw the movie "Finding Dory" for the first time.
And the second time.
Yes, I saw "Finding Dory" twice in one day. Sue me.
Anyway, as I saw it for the second time, I noticed something that I hadn't seen the first time around. For those of you unfamiliar with the Finding Nemo/Finding Dory universe, the character Dory is a lovable regal tang (a distinctive type of blue and gold fish) with a dorky and humorous personality and a bad case of short-term memory loss. Yes, Dory forgets just about everything that comes to her. Throughout the movie, this short-term memory loss causes some problems, and it's actually one of the main dilemmas that Dory has to overcome.
In fact, this issue becomes so present that Dory tells herself to "not be such a Dory" as she is trying to remember something important. Her lack of memory is so frustrating but also so engrained in her personality that she takes it in as part of her identity, a part that she dislikes quite a lot.
But Dory's characteristics aren't limited to her loss of memory. She is adventurous, spontaneous, reckless, and she often just goes with her instincts, even if her ideas are kind of crazy. She doesn't second-guess herself, and just does things because she feels like she should.
This impulsive attitude actually solves several problems throughout the movie. At one point in the movie where Marlin and Nemo are separated from Dory and stuck in a place where it seems they can't escape from, they ask themselves, "What would Dory do?" Knowing that Dory would probably take the craziest route out, they do too - and it works.
So here's what I learned after seeing this movie twice in one day. We all have negative characteristics (in Dory's case: short-term memory loss) and we all have positive characteristics (Dory's: impulsiveness/fearlessness). And so we can dwell on our weak points and ask, "Why am I like this? What is wrong with me?"
OR
We can take our strengths and our positives, and grow from them. Dory's recklessness didn't solve her short-term memory loss, but it did allow her to move forward and get out of some sticky situations. And that's important! The perspective of the movie shifted from "Don't be such a Dory" to "What would Dory do?" because the characters realized that Dory's forgetfulness was not as important as her optimism, hopefulness, and spontaneity.
What I'm saying is not that we should ignore our weaknesses and our flaws, but rather that we should remember that they only define us if we allow them to. We can CHOOSE to be controlled by the things we don't like about ourselves, or we can remember that we have other features, positive features, that are much more important.
But an important thing to note is that Dory herself didn't realize that her impulsiveness was a positive thing. It took good friends to explain to her how this trait inspired them for her to understand how valuable it was. This means that not only do we have good characteristics that we don't even know about, but that we have the capacity to inspire others simply through actions that we don't even think about. Weird, right?
So maybe I'm reading too much into a children's movie. But I just felt like I should share this with you. It's been too long since I last wrote, and I felt this was a good subject to get back on the blog with. Take from it what you will.
Thanks for reading!
On Tuesday, I saw the movie "Finding Dory" for the first time.
And the second time.
Yes, I saw "Finding Dory" twice in one day. Sue me.
Anyway, as I saw it for the second time, I noticed something that I hadn't seen the first time around. For those of you unfamiliar with the Finding Nemo/Finding Dory universe, the character Dory is a lovable regal tang (a distinctive type of blue and gold fish) with a dorky and humorous personality and a bad case of short-term memory loss. Yes, Dory forgets just about everything that comes to her. Throughout the movie, this short-term memory loss causes some problems, and it's actually one of the main dilemmas that Dory has to overcome.
In fact, this issue becomes so present that Dory tells herself to "not be such a Dory" as she is trying to remember something important. Her lack of memory is so frustrating but also so engrained in her personality that she takes it in as part of her identity, a part that she dislikes quite a lot.
But Dory's characteristics aren't limited to her loss of memory. She is adventurous, spontaneous, reckless, and she often just goes with her instincts, even if her ideas are kind of crazy. She doesn't second-guess herself, and just does things because she feels like she should.
This impulsive attitude actually solves several problems throughout the movie. At one point in the movie where Marlin and Nemo are separated from Dory and stuck in a place where it seems they can't escape from, they ask themselves, "What would Dory do?" Knowing that Dory would probably take the craziest route out, they do too - and it works.
So here's what I learned after seeing this movie twice in one day. We all have negative characteristics (in Dory's case: short-term memory loss) and we all have positive characteristics (Dory's: impulsiveness/fearlessness). And so we can dwell on our weak points and ask, "Why am I like this? What is wrong with me?"
OR
We can take our strengths and our positives, and grow from them. Dory's recklessness didn't solve her short-term memory loss, but it did allow her to move forward and get out of some sticky situations. And that's important! The perspective of the movie shifted from "Don't be such a Dory" to "What would Dory do?" because the characters realized that Dory's forgetfulness was not as important as her optimism, hopefulness, and spontaneity.
What I'm saying is not that we should ignore our weaknesses and our flaws, but rather that we should remember that they only define us if we allow them to. We can CHOOSE to be controlled by the things we don't like about ourselves, or we can remember that we have other features, positive features, that are much more important.
But an important thing to note is that Dory herself didn't realize that her impulsiveness was a positive thing. It took good friends to explain to her how this trait inspired them for her to understand how valuable it was. This means that not only do we have good characteristics that we don't even know about, but that we have the capacity to inspire others simply through actions that we don't even think about. Weird, right?
So maybe I'm reading too much into a children's movie. But I just felt like I should share this with you. It's been too long since I last wrote, and I felt this was a good subject to get back on the blog with. Take from it what you will.
Thanks for reading!
