all_i_want
Refugee
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2004
- Messages
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Hey everyone.. This is an essay I wrote about 2.5 years ago in my freshmen year in college. It was a commentary on this movie we watched 'Pay It Forward' with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt as a class. Later on that year we applied the concept in one of our projects. Id just like to know what you think of it. That was a time I had more faith in people. Thanks. Here it goes:
FAITH
Throughout our lives, surely all of us have seen things we’d rather not. Little kids selling things out in the streets, where they don’t belong. An old man who has seen the best and the worst of a lifetime, is now forgotten by his children, waiting for his death. People who have lead decent lives so far, are now two paychecks from living out on the streets. Children who live in the poor districts have no expectations from their lives, living as they are. We all like to hope for a better world, still, most of us ignore the reality. Everyone expects something to be done, no one thinks about doing it themselves. Of course, human lifespan is too short to save the world, the problems almost surely outlive the people who try to solve them. Yet, since all of us are in equal standing, each of us have the potential to make the world a better place. That is what Pay It Forward is about. As the book’s author Catherine Hyde recalls it, Pay It Forward is ‘changing the world, one favor at a time’. The idea is, each one of us is another hope for the rest of us, each baby born is another chance
to leave the mess we made altogether. So, we should keep our faith on a better world, but we also need to take action to make it happen. Trevor’s idea could change the world, like any other one, if people truly internalize it. Things might happen, as long as you think they might. The whole idea of Pay It Forward might seem ridiculous, as people are selfish and wicked for the most part. But, there is still a chance that, something may go different this time. If everyone believes in something and works to make it happen, it will. Truth is, it is hard to crack the shell of selfishness we all have, more or less of it. Unless the idea of charity and kindness becomes a part of the popular culture, this is a lost cause. We can see that a lot of people try to make this happen. Pop stars come together and make records for AIDS, give charity concerts, celebrities and football players rage against smoking on MTV, Hollywood makes movies like Pay It Forward to inspire people. Politicians are failures as insprational figures, nobody believes them, nobody thinks they can make things happen. That is why popular culture and it’s brightest stars step in to change things. Pay It Forward is one of these attempts, and a rather successful one, as it actually became a movement later on. As Trevor’s idea was introduced to masses, people realized it is not so hard to be nice to others. As Jane Siberry’s Calling All Angels closed the movie with a tragic yet inspiring ending scene, most of the audience was truly moved. A movie, a song, a picture can make a difference. If only people believe in it, and change the world for a better one, we just might be forgiven for all that we have done, all the way along.
FAITH
Throughout our lives, surely all of us have seen things we’d rather not. Little kids selling things out in the streets, where they don’t belong. An old man who has seen the best and the worst of a lifetime, is now forgotten by his children, waiting for his death. People who have lead decent lives so far, are now two paychecks from living out on the streets. Children who live in the poor districts have no expectations from their lives, living as they are. We all like to hope for a better world, still, most of us ignore the reality. Everyone expects something to be done, no one thinks about doing it themselves. Of course, human lifespan is too short to save the world, the problems almost surely outlive the people who try to solve them. Yet, since all of us are in equal standing, each of us have the potential to make the world a better place. That is what Pay It Forward is about. As the book’s author Catherine Hyde recalls it, Pay It Forward is ‘changing the world, one favor at a time’. The idea is, each one of us is another hope for the rest of us, each baby born is another chance
to leave the mess we made altogether. So, we should keep our faith on a better world, but we also need to take action to make it happen. Trevor’s idea could change the world, like any other one, if people truly internalize it. Things might happen, as long as you think they might. The whole idea of Pay It Forward might seem ridiculous, as people are selfish and wicked for the most part. But, there is still a chance that, something may go different this time. If everyone believes in something and works to make it happen, it will. Truth is, it is hard to crack the shell of selfishness we all have, more or less of it. Unless the idea of charity and kindness becomes a part of the popular culture, this is a lost cause. We can see that a lot of people try to make this happen. Pop stars come together and make records for AIDS, give charity concerts, celebrities and football players rage against smoking on MTV, Hollywood makes movies like Pay It Forward to inspire people. Politicians are failures as insprational figures, nobody believes them, nobody thinks they can make things happen. That is why popular culture and it’s brightest stars step in to change things. Pay It Forward is one of these attempts, and a rather successful one, as it actually became a movement later on. As Trevor’s idea was introduced to masses, people realized it is not so hard to be nice to others. As Jane Siberry’s Calling All Angels closed the movie with a tragic yet inspiring ending scene, most of the audience was truly moved. A movie, a song, a picture can make a difference. If only people believe in it, and change the world for a better one, we just might be forgiven for all that we have done, all the way along.
