The Best of Men - 2012 BBC Film
Last night my husband got me to watch a movie he found on Netflix (which has truly changed the way the world watches TV) called The Best of Men. It is the story of Ludwig Guttman, a Jewish refugee from Germany during World War II who also was a spinal surgeon. He was assigned to a hospital for veterans with spinal injuries. He revolutionized their care and his work led to the Paralympic Games. But there is much more in this wonderful movie, which I highly recommend. It was made in 2012 in connection with the Olympics in London (its a BBC venture, and very “period” as all their productions are.)
What struck me is that I asked myself, “Am I Guttman or am I Cowan?” Which is kind of funny in a way. Guttman means “good man” in German, of course, and Cowan is close to coward, which is how this man is (probably excessively) shown to be. Cowan is a doctor who opposes everything Guttman tries to do with the patients, from getting them out of bed and reducing pain meds to letting them out of the hospital to getting involved in athletics in their wheelchairs. He is a true you-know-what about it, and probably the movie shows him a little too oppositional and jerky for the sake of drama.
Still, I ask myself—do I take risks, do I expect more, do I push myself and people, am I forward thinking, do I care about the person more than the convention, the soul more than the traditions? Or do I say, No, that won’t work, that does not fit how it’s been, we must stay with tradition because tradition is good even if it doesn’t always work, we can’t try something new for the sake of the person involved?
It’s somewhat like the contrast between the older son and younger son in the Prodigal Son story (which I also want to remind people means “the wasteful son” not “the returning son” which is what people take it as). The younger son is clearly bad in every way, but he does take a risk of faith, meager as it is. The older son is faithful, and gets a bad rap; I don’t think Jesus intended him to the bad guy, because he was a good son in many ways, and people read things into the story. The father affirms the older son’s faithfulness; he doesn’t say, “You’re such a hypocrite, I know you just did this to be self-serving; you only stayed with me because you don’t want to go out and face the real world etc.” All that is modern-day, Hollywood interpretations. But the older son is judgmental and doesn’t fully understand grace and love, especially the Father’s love.
So,the movie inspired me to look at life as possibilities, not as limitations. The research I am doing reveals that many people can get mired, reasonably so, in the limitations and seeming impossibilities of situations, and accept them. May it not be so.
What struck me is that I asked myself, “Am I Guttman or am I Cowan?” Which is kind of funny in a way. Guttman means “good man” in German, of course, and Cowan is close to coward, which is how this man is (probably excessively) shown to be. Cowan is a doctor who opposes everything Guttman tries to do with the patients, from getting them out of bed and reducing pain meds to letting them out of the hospital to getting involved in athletics in their wheelchairs. He is a true you-know-what about it, and probably the movie shows him a little too oppositional and jerky for the sake of drama.
Still, I ask myself—do I take risks, do I expect more, do I push myself and people, am I forward thinking, do I care about the person more than the convention, the soul more than the traditions? Or do I say, No, that won’t work, that does not fit how it’s been, we must stay with tradition because tradition is good even if it doesn’t always work, we can’t try something new for the sake of the person involved?
It’s somewhat like the contrast between the older son and younger son in the Prodigal Son story (which I also want to remind people means “the wasteful son” not “the returning son” which is what people take it as). The younger son is clearly bad in every way, but he does take a risk of faith, meager as it is. The older son is faithful, and gets a bad rap; I don’t think Jesus intended him to the bad guy, because he was a good son in many ways, and people read things into the story. The father affirms the older son’s faithfulness; he doesn’t say, “You’re such a hypocrite, I know you just did this to be self-serving; you only stayed with me because you don’t want to go out and face the real world etc.” All that is modern-day, Hollywood interpretations. But the older son is judgmental and doesn’t fully understand grace and love, especially the Father’s love.
So,the movie inspired me to look at life as possibilities, not as limitations. The research I am doing reveals that many people can get mired, reasonably so, in the limitations and seeming impossibilities of situations, and accept them. May it not be so.
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