Andy's Favorite Childhood Movie

Andy and I were feeling pretty worn out one day and opted to put in one of his favorite, feel-good movies from his childhood.  Disney's Robin Hood looks great on Blu-Ray.  

Owned by Disney. used without permission

About fifteen minutes in, Andy made an observation--this particular movie was very formative to his thinking growing up.  The movie has still held up in a few ways, one of those things that resonates with you in such a way that you may not understand it at first, unless you take the time to sit down and dissect it.  I've outlined a few of these dissected pieces below.

• Social Justice:  The driving motion of the story comes back to the central point that it is not a good thing for some to have so much and others to have so little.  Prince John is arbitrarily taking more money for the sake of basking in it, with no indication as to what might then be done with those taxes to better communal services, before anyone gets caught in the trap of oversimplifying the lesson to "taxes are bad."  Greed is the real enemy that Robin Hood is fighting against, greed that states one person's wants are more important than the needs of others.  In today's world, we see a reflection of this situation in the kind of capitalism that does not look after its people, where profits are more important than the people that work for them, ultimately hurting the society around it.  Is it any surprise, then, that Andy supports the idea of a living wage?  Furthermore, the exploitation of other persons for the sake of one's own gain is a moral issue.  And there are many, many other examples of things that need to be corrected in our society that once you begin to see them you can never be blind to them again.  
• Equality:  This story is set under a monarchy, working in a simplified feudal system, I assume.  Yet, there is still an imbalance even in that setup, where we recognize that one end of the bargain is not being held up appropriately.  One could even argue that justice/fairness is a sense not counted in the five senses.  Even monkeys can tell when something isn't fair (and for those of you who don't want to hear some of the background and/or just want to see an indignant monkey, here's the short version).  This ties into the social justice component, in that one must first recognize there is a problem before we can do something about it.  Recognizing injustice requires a certain amount of empathy with the other party, and I can certainly tell you that Andy has a lot of empathy, if you have not encountered that yourself.  That empathy is the foundation for "fairness."  Though he may not know how to reconcile the situation, it weighs on him.
• Generosity:  Andy very much likes to give.  We both enjoy hosting and taking our turn to treat when we can.  In fact, once your Christmas present is either bought or arrives in the mail, he's so excited to give it to you that usually it ends up coming to you much earlier than Christmas, that very day, if possible.  I usually decline and wait a little longer, sometimes just to make him twitch.  Robin Hood perhaps had all the reason in the world to just take care of himself, make himself more marriageable for a noble lady, but I imagine that even as his hideout in Sherwood Forrest was modest, possibly for hiding ease but also because he had continued to give away what conveniences he could have had.  
• Fight for what's right, even if it's not easy:  I don't think we could necessarily call his actions civil disobedience, but he's clearly framed to have the moral high ground, particularly against Prince John's prime motivations of greed and power.  Ultimately, it requires the return of King Richard to set everything to rights (because Prince John would then need taxes to repair the castle and take back the money again, etc.).  Robin was among the people and Robin was part of the people.  He knew what the real problems were and fought against the symptoms.  Furthermore, he kept courage in the hearts of his people, recognizing that maintaining that hope was more important than even himself, even taking time to assume the risk of arriving at Skippy's birthday.  He does it all because it is something worth doing, as hopeless as it sometimes seems, and stands out as a strong leader.  Andy is looking for where he can be a kind of figure to work for good.  That inspiration comes from many places, including this childhood memory.
• Take Time out for Things that are Important:  So, confession here first--at the love song after the action-packed tournament sequence, I usually wanted to fast-forward when I watched it as a child.  Andy, though, he apparently loved the mushy love song, where the two foxes walked around the forest and made eyes at each other the whole time.  Even in the midst of all else, Robin Hood stops his crusade, if only for the evening, to celebrate his love.  His quest for justice and equality to return to Nottingham does not consume him to the point where he forgets who he really is.  Furthermore, he is also able to maintain his friendships, striking a balance between all things.  I think this is actually one of Robin Hood's most admirable qualities.  For Andy, he will absolutely drop what he's doing when it's something important and tends to be pretty good at pulling me back in when I've surrounded myself in the details.  It's a delicate balance, no matter who you are.  

Owned by Disney, used without permission

All of these different things, a strong sense of justice, equality, generosity, love, these are all things dear to Andy's heart, things that he considers in his decisions, though I've seen him falling into the trap more than once of caring too much (not that I'm any better at avoiding it myself).  I would certainly make the argument that there were many factors in his development that helped him to lean toward these values, but there was certainly a reason that this movie resonated with him so strongly.  What we expose our children to also matters, but that's a discussion for a different day.