I enjoyed the series. It is a reminder that the impossible is possible. It is just a matter of courage, having a spine, and the knowledge that this chosen path will be full of pitfalls and brick walls.
Do I recommend it? Yes.
Live to Lead is available for streaming on Netflix.
Soul: Though it is marketed as a kids movie, the subtext of appreciating life feels appropriate and potent this year.
Mulan: The live-action reboot of the 1998 animated film Mulan rises above its predecessor, making it fresh and relevant.
Emma.: Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Jane Austen‘s eponymous heroine, Emma Woodhouse, introduced as clever, rich, and handsome. Directed by Autumn de Wilde, this adaption is entertaining, funny, and a lovely addition to the list of Austen adaptations.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire: This LBGTQ historical romance between a young woman and the female artist hired to paint her portrait is sweet, romantic, and powerful. It proves once more that love is love is love.
Ordinary Love: Joan (Lesley Manville) and Tom (Liam Neeson) are your average middle-aged couple. When she is diagnosed with Breast Cancer, they both must deal with the rough road ahead.
The Assistant: Jane (Julia Garner) is an assistant to a Harvey Weinstein-esque powerful movie producer. She starts to notice things that don’t sit right with her.
I am Greta: This documentary follows teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg as she advocates for the world to pay serious attention to climate change.
#AnneFrank-Parallel Lives: Narrated by Helen Mirren, this documentary tells not just Anne’s story. It follows other young women who survived the Holocaust. Parallel to the stories of the past, the viewer is traveling with another young woman as she visits different countries in present-day Europe.
The former American President Barack Obama once said the following:
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
In 2018, the Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg was an unassuming young woman who decided to tackle climate change on her own. Every Friday, she would cut school and sit near the parliament building in Stockholm to protest the lack of action by the government. What started out as one young girl’s attempt to change the world grew into a movement. The new documentary, I Am Greta follows her journey from 2018 to the present.
Entitled #FridaysForFuture, the movement grew to include hundreds of thousands of people around the world following Greta’s lead. She soon garnered the attention of the media and politicians around the world. But while she inspired millions to make climate change their issue, she was attacked and ignored by some (mostly adults) for her unending commitment to the cause.
This girl is nothing short of inspiring. Given the pressure around Greta and the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome that creates a tunnel vision like devotion, it would have been easy for her to back down. But she has stayed strong and has yet to waver from the cause.
Dealing with bullies is, unfortunately, a part of life. The question is, how do we respond? Do we shrink in fear or do we throw it back in the face of the bully?
Every December, Time Magazine announces who their “Person of the Year” is. This is usually someone who is noteworthy or is working to improve our world. This year, the person of the year is Greta Thunberg.
The adult thing to do would be to first congratulate her and then perhaps emulate this bold and unapologetic young lady. But you know who took the usual Twitter temper tantrum because someone else was in the spotlight.
We all know that you know is a bully. His tweet was as follows:
“Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”
Her response was pure perfection. Her bio on her own Twitter feed has been updated to the following:
“A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
Seeing that their potential victim gave it back to them, most bullies would have given up. But you know who is not the average bully. Someone in the Presidential campaign photoshopped you know who’s head on Miss Thunberg’s body.
One of the truths of life that we all learn as we get older is that we can’t always win. However, we can be mature about the loss and let someone else step into the spotlight. But as we have learned over the past three years, that if nothing else, you know who has the maturity of a four-year-old.
There is great power in truth. The problem is that those who fear the truth will say and do anything to keep the truth from being revealed.
Greta Thunberg is not afraid of revealing the truth about climate change and the limited time we have to prevent the destruction of our world. This I believe, deep down is what we these men are afraid of. They are also afraid because the truth comes out of a young girl who does not capitulate to them because of her sex and her age.
I’ve recently become aware of the following quote:
“You’ll never see a u-haul behind a hearse.”
Though the quote has a specific meaning, I feel like it can be applied to the reality of climate change. The reality is that our oceans are warming and rising. The glaciers are melting. The weather is becoming more extreme. Entire species of animals are either dead or dying. All of this is due to man made climate change. But there is still time, if we are willing to do what needs to be done.
What these men don’t realize is like the u-haul that goes one way when the hearse goes the other way, they are not immune from the effects of climate change. When the oceans rise and their multi-million dollar waterfront McMansions are destroyed, they will be in same boat as the rest of us.
The sooner they realize this, the better we all will be.
About thirty years ago, the late Whitney Houston released one of her many iconic songs. It was called theGreatest Love of All. The song opened with the following lyric:
“I believe the children are our future/Teach them well and let them lead the way”
Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of students marched out of school around the world to protest climate change and make the adults, especially those in the halls of power, pay attention. In New York City, sixteen year old climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the crowd in Foley Square, many of whom are students from the New York City area.
We have to listen to these kids. One day, they will be the adults who will run this world. I firmly believe that if we do not change our ways, our children and grandchildren will inherit a planet that will one day be uninhabitable.
I understand that there are many who are worried that our economy will suffer under the weight of government regulations. However, if it gets to the point in which Earth cannot support life, then the conversation about jobs becomes unnecessary.
We need to consider the future. That consideration includes the future of our planet and the generations that will one day live on this planet when we are long gone. I fear that if we do not reverse climate change while we can, then we have doomed our future before we had to chance to experience it.
Writergurlny 