Maryam Abdullah's Articles on Lions Roar

Greater Good magazine, an output of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, recently announced the recipients of their annual “Greater Goodies” awards, highlighting films that showcase the best of human nature. This year, they gave the award to 12 films that “exemplify human strength and virtue.” Read on to see the winners. Everything Everywhere All at Once swept this year’s Oscars ceremony with seven Academy Awards, including for Best Picture—and with its Asia-born stars and fractured storytelling, the movie in many ways it represents how much our society has changed over the course of the 21st century. Indeed, all of the Best Picture winners of recent years have highlighted the struggles and wins of people marginalized by forces like racism and homophobia (Moonlight, 2016, as well as Green Book in 2018); xenophobia and sexism (The Shape of Water, 2017); poverty and inequality (both Parasite in 2019 and Nomadland in 2020); and disability (CODA, 2021). Alongside the Oscars, we at Greater Good give “Greater Goodies” to films that highlight some human strength or virtue—and, once again, we have found those qualities in many characters who live at the margins of their societies and are struggling to claim their own identities and power. These are all movies that can help us learn about times, places, and people that might be unfamiliar to us—and yet may still help us to find our own paths through life. The Everyday Awe Award: Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood What was it like to be a fourth grader living in a suburb outside of Houston, Texas, in 1968–69? If you’ve never wondered, don’t worry—neither had I. And yet Apollo 10 1/2 snuck up on me with its charm. There’s no real plot to speak of in this low-key animated film, written and directed by Richard Linklater; it’s simply a year in one boy’s ordinary life, as extraordinary events unfold around him. Stan (voiced as an adult looking back by Jack Black) plays Little League and rides his bike without a helmet and has a penchant for making up stories. His father is a penny-pinching NASA bureaucrat. Stan experiences the world through the TV he watches with his parents and many siblings, as that world is changing fast. It’s a time of wonder—of new kinds of music and new voices and new technologies and space exploration—and Stan is indeed filled with wonder. He may not be able to go to the moon himself, but he can fantasize about what it would be like for him to go. That’s the phantasmagoric borderland through which Apollo 10 1/2 runs, where Stan’s childish quotidian life imaginatively intersects with the lives of people like astronauts. When Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon is broadcast into Stan’s living room, he is probably asleep—and yet he still experiences the moment as a kind of dream. “You know how memory works,” says Stan’s mom to his dad as they carry him to bed. “Even if he was asleep, he’ll someday think he saw it all.” Is that bad? Who knows? What matters is that we learn that feeling small in a vast universe can trigger awe instead of fear—and that awe can fire our imaginations and help us to feel connected with people around the world. — Jeremy Adam Smith The Positive Masculinity Award: Close Two young boys, Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele), grow up in French-speaking Belgium as best friends. Their families live near each other, so the boys are almost always together. They make up spy games, laugh and play together, and enjoy frequent sleepovers, where they can share their private selves with each other. Then middle school arrives, and their friendship is severely tested. They soon find that there is little acceptance among their peers for their close, intimate friendship, leading to misunderstanding, friction, and profound hurt. The director, Lukas Dhont, has said his film was inspired by the research of Niobe Way, who studied the way boys form loving friendships when young, only to see them fade or be lost as they grow up. Dhont uses little dialogue, and his films features beautiful cinematography and exceptional acting. By putting a spotlight on societal messages around masculinity, including the need not to appear effeminate or gay, the movie illuminates how hard it is for boys to overcome social pressures—and how succumbing to them can exact a great price. At several points in the film, we see Leo and Remi face tough choices about how to respond to bullying and amend their relationship in response. It doesn’t help that they don’t have the language to voice their feelings or understand the ramifications of trying to measure up. Close is more tragedy than inspiration; the story warns us of the consequences of toxic masculinity. But there’s a positive alternative close at hand, and Close is a poignant reminder of how we, as a society, must allow boys to embrace their full humanity, be their authentic selves, and form loving friendships. — Jill Suttie The Kindness Award: Everything Everywhere All at Once As the name implies, Everything Everywhere All at Once is many things. It’s fantasy and science fiction and satire. It’s combatively funny and slapstick violent. It’s dense with sophisticated allusions to other films; it’s also unfailingly silly. It’s a mother-daughter drama, and a coming-out story, and an immigrant tale, and much more. It’s also a fairly forceful argument in favor of kindness, love, empathy, and all the good stuff we cover here at Greater Good—voiced largely through the sweet character Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), husband of the fierce Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh). After an absurd series of twists, the two laundromat proprietors meet in a parallel universe where different choices led her to become an international film star and him to be a suave, wealthy businessman. In a key scene that pays tribute to the classic film In the Mood for Love, Waymond lays out his creed: You think I’m weak, don’t you? You tell me that it’s a cruel world and we’re all just running around in circles. I know that. I’ve been on this earth just as many days as you. When I choose to see the good side of things, I’m not being naive. It is strategic and necessary. It’s how I’ve learned to survive through everything. To which the other Waymond adds, in an artfully interleaved series of scenes: “Please, be kind. Especially when we don’t know what’s going on.” And then businessman Waymond says to his wife-from-another-life: “I know you see yourself as a fighter. Well, I see myself as one, too. This is how I fight.” — Jeremy Adam Smith The Mindful Nature Award: The Elephant Whisperers Filmed in a tiger reserve in South India, this Oscar-winning documentary short is the touching story of an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu. Separated from his herd and severely wounded by stray dogs, Raghu has a slim chance of survival until he meets Bomman and Bellie, whose unparalleled love, compassion, and devotion toward animals give Raghu a new life. Things begin to change for Bomman and Bellie as they raise Raghu together, bringing them closer to each other. Shortly after they marry, the family faces a big challenge, leaving them in sorrow. “Seeing an elephant, to us, is equivalent to seeing God,” explains Bomman. “Gods and elephants are one for me.” He later adds: “We take care of Raghu every single day, which in turn puts food on my plate. This is God’s presence in our life. Without him, we would be nothing.” In a fast-moving and cutthroat world, this poignant story invites the audience to slow way down and consider the lives of the people and animals who make forests their home. The Elephant Whisperers humble us with their simplicity and love for the earth. — Aakash Arvind Chowkase The In-Your-Face Authenticity Award: Fire Island The setting of Fire Island is New York’s gay mecca for muscle-bound hookups and vacation one-night stands. Best described as a modern-day Pride and Prejudice for gay Asian Americans, this summer flick has all the trappings of a classic romantic comedy: charming lead characters, flirty banter, sexual tension, and chasing-through-the-airport grand gestures. The narrative begins with four friends on a yearly pilgrimage back to Fire Island for a summer of flirty fun, frisky frolic—and possibly romance. Representing Elizabeth Bennett is the snarky and fiercely single Noah (played by Joel Kim Booster), who meets broody match Mr. Darcy in the form of Will (Conrad Ricamora). Noah’s best friend, the sensitive and nerdy Howie (played by SNL comedian Bowen Yang), laments the group’s status as outcasts in a social scene where “no fats, no femmes, no Asians” is real but unspoken code. Fire Island reveals the social struggles of a historically excluded group—the “Gaysians”—while subtly and humorously calling out homonormative biases and bullying within the community. As many positive psychology studies reveal, people are happier when they live lives that resonate with their true selves—and Fire Island is a wonderful reminder that everybody deserves a happy rom-com ending. — Aurelia Santos Radical Self-Acceptance Award: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Good Luck to You, Leo Grande takes place mainly in a nondescript hotel room over the course of several transactional encounters between two people: retired religion teacher and widow Nancy (played by Emma Thompson), and an almost-too-handsome sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack). Nancy, it turns out, has never in her life experienced an orgasm. She looks to the professionally charming and sensitive Leo to help check that item off her bucket list—and yet, she seems determined to self-sabotage her experience. The film runs like a play and is dialogue-heavy, slowly revealing the fascinating and flawed humanity of the two characters. You may find yourself feeling frustrated with Nancy, as she pokes inappropriately into Leo’s private life and wants to discuss what his mother thinks of his profession. She calls her own son boring and only reluctantly answers her daughter’s phone calls. But...

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