26 Apr 05 The Gospel According To Napoleon Dynamite

I decided to cash in some gift certificates to Blockbuster the other day and Reese asked if we could get the movie Napoleon Dynamite. We have my brother-in-law, Paul, to thank for Reese’s interest in this movie. We bought the movie (a pre-viewed copy) and agreed that we would watch it together so as to talk about any questionable content.

I’m usually hesitant to recommend movies to people I know. Even more hesitant to recommend something to someone who does not know me. The reason for this is I may find something to be funny and you might find it to be something other than funny.

For example, when I was in college my mother came up for a visit and I talked her in to watching the movie Spies Like Us. Let’s just say I had forgotten about a few specific moments of questionable content in the film. (I shall from this point henceforth use the word “film” in honor of my Swiss relatives).

At the risk of offending someone, here are my thoughts about the film Napoleon Dynamite. I’m not going to give you a review of the film so much as the specific ways in which the message of the Gospel was conveyed - intentionally or unintentionally. I’m sure there are others who could better analyze this film. I was struck with the following observations:

The four main characters of this movie are Napoleon, his thirty-something living-at-home older brother Kip, their uncle Rico, and an immigrant student named Pedro. There are other characters weaving in and out of the fabric of this film who have major and minor roles.

Napoleon is everything short of being Dynamite. His last name is an oxymoron as much as jumbo shrimp, tuna fish and country music. He’s the struggling high school kid who is not popular, is not quite coordinated, and finds solace and comfort in a make-believe world.

Kip, his brother, is the typical portrait of a computer geek who lives at home and spends hours in a chat room where he can be more than a “live-at-home-computer-geek.”

As far as Uncle Rico is concerned, Bruce described it best when he sang about those “glory days which pass you by.” Uncle Rico lives in a van (no, not down by the river) and though the year has passed, he continues to re-live 1982.

Pedro is Hispanic, presumably the son of migrant farm workers, dropped into the pool of rural “wonder-bread” America. The challenges and pressures of that situation alone would be significant. Add to the mix that Pedro hardly says a word and you can imagine the uphill battle he faces.

What struck me about this film was the way in which love, acceptance, and forgiveness transformed these characters. The changes we were able to see and the changes we imagined would come about when those whom society normally discards are loved, accepted and forgiven.

Pedro runs for student class president and wins. Kip finds his soul mate in a chat room and is transformed into a hip-hop cool as a cucumber dude. Napoleon discovers the wonderful release of being loved for who he is and not what he thinks he needs to be. And wow, that boy can dance! Uncle Rico, though still quite unable to escape 1982 is apparently forgiven by his long-time girlfriend.

Though I’m not quite sure that Reese fully understood this film, for that matter I’m not quite sure I fully understood the film, I hope he sees the transforming power of love, acceptance and forgiveness.

This is the heart of the message of the gospel: the transforming power of love, acceptance and forgiveness. I hope Reese sees this not only in a film like Napoleon Dynamite but that he sees this in the story of our life together.