Saving Mr. Banks

[mattrose]

My wife & I were blessed to be able to go on a 'pastor/spouse' retreat Sunday-Tuesday. On the way home we decided to stop and see a movie. Katie wanted to see "Saving Mr. Banks" and I went along with it (happy wife = happy life) with little to no expectations that I'd enjoy it. It's a movie about the making of the film Mary Poppins.

I thought the movie was beautiful. And I clearly saw the Gospel in it.

(SOME SPOILERS BELOW)

The movie is about the author of the Mary Poppins book. As a child, she loved her father, but he had issues with alcohol and died while she was still just a little girl. Previous to that, her mom had almost committed suicide from the stress of dealing with her husband. Just before the father died, the little girl's aunt came to help the family out. She said she'd make everything better, but she couldn't really do that.

Much later, to work though all that disappointment it seems, the now-grown-up little girl wrote the book Mary Poppins. I've actually never read or even seen the movie Mary Poppins (maybe a few minutes here or there). Both are, I suppose, about a nanny that magically comes into a family and helps them in some important ways. In "Saving Mr. Banks," the author of Mary Poppins comes to the USA to meet with Walt Disney about the movie rights to the book. But she is so stubborn about changing any details that she's essentially sabotaging the entire project from the get-go.

In a crucial scene, when it seems like the movie won't be made at all, Walt Disney confront the author about the real 'story' behind the book. He recognizes that "Mary Poppins" is the fairy tale ending that she never actually got. Mr Banks (her father) wasn't rescued in real life. He died. Walt Disney asks permission to bring her fairy tale ending to life on the big screen. He assures her that it'll be this happy ending that ultimately endures.

Perhaps I am guilty of 'sermonizing' things, but I just see the Gospel in this. Our earthly stories are filled with tragedies. We long for (And sometimes create) happy endings. But we worry that they won't come true. Walt Disney, to me, plays the role of God. He brings the true happy ending to life in Christ. In Christ, death isn't the end. But, in a sense, we need to let God do this for us. We need to give Him permission to bring about this happy ending in our own life.

It raises questions about the ultimate fate of Mr. Banks. Does God's saving work continue after death? The implication of the film points toward yes. But the more central part of the story is about giving our disappointing stories to God and giving Him permission to do what only He can do: Write a better story and let us be part of it.

I could probably get more out of it by reading the original book and seeing the movie, but I just wanted to share that I thought it was an excellent movie. I especially think the scene where Tom Hanks (Walt Disney) is talking to the author in her home is a powerful illustration of narrative theology.

[steve]

Thanks for the review, Matt. I was not sure if I was going to see the movie, but now I will do so.

[darinhouston]

I too loved the movie (unexpectedly). But, I think the point is that Mr. Banks was saved (in his life) by Mary Poppins. It wasn't the kids that were saved by her, but through that relationship, Banks himself was saved. Not the author's dad, but the Banks in the book/movie. The only way her dad was saved was in her mind, and she redeemed his memory by recasting it for others. I believe through telling the story of Mr. Banks, others in the future who were like Mr. Banks could be saved through the telling. I didn't get the impression that the author's dad was saved by the telling, but preserving the synthetic memory she had created in the book, she could reduce her own pain of seeing her dad not get saved in real life. In a sense, I think she retold the story of her dad so that she could rewrite it the way she wished it had occurred, to salve the pain from how it actually occurred, not to reclaim her dad posthumously, but to retell it to save others. Perhaps her dad was saved in her mind, but that was a fiction. In the end though, she used that tragedy to help others (or let Walt do so) -- I don't think there's an implication that her real dad was in any way redeemed. What she didn't want to do was lose the false sense of redemption/justification she had created in her mind through her book by letting someone else tell the story in a way that would undo what she had done to redeem the memory of her dad (not to redeem him, per se, but to redeem the experience/memory). In the movie, she trusted Walt, and he preserved her personal fiction in a way to redeem others through the movie and to avoid the need for such a fiction in their own minds.

Mary Poppins is one of my all time favorite movies, and I had no idea there was a book -- I want to go back and read it. However, after the movie I spent some web time looking into her, and many of the events (and the motives) portrayed in the movie seem to be somewhat contrived. I understand in real life she was somewhat "tricked" into the final production, and resented it greatly. I would like to think it happened as portrayed in the movie, but it's still a great movie either way.

[mattrose]

But, I think the point is that Mr. Banks was saved (in his life) by Mary Poppins. It wasn't the kids that were saved by her, but through that relationship, Banks himself was saved. Not the author's dad, but the Banks in the book/movie. The only way her dad was saved was in her mind, and she redeemed his memory by recasting it for others.

Darin, I don't disagree with your interpretation. I think it is the main point of the movie. I was thinking of a secondary, more theological, point.

And my main point was not about life after death for Mr. Banks. My main was that the good news 'story' of the Gospel is where we can find true comfort from the sad stories of life in a fallen world.

[Michelle]

I also saw this movie, and I also was very moved by it. I went in imagining that this was going to be light-hearted fare, full of funny episodes about making a movie with an affable genius and an acerbic author butting heads. Boy, was it such a different and moving film.

Of course, this was a film made by Disney Pictures about Walt Disney, so it’s not remarkable that he comes across as Godlike — or Christlike (consider the title.) I’ve always considered Walt to be my third grandfather, by the way. He popped in every Sunday evening to share wonderful stories before we went to bed.

Even if the screenplay took liberties with actual events and propped up the protagonist (what movie doesn’t??), the story was compelling. In the crucial scene at Travers’ home in London that Matt mentioned, Walt Disney utters this line: “That's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.” And this, I believe, is where the gospel ties in. The gospel is our hope for restored order.

I’ve been dismayed, lately, with the description of the narrative of the Bible as God’s increasing impatience with man’s corruption, that every mention of someone dying in the bible is a warning to us that God just really wants to destroy us, and that His love is simply a “general” type of love — sort of a kindly disposition towards those of us who are superior decision-makers. My reading of the bible is so different (not that I’m necessarily correct, but, then I find more peace with the way I read it.)

What I read in the bible are stories with improbable conclusions: an obscure figure from Ur in Mesopotamia becomes the father of a nation; a beloved younger son, who is hated by his brothers, rises from the pit - twice - to a position of authority and saves those very brothers; a race of slaves is miraculously delivered from their oppressors, led by a fugitive murderer; a coward threshing in secret defeats the enemy; a shepherd becomes a king; a widow who has lost everything in a foreign land eventually receives this: “Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!”

And then, most improbable of all, Christ dies for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, he is buried, and he is raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. This is the gospel I see: that God offers a glorious conclusion for the story you are living. By accepting God’s free offer of grace and forgiveness, our story begins to turn — the conclusion a surprise ending from the trajectory at the beginning.

P. L. Travers’ backstory bears a striking resemblance to a tragedy in my family. The alcoholism, repeated failures, and untimely death of her father had a profound effect on her life and attitudes as an adult. Walt Disney persuades her to put her children’s tale onscreen, and his character in this movie makes a profound statement about the nature of storytelling, but he is not her (nor anyone else’s) savior. However, this story does illustrate that while life is hard and sometimes almost unbearable, there is hope in Christ. And so, my family’s own story ends up with so much more joy.

(My two cents, not that anyone asked.)

[mattrose]

Excellent thoughts Michelle! Thanks for sharing them

[darinhouston]

Yes, thanks Michelle -- I loved your post. I think one thing that strikes me in the gospel tie-in is that if we're not careful we confirm what secular critics tend to think of the Gospel. That is, that it is a "re-telling" in the way Walt and the author re-tell the story for a greater purpose. Our biblical patterns are real -- the reality of the Cross is a fact -- it's not just a group of Apostles who took broken tales and recast them to give others hope. It is the REALITY of the facts that give us hope -- not just their convenient retelling. Otherwise, I resonate completely here. I particularly loved the memory you evoked about my own weekly magic with the Wonderful World of Disney growing up.

[mattrose]

Good point Darin. Whereas in the movie they re-write reality with a more beautiful fiction... Christ has re-written reality with a more beautiful truth.

[Michelle]

Thanks, gentlemen, for your kind words. I like your word of caution, Darin, as well as mattrose's summary.

[nancyer]

My son (18) and I saw the movie and absolutely LOVED it. Truly wonderful in our opinion. I thank all of you for this thread because to be quite honest I hadn't put 2 and 2 together to see a gospel tie-in. But now that I read the posts here I see it completely.

Walt tells Traverse that he realized the point was that Mary Poppins didn't come to save the children but to save their father. Her father. Wow. Aha moment here!!!!

Again thank you. Guess I'll have to hit Red Box on the way home....I need to see this again