The other day I was watching the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts comedy "Larry Crowne". Larry is a middle-aged man who has been happily employed by the U-Mart Corporation--made employee of the month 9 times--until one day he is called into the office. There, a team from Human Resources awaits him.
In practiced, oily smooth voices they tell him that U-Mart is an equal opportunity employer and they don't want to stand in the way of anyone's advancement but--seems they have just discovered after all these years that Larry does not have a college degree. And because they don't want to stand in his way and this lack of a degree is holding him back, they are going to have to let him go. Only they are not as direct about it as I am putting it.
Now, if I were showing this movie to my church friends I would put the DVD on pause for a few moments and say, "Let's talk about this scene." Who are these people who have so much power over Larry's life? To be specific, do they go to church? What is their relationship with God?
You might be wondering what that has to do with anything. Well, I've been hearing a lot of blather about how America is supposedly a Christian nation. Actually it isn't, it's a nation of many religions and no religion. But, since I am spending a great deal of my time around Evangelicals who like to think that they have the answers to everything, then I have a few questions to ask. Who are these people who are so casually throwing a bomb into Larry's life? What are their beliefs? Are they all atheists? The reason I ask this is it seems like I know a lot of "believers" who are on Larry Crowne's side of the table but I don't know any who are on the other side of the table. Or at least the ones who are on the other side of the table sure don't act like what the public has been led to expect of Christians (who are a very vocal majority in this country).
They tell poor Larry that they are acting in his best interests. ********! What they really mean is that they are acting in their own best interests. Even though Larry is a top-notch worker, no complaints, it has become too costly to keep him on. I write this knowing that I may very well be in Larry's shoes some day and for the very same reason. His lack of a college degree has nothing to do with it. They are getting rid of him because it is cheaper for them to hire two kids straight out of high school than to keep him on. That is the bottom line. Now, I ask my friends, what if YOU were the one making the decision to get rid of Larry? What would you do? What would you say? Would you go along with this spineless charade or would you at least insist of some honesty in the proceedings?
Ok, now let's restart the movie. Because Larry isn't employed any more, he can't make his house payments. So he goes to the bank where an equally oily-mouthed teller informs him that yes, three years ago they did tell him he could refinance "but things are different now." He can't get refinancing. Again, I am asking the same questions about this teller. Who is she? What does she do on Sunday?
Anyway, Larry ends up going to the local community college. Now, having been to college myself and dealt with various financial aid departments (all with the same answer, "no") I am intensely curious as to how he manages to pay tuition when he doesn't have a job and he is about to be foreclosed on. Alas, the moviemakers fail to tell us that. They do tell us that he hasn't started collecting unemployment yet (why?). This is California so maybe college is free there, I don't know. And maybe they don't have the same rule as in Michigan that students cannot collect unemployment even if they are only taking one class (that's what ended my college career!).
Now, I have to admit that there were some unrealistic parts but the filmmakers did get a few things right. Larry finds himself the only one in his classes that really pays attention to the subject. Everyone else is apathetic, playing with their cell phones, texting each other. When he answers a question correctly in his Economics 101 class another student texts him "Teacher's Pet." "I read the material," he replied. For Larry, school is not a game like it is for these students. Later, his Econ prof says to him "You have the best grasp of this material of any student I have ever had." That is because Larry has lived it. It's not an abstract thing for him.
I could really relate to Larry's struggles to fit in and yet learn the material because I've been there. I took a class once on business psychology and man, I learned a lot. That teacher had been out in the work world and she kept saying, "I'm going to tell you things nobody else will." But I turned around and saw bored, fidgeting students who were clearly not paying attention. I was the only one contributing to class discussions until eventually I too gave up. Like Larry, I was in it for survival. I knew the game was rigged against people like us but if I understood why and how maybe I could even the odds in my favor. These other students--why the hell were they even there? This wasn't high school where you have to go by law. And they were paying for it--or someone was paying for it.
Larry Crowne doesn't end on a nice tidy happily ever after note. He gets a job cooking at a diner and is making plans to go back to school for another semester. He's lost his house and has to move into an apartment. But he is optimistic for the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
In practiced, oily smooth voices they tell him that U-Mart is an equal opportunity employer and they don't want to stand in the way of anyone's advancement but--seems they have just discovered after all these years that Larry does not have a college degree. And because they don't want to stand in his way and this lack of a degree is holding him back, they are going to have to let him go. Only they are not as direct about it as I am putting it.
Now, if I were showing this movie to my church friends I would put the DVD on pause for a few moments and say, "Let's talk about this scene." Who are these people who have so much power over Larry's life? To be specific, do they go to church? What is their relationship with God?
You might be wondering what that has to do with anything. Well, I've been hearing a lot of blather about how America is supposedly a Christian nation. Actually it isn't, it's a nation of many religions and no religion. But, since I am spending a great deal of my time around Evangelicals who like to think that they have the answers to everything, then I have a few questions to ask. Who are these people who are so casually throwing a bomb into Larry's life? What are their beliefs? Are they all atheists? The reason I ask this is it seems like I know a lot of "believers" who are on Larry Crowne's side of the table but I don't know any who are on the other side of the table. Or at least the ones who are on the other side of the table sure don't act like what the public has been led to expect of Christians (who are a very vocal majority in this country).
They tell poor Larry that they are acting in his best interests. ********! What they really mean is that they are acting in their own best interests. Even though Larry is a top-notch worker, no complaints, it has become too costly to keep him on. I write this knowing that I may very well be in Larry's shoes some day and for the very same reason. His lack of a college degree has nothing to do with it. They are getting rid of him because it is cheaper for them to hire two kids straight out of high school than to keep him on. That is the bottom line. Now, I ask my friends, what if YOU were the one making the decision to get rid of Larry? What would you do? What would you say? Would you go along with this spineless charade or would you at least insist of some honesty in the proceedings?
Ok, now let's restart the movie. Because Larry isn't employed any more, he can't make his house payments. So he goes to the bank where an equally oily-mouthed teller informs him that yes, three years ago they did tell him he could refinance "but things are different now." He can't get refinancing. Again, I am asking the same questions about this teller. Who is she? What does she do on Sunday?
Anyway, Larry ends up going to the local community college. Now, having been to college myself and dealt with various financial aid departments (all with the same answer, "no") I am intensely curious as to how he manages to pay tuition when he doesn't have a job and he is about to be foreclosed on. Alas, the moviemakers fail to tell us that. They do tell us that he hasn't started collecting unemployment yet (why?). This is California so maybe college is free there, I don't know. And maybe they don't have the same rule as in Michigan that students cannot collect unemployment even if they are only taking one class (that's what ended my college career!).
Now, I have to admit that there were some unrealistic parts but the filmmakers did get a few things right. Larry finds himself the only one in his classes that really pays attention to the subject. Everyone else is apathetic, playing with their cell phones, texting each other. When he answers a question correctly in his Economics 101 class another student texts him "Teacher's Pet." "I read the material," he replied. For Larry, school is not a game like it is for these students. Later, his Econ prof says to him "You have the best grasp of this material of any student I have ever had." That is because Larry has lived it. It's not an abstract thing for him.
I could really relate to Larry's struggles to fit in and yet learn the material because I've been there. I took a class once on business psychology and man, I learned a lot. That teacher had been out in the work world and she kept saying, "I'm going to tell you things nobody else will." But I turned around and saw bored, fidgeting students who were clearly not paying attention. I was the only one contributing to class discussions until eventually I too gave up. Like Larry, I was in it for survival. I knew the game was rigged against people like us but if I understood why and how maybe I could even the odds in my favor. These other students--why the hell were they even there? This wasn't high school where you have to go by law. And they were paying for it--or someone was paying for it.
Larry Crowne doesn't end on a nice tidy happily ever after note. He gets a job cooking at a diner and is making plans to go back to school for another semester. He's lost his house and has to move into an apartment. But he is optimistic for the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
