SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN "RUSHMORE," THIS WILL SPOIL IT FOR YOUR, OR MAYBE ENHANCE IT.
My daughter's fiancée is a huge fan of Wes Anderson, so we've been having a Wes Anderson film festival at our house. My favorite was Grand Budapest, per my prior post, but now it's Rushmore.
As Debbie said: Max Fischer is going to be okay-- at age 15, he understands grace and forgiveness.
Max Fischer is the 15 year old protagonist who goes from controlling his world for his own benefit to forgiving others for their benefit. In terms of control, Max is Mr. Everything at school. He is involved in every extra-curricular activity going, but doesn't pay that much attention to his grades. Max appears sure of himself, so sure of himself that he expects that he will obtain his love interest--his beautiful young teacher. Max seems to be grabbing adulthood by the tail as he becomes friends with a wealthy father of two of his obnoxious classmates (Herman). Max seem to be a man of the world--a young man who seems perfectly at home at a wealthy boarding school.
But then cracks begin to show. We learn that Max's father is a barber, not a neurosurgeon as he has told Herman. Of course, Max's teacher rejects him. In fact, she begins seeing Herman--a deep betrayal of Max by both of them. We see Max hounded by the school bully. Max drops out of school and begins working in his father's barber shop. But the bad things aren't only done to Max, he also does bad things. None of us are innocent. Max hurts his young protege' by telling others something untrue about the young man's mother. Max's world is crumbling.
How does Max respond? He is no longer in control of what others think of him, or of his future. He is at the mercy of the world or God or karma.
Max responds with unadulterated grace. Max puts on a play that he has scripted and directs. In doing so, he sets up Herman with his teacher by inviting them both to the play--after their relationship has fallen on the rocks. He rejoins the two in a relationship that cut him to the quick. His play is set in Vietnam--Herman served in Vietnam. Max even gives his arch enemy, the school bully, a starring role. He responds by telling Max that he's always wanted to be in one of his plays. We never know what lies behind other's harmful actions towards us--sometimes they feel wounded by us or jealous of us, or just want to be accepted. Max apologizes to his young protege' who forgives Max for telling other students that his mother gave Max a hand-job. Wes Anderson gets forgiveness. But he doesn't stop there.
During the last few moments of Rushmore, we hear the refrain played over and over again from
The Who "mini-opera:" "A Quick One While He's Away." Pete Townsend sings over and over: "You are forgiven"--the last two minutes of the 9 minute song. In the video, Pete ends the song by announcing to the crowd: "you're all forgiven." The forgiveness in The Who mini-opera, like the forgiveness in Rushmore, is simply breathtaking. In The Who's song, the husband was away for "nigh on a year," so she takes up with Ivor the bus driver. Then, her husband returns and forgives her--simply forgives her. This is the story out of which springs the two minutes of constant refrains of "you are forgiven."
Lasty, on a more personal note, Max tells Herman that his father is a neurosurgeon. Later, after Max's downturn, he invites Herman to the barber shop for a haircut by his father. At the play, he is introducing his father to everyone--as a barber.
My own father was a small-town Baptist preacher, who spent his last 15 years of work as chaplain at Partlow. Sadly, I was embarrassed that he was a chaplain and not a worldly success with a big church. Now that I have a 180 degree different view of Jesus, I'm so proud of my father. My father loved the residents at Partlow, and they loved him. One of my daughter's good friends in school had Downs Syndrome, so there is some heritage at work there.
God bless Wes Anderson for bringing us this poignant look at the only true change agent in the world--forgiveness--which is synonymous with grace.
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