TruthBook Religious News Blog

February 10, 2007

For all the people who say that hearts, roses, candy and romance are the staples of any competent Valentine's Day, we say ... shut it.

If Valentine's Day is about anything, it's about love. All kinds of love. And while the most popular notion is that of straight-up romantic love, what about other kinds of love that regularly get shunned? Heartwarming, nonromantic loves like between parent and child, brother and sister, or a boy and his bike. Where are their Hallmark cards on Valentine's Day?

For those who don't have a romantic love in their lives, we've complied a list of movies that you can check out. Each of these is about true love, for sure, just not the cliché kind.

"Beaches"

When it comes to the love shared between girlfriends, "Beaches" can't be beat. Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey play the adult versions of CC and Hillary, two women who develop a deep friendship as kids after meeting under the boardwalk in Atlantic City. As life goes on, dreams, men and jealousy all come between the women, but their friendship remains strong. Depressingly sad but ultimately uplifting, the love shared between CC and Hillary is as strong as humanly possible.

"Citizen Kane"

Charles Foster Kane had it all: women, money and power. The one thing he didn't have, the one thing those virtues robbed of him, was his childhood. In his dying moments he utters the word "Rosebud," and Orson Welles' classic film fills its running time with the mystery of what "Rosebud" is. When, in the closing scene, it's finally revealed, the viewer realizes that Kane's love of this "Rosebud" is a symbol for his yearning to be innocent once again.

"Driving Miss Daisy"

This 1989 Best Picture Oscar winner tells the simple story of two of the most unlikely friends possible: a black chauffeur and his rich, elderly, white, female boss in the pre-civil rights South. Morgan Freeman is Hoke, the man hired to drive Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy) around after she crashes her car. Driving around affords the duo time to share many conversations, and eventually they become best friends. "Driving Miss Daisy" is proof that respectful friendship is possible in even the most socially unacceptable of situations.

"Field of Dreams"

"If you build it, they will come." But if you build it, you'd better really, really love "it." That "it" is baseball, and Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) certainly loves America's game. He loves it so much, in fact, that he dumps his entire life savings into building a regulation baseball field on his Iowa farm. What initially might seem like a dumb idea eventually gives Ray something that he wasn't able to have as a child, a relationship with his father.

"Harold and Maude"

Wealth doesn't mean anything to Harold (Bud Cort), especially when his mother hardly notices his elaborate suicide attempts. It seems he's living a life without substance. That is, of course, until he meets Maude, an eccentric old lady who shares Harold's hobby of attending the funerals of strangers. As Harold and Maude hang out more and more it becomes obvious that, while Harold thinks he loves Maude, he really loves the way she lives life — doing whatever she wants whenever she wants.

"Lost in Translation"

The language barrier begets loneliness and isolation for an older movie star (Bill Murray) as he films a commercial in Japan. A recent college grad (Scarlett Johansson), whose husband is busy working and is thereby neglecting her, feels the same way. Romance isn't the point as the older man and younger woman simply enjoy each other's company and develop a respect and friendship that goes against every movie-clichéd notion of man-meets-woman. Companionship is what's important when you are feeling alone.

"Mary Poppins"

A magically inclined singing nanny is the cure for a family that doesn't really appreciate what it means to love one another. That's the premise for this Oscar-winning Disney musical featuring the classic songs "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and "Chim Chim Cher-ee." Julie Andrews plays the nanny who realizes that Jane and Michael Banks crave the love of their father. She helps him change his tune. The film ends as Mr. Banks finally becomes the loving, caring father the kids need.

"Pay It Forward"

While it wasn't as critically well-received as some of the other films on this list, "Pay It Forward" preaches such a strong message of selflessness that it's perfect for a nonromantic valentine. Haley Joel Osment is Trevor, a young boy who takes a social studies project to the next level by helping three people, and then asking them to help three people in return. He calls it "paying it forward," and before he knows it, Trevor's message of love has spread to his teacher, his mother, and across the nation.

"Pee wee's Big Adventure"

How far will you go for love? Will you travel to the ends of the Earth? How about to the Alamo? That's one of the stops that Pee Wee Herman makes after his most prized possession in the world, his bike, is stolen. Pee Wee's "big adventure" to get his bike back mirrors the type of journey that might happen in a typical romantic comedy. But through the twisted minds of star Paul Reubens, co-writer Phil Hartman and director Tim Burton, it's revealed that love, even for a bike, is a very powerful emotion.

"Rain Man"

Understanding the importance of family is easy when you have one. But when Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) realizes he has an autistic brother named Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) whom he's never met, and who is set to inherit $3 million, it takes Charlie some time to understand that importance. Charlie kidnaps his brother and takes him on a cross-country trip to get custody of Ray (and his fortune). As the two spend time together, Charlie's anger slowly evolves into love. Finally, what was once about money becomes about loving and spending time with the brother he never knew.