Sunday Synopsis: ‘The Color Purple,’ People who brought me back from the Dead

"I remember when I was in the store with Miss Millie…I was feeling real down, I was feeling mighty bad…and when I saw you, I know there is a god and one day I was gon’ get to come home” – Sofia in “The Color Purple”

Of all my favorite movie quotes that I’ve featured on this blog (and in guest posts) time and time again, I never thought that a line from Steven Spielberg’s 80s drama “The Color Purple” -- starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey – would be among them. It wasn’t until a moment of sulking this past weekend, over a few seemingly huge mountains I need to climb (figuratively speaking) that I thought of the infamous dinner scene where Sofia (played by Winfrey) – as her father-in-law would describe -- rises from the dead.

For those of you who haven’t watched “The Color Purple,” please understand that I have paraphrased this quote as well as shortened it to include only the bit that spoke to me. There is a scene in this movie where Sofia must go grocery shopping to fulfill her duties as a maid for the wife of her town’s mayor and Celie (played by Goldberg) provides a helping hand by gathering the necessary groceries on Sofia’s list. Sofia later thanked Celie during dinner, after finally being released from jail and subsequently granted freedom from working for Miss Millie.

I love this particular movie quote because it isn’t about a higher power (to me, anyway), but rather, a glimpse of light at the end of what seems like a very long, dark tunnel that we’ll never get out of – until someone shows us some hope that there is another way -- that we’re not alone and somewhere, somehow – we can make it.

So today, I’m professing my love and devotion to not one – but two blogger friends – each of whom I dedicate the above movie quote:

Alana Garrigues who offers up fun writing exercises at Writercize is someone I think has a form of ESP when it comes to her interactions with me online. Aside from giving her readers cool ways to flex our mental muscles so that our brains don’t get dull, she also (unknowingly) resuscitated my energy and attempts to keep it moving – twice.

On one of my many sleepless nights, I was going through a major downturn even though a friend who I’ve known for some time gave me some pieces of clarity.

For some odd and almost unexplainable reason, several messages from Alana ignited something that removed me from the downward spiral that I found myself in at that time. Another incident occurred when I was no longer as active online as I would be, including on Twitter – around a time when my tweets would come regularly. New posts were only going up on Mondays for the Movie Meme that I host; I was lost and stressed out. It was then that Alana sent some sunshine my way – and so, I’m grateful for having met her.

I owe tremendous allegiance and gratitude to Herman Turnip, a devoted husband, father and IT genius who delves into a variety of goodies for the senses -- from the championing movie trailers of anxiously kick-ass releases to jumping out of airplanes, to five-minute stories and everything in between at Terrible Analogies.

Herman is a true blogging friend who’s been around since the early days of my blog – I’m talking back when my posts were so sporadic that you wouldn’t even know if I was going to put something up next week or next month. I’m talking back when even I wasn’t sure what the direction of this blog was going in, where I wanted to focus my attention with regards to topics and when my writing could’ve used much editing and several drafts before pushing the “publish” button. Since then, he is the one who comes to mind sometimes when I have writer’s block or am feeling sluggish or indecisive about my next move on the blogging front.

At times when I’m stuck for a voice or perspective to aim for, I just imagine that I’m writing directly to Herman; experts suggest that you writers should write to an audience – he is my audience. At times when I’m not in the mood to get up and write another post, I know I better damn well snap out of it and have something live sooner than later because I want to make sure that I’m accountable for keeping fresh posts on deck here.

There are nearly a dozen or so very specific people who I continue to be thankful to for reading my blog because they make it what it is and make my hours of research, last-minute trips and interviews worth doing; it is because of Herman, however, that I have continued (or try) to remain consistent in my blogging activities.

He tops the list of all my blogging friends who I am grateful to know due to his ongoing support, which keeps me aware that somebody is reading, so I need to make sure that there is something up for him (or her -- Hey Tina, this one’s for you!) to check out and discuss.

In addition to making some of the oddest discoveries that I’ve ever learned about, Herman has also been a dear friend in the non-blogging realm of things, sharing insight on some of the challenges and/or perspectives that I’ve pondered with regards to life/work matters. To speak of a blogger who I think is great and not name him would be a crime.

FYI & Other Stuff....

• As the first full week of May approaches, I have a long day planned for tomorrow, so the Monday Movie Meme will be posted in the evening this week (Monday, May 6th), as opposed to the morning – consider this a heads up! 

• Also, I'm still working on my 2013 A to Z Reflections and expect to post it on Wednesday.

• I was approved to be a presenter for the 2013 LAMMYS and will be announcing the winner in the category of Best Running Feature. The LAMMYS will begin on May 6th with announcements on YouTube and continues through May 16th when an official list of all winners will be published by The LAMB.

What is one of YOUR favorite movie quotes and why do you love it?

Is there any particular blogging friend that YOU want to profess your love and devotion to? If so, what makes him or her great?

Today’s Sunday Synopsis is a mash-up of two prompts from Jenni’s Blog Everyday in May Challenge. She asked participants to share their favorite quote and why they love it. She also wants participants to publicly profess their love and devotion to a fellow blogger friend while also explaining what makes them so great. The title and style of this post is inspired by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out, who’s Sunday Summaries in 2012 highlighted people who mentioned the A to Z Challenge to their online network.

Cassmob at Tropical Territory also convinced me that I could switch-out “Summary” for a word that better matches the subject matter of this blog.

The night they played the Titans – A Coach Yoast Theory #atozchallenge

All hope seemed lost for a high school football team whose important game of the season was not going in their favor in the biographical sports drama “Remember the Titans” starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton.

Not only were they down in points, one of their own players even walked off of the field, abandoning them at a crucial moment. Officials showed these teenagers no mercy either, calling penalties left and right, yet, overlooking fouls from the opposing team. Coach Bill Yoast (played by Patton) had another plan in store – one that would change the morale among his team as well as the direction of this game. Here is how he led them out of the hole they found themselves in…

“Now, I don’t want them to gain another yard. You blitz all night! If they cross the line of scrimmage, I’m gonna take every last one of you out. You make sure that they remember FOREVER, the night they played the Titans!”

For those of you who have seen the movie, you know this is the moment where Coach Yoast is not screwing around; he means business and is willing to go the distance in making sure that his team has a fair shot at winning the game. His new plays are set up to survive in the environment that they found themselves in, possibly beating the opposing team at their own brutal and seemingly fixed game. At this point, it isn’t just about winning; it’s about respect, taking back their freedom of not having to play by someone else’s narrow-minded rules and most importantly – it’s about standing tall against all odds until the time clock reaches zero.

Coach Yoast’s way of thinking when he said those above lines is exactly how we need to approach some of the offenses that we meet out on the field of life.

You’ll always get tackled and trampled over if you don’t beef up your defense and give the opposing situation all you’ve got – no matter how bigger, smarter, more powerful or more resourceful, etc. that condition or person or place is, in comparison.

It’s not about accepting defeat, it’s about doing your best at making it difficult for an opponent to bring you down and wipe you out. Maybe you’ll win, maybe you’ll lose, but one thing is for sure if the latter applies – your challenger shouldn’t have an easy ride to victory.

That’s how legends – no scratch that – TITANS are made. The people we remember and those who inspire us are the ones who do the unthinkable, achieve the impossible, go above and beyond their abilities or potential at times when they are far from the lead. They are the individuals, groups, partners and teams taking the kind of risks that naysayers unexpected or even refuse to acknowledge because they’re too busy gossiping or being miserable or contributing to the problems of the world, rather than the solutions of the world.

How memorable are you? What have you contributed to your existence on this earth so far? What can you do from here on out to make sure that the people you come in contact with – and possibly even those who you may never come in contact with -- will not forget you?

Who are the Titans that you will remember forever and what makes them a champion?

What do you want to be remembered for when this game is all over?

What Makes Us Right? – The Sean Penn Revolution #atozchallenge

*Language Alert: This post contains some explicit language. If you are among the faint at heart or sensitive to certain words, consider this advance notice.

“If I yell a little louder than you, does that make me right?” asks a U.S. diplomat named Joseph Wilson in the biography thriller “Fair Game” starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. This line occurs in the scene where Joseph’s (played by Penn) wife Valerie Plame (played by Watts) urges him to stop doing television appearances and talking to the press about war and government cover-ups. Their argument puts them at war with each other after White House officials leaked Valerie’s identity as a CIA operative, following Joseph’s editorial questioning the validity of the government’s claims of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Valerie is pissed that Joseph has the audacity to battle with the White House -- an entity that has power to wreak havoc on their already tumultuous lives; he wants her to realize that there are bigger things at stake if they sit back and do nothing about the lies being spread by their government. Putting the subject matter of “Fair Game” aside, I am especially fond of this movie line because it applies to any situation and is food for thought when something just doesn’t seem – well, right.

It serves as a reminder that you do an injustice to yourself, your fellow man and future generations of people if you don’t stand up to entities that abuse their liberties just because they are in a position that allows this to happen. Our legal system from family court to criminal matters and so on is one of the best examples of how the truth gets bent, twisted around – or even fabricated to meet the needs of somebody’s (whether that be the prosecutors, police, judge, jury, those who testify or any other position related to a case) agenda. The justice system, however, is just the tip of the iceberg; there is foul play going on in our boardrooms, in our child welfare “protection” agencies, in our healthcare system, in our educational systems and in our backyards.

Families even fight each other over who gets entitled to what when a loved one dies, who gets to claim whom on income tax returns and who makes the decisions about medical care for relative who are incapacitated. I personally know of two instances where relatives started engaging in funny business over real estate and related assets.

From large corporations and government entities to communities with neighbors at war with each other over dogs urinating on someone else's front lawn or toddlers trampling a garden, people make up what they want to justify their planned course of action – whatever that may be. 

To me, Sean Penn’s (or Joseph Wilson – however you want to name him) question is about two things:

• Being right in the authenticity of information that you are either sending out or receiving.

• Being right about how you handle (or behave in the circumstance of) someone challenging said information.

Question everything, because even the most credible sources can be wrong. That means even if claims or information comes to you from your very best friend, your mother or father, the pope, Elton John, Beyoncé, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, PETA, Matt Lauer and even The White House etc. -- do not take everything that you read or hear or see, at face value. Also, don’t be afraid to call people on their bullshit if for at any minute, you suspect that there is some funny business going on.

Those in more prominent positions are no more (or no less) truthful than the little man. This is not only reflected in “Fair Game;” We saw it in “Gasland” and “Erin Brockovich” where the everyday Joe stood up to greed, health dangers and environmental pollution.

We saw it in “The General’s Daughter” and “A Few Good Men” where, though tragic, military officials with tormented pasts or dwindling reputations still managed to bring down the corruption of high ranking officers involved in murder, rape and intimidation tactics. We also saw it in “I am Sam” where a mentally disabled man and his ruthless lawyer challenge their state’s attempts to relinquish a father’s custody rights. Yes, arguments can be made against the premise of the latter example, but, I would request that you entertain the gist of the idea for the sake of this post.

When was the last time YOU stood up to something (or someone) that you believed wasn’t Right?

What are some indications that let YOU know you’re receiving the right information or treatment or service, etc.?