The Giver is not just another movie based on a book for teens; it is an adaptation of a powerful story about the cost of living, a story that is experienced by everyone.
Here is the first trailer for The Giver, which is based upon the book of the same name by Lois Lowry. I know you might be thinking that it will be just another in a long line of movies based on teen novels, but there is something a little different here.
The Giver was first published in 1993 which puts it long before many of the latest best sellers; this has given it some time to age and its sheen has not dulled over the years. The powerful story of a young boy discovering how wonderful and painful the world really can be still has a thing or two to teach us even a decade later. It tells of a world where emotions have been deadened through chemical means, and while this may be a trope common for dystopian futures the way in which it is handled and overcome is unique to The Giver. The world is devoid or numbed to the pains of war, destruction, and meaningless death but at the same time lacks the overwhelming forms of love, joy, and ecstasy that can make the pain worthwhile.
In this world children are assigned to their careers as they turn twelve and the main character Jonas is assigned to become the Receiver of Memories, an assignment that may be the most difficult position in the society. Jonas, under the tutelage of the previous Receiver, is to become the keeper of the memories of the old world. He must learn both the good and the bad that once existed, holding within himself the entire range of human emotions. As he gains more and more memories of the past, Jonas struggles to accept the societal rules that removed painful emotions and their consequences at the cost of never truly experiencing the pleasurable ones.
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There is a parallel for this story in the real world; the way in which children become adults rather quickly. In our society adulthood is often defined by age, and once the appropriate age is reached mountains of responsibility and expectations can be piled upon someone who was very recently only a child. I certainly felt afraid and alone once I was deemed worth of being an adult, and sometimes I still find myself feeling my way through the dark with issues that no one could have prepared me for.This may be the case for the minority, but I know I am certainly not alone. In another post of mine, What The Kings of Summer Can Teach Us about Becoming Men, I talk more about this as it relates to myself and all young men.
The other aspect to this story, about the numbing of parts of our lives, is one that I also know well. From an early age I was uncomfortable with emotions; showing them, sharing them, or even having them. So to quell some of this discomfort I would try and numb that part of my life starting with the negative ones, but it never worked the way I wanted it to. The numbing quickly spilled over into the positive emotions of my life and dulled their effect. In the past years I have started to undo this, a process that has been far from fun, and in doing so I too am going through the process of learning the price that comes with feeling.
The Giver was one of those books that really brought into focus some of my own inner turmoil. It expressed a desire to know the good with the bad that I wished was mine, and in some small ways it lead me down the path of finding just that. It displayed the struggles that come with age and maturity that were, and in some ways still are, a part of my life today.
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I first read the book in elementary school, and so obviously some of the deeper meanings remained hidden from my young mind, but in rereading it as an adult I found a whole new world within the pages. It is a fabulous book, one that has won several awards and maintains a place in my personal library. The Giver film adaptation is set to release on August 15th, 2015 so it is still a ways off. Go read the book first, it isn’t very long and is a pretty easy read, and see what you take away from its story about the tribulations of being fully human.
—Photo: Trailer
Never heard of this book or movie. Thanks for this!