Lions for Lambs.

(Assignment 1.2)

Lions for Lambs is a provocative and inspiring movie. Occurring in a little over an hour and running in real-time, it follows three independent, yet interconnected, stories. A powerful Republican senator meets with a reporter to discuss a new initiative in the War on Terror, with the hope of improving public opinion on the war. The journalist struggles to write the story she is given. At the same time in a California university, a professor of political science meets with his bright, but burnt-out, pupil. He tells the story of two of his former students, who had the potential to make real change in the world. They were men of action, and acting on their beliefs they enlisted in the army rather than enrolling at top graduate institutions. During this time in Iraq, the new initiative in the Middle East is launched, and the two former students are at the front line, separated from their unit and facing imminent attack from the enemy. The major question in each of these stories is the same--The choices and mistakes we have made up to this point have defined us in ways we may or may not have realized, but where do we go from here?

In each situation in the movie, the central characters have reached a point where their past decisions and mistakes have brought them, and they are faced with an uncertain future. The choice to move forward, and how to move forward is theirs alone. The movie was as convicting as it was enjoyable. While watching, I asked myself the same questions the college professor was asking his student. Am I doing all that I can do? Am I capable of making any real change in the world? Am I willing to do what it takes to bring about change? While watching I was forced to look at my life, where I have been and where I want to go. Still, I was inspired because the choices I make from here on out are mine alone, and in some way I have the power to control how I am defined in the future. It is a thought that is both terrifying and empowering, captured in the face of the young pupil who must choose what new direction his academic career, and his life, will take.