Barefoot

Dear *Freaders,

I want to recommend a movie entitled "Barefoot". It is not the usual romance movie, there are so many inspiring messages in this 90 minutes film!!! :)

This is my short synopsis of the film:

A playboy (Scott Speedman as Jay Wheeler) who is going nowhere in life and has his hands full of debts, chances upon a young patient (Evan Rachel Wood as Daisy Kensington) in a mental hospital. 

Jay asks Daisy to pretend to be his girlfriend and brings her to his brother's wedding, in hope to bridge the gap with his father, to get cash to pay off his debts. 

Along the way, love blossoms between this unexpected couple. They had to go through many obstacles to finally be together.

Well, this movie is so emotionally sweet that I had to fight back my tears so many times throughout the film.

Here are some key life messages I picked up in the movie:

1) Take care of your spiritual needs, and let God take care of your physical needs.

The movie "Barefoot" is really well-titled. I simply LOVE it to the max.

Seeing Daisy walking around barefoot in almost all her scenes in the movie triggered my thoughts on babies.

When we were born from our mothers' wombs, we have not a single dime and not a single piece of clothing on us. We are literally just a chunk of flesh and blood. Every one of us starts from ground zero. All we have are our screams, our uncontrollable facial expressions and our occasional laughter.

Didn't it occur to you how strong our faith is? We had no control in meeting our needs. We had no control over the world. However, somehow, we didn't have to plan or worry about our next steps. When we are hungry, we just cry. When we are happy, we just laugh.

This made me recall a sermon I had heard on Easter Sunday. The pastor said something similar to this, "Some of you, young working adults, earn four or five figures salary after graduation and you are suddenly overwhelmed by the attractions of the world. When you were younger, you feel rich when you have ten dollars in your wallet. Now, you feel poor when you have anything less than a few hundreds in your wallet. He told the audience strictly, "Take care of your spiritual needs, and let God take care of your physical needs."

2) Some people are born with a silver (or even a gold) spoon.

That will definitely give you a head-start in life but if you decide to play punk in life, nobody can hold your hands and lead you every step of the way.

3) Don't take things for granted.

In the movie, I see poor Daisy's inability to fit into the social world because she has been locked up in her house since birth. She does not have the chance to attend school, does not have the chance to go shopping (not even for groceries) and she has to do all the cleaning in the house to earn love.

We often take it for granted that our parents should love us and be the beacon light in our lives. But in this case, Daisy's mum is sort of mentally disoriented. And many of the things she taught Daisy is absolutely skewed. For example, will any parent tell his/her child that driving cause pregnancy? Or will any parent make his/her child feel nasty if she ever win a game of Scrabble?

4) There is always a struggle of good and evil (sins) in our hearts and lives.

Having seen Jay with so many bad morals in the movie, I totally did not expect him to be so honorable as to help Daisy so much in the movie. There are a few scenes where Jay struggles within himself - he contemplates in his heart whether to lend Daisy a helping hand.

I do believe being good always has its rewards (physically, mentally and/or spiritually). Of course, not saying that we should help someone because we want to have rewards (but it should come naturally from our hearts). Sometimes, you will not be able to see the rewards straightaway. Nonetheless, we should not give up being the good guy.

Well, if Jay did not help Daisy at the start of the movie, there will not be a happy ever after at the end.

5) Never judge a book by its cover.

Daisy seems weird or kinda crazy to people around her. But if they were to know her better, they might be able to discover what Jay did.

Nearing the end of the movie, the plot unfolds with a twist. We get to realize that Daisy does not have a serious mental illness at all (just socially dysfunctional). And the reason why she is being placed in the mental institution is overthrown.

6) Love-making is sacred.

It should only happen in a committed relationship (between a married couple who mutually consent to the act). We should not be overwhelmed by our emotions and sudden urges to act on something that we might regret in the future.

What I love about the movie is the pure and innocent love between Jay and Daisy. Jay manages to subdue his manly desires and not take advantage of poor Daisy. This is what love should be - mutual respect.

7) Family members are usually the ones who hurt you and love you the most at the same time.

Jay does not have the trust of his Dad as he is the "black sheep" in the family. This hurts Jay a huge deal.

Yet, at the end of the movie, Jay's Dad bails his son out from jail. (Well, you have to see the movie yourself to find out why!) This is a magnificent display of love and affection from someone who has already lost all hope in his son.

Overall, this is a fantastic romance film worth your time. Therefore, I sincerely hope that you will have the opportunity to watch it, and perhaps share some of your comments here! :)