Page 2 - MidWeek - August 11 2021

2 MIDWEEK AUGUST 11, 2021
A Tale Of Two Magic Makers
“Choose joy. In spite of the challenges of life, choose joy!”
— Auntie Nalani Sousa
LMovie Remakes
As a young college student, I remem- ber asking, “What kind of person did it take to be a philosopher?” Then, I got older and discovered that, as a matter of fact, we all ask those philosophical questions. And, we often do it when we’ re young and it shapes the rest of our lives.
people on the block carry their groceries or empty their garbage cans. Every day of his life.
et’s have some fun this week and take some popu- lar summer-themed movie titles of years past and reimagine what they might be about if remade in
I don’t remember most of the other girls in the class. I never did know the rest of the people on the block. But I’ve never been able to forget Gloria and Edgar.
is love that makes us human. I doubt that Kathleen Raine knows Gloria and Edgar, but if she’s ever asked to explain how she arrived at her phil- osophical conclusion, these two life-loving people are surely it.
Sister Joan Chittister, OSB, is a bestselling author and advocate for justice and equality, and has been called one of the most influential religious and social leaders of our time. Chittister is a Benedictine nun of a sister monastery in Waialua and has lectured at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Visit
2021. Why do this, you ask? Oh, you really wanna talk about delta variants, vaccine holdouts, wayward web mis- information or selective personal freedom some more?
That’s how I know that the great philosopher René Descartes was wrong when he said as proof that he was alive, “I think, therefore I am.” No, thinking does not make us fully alive. Instead, on this question, Kathleen Raineis the one who has re- ally found the answer. She writes, “Amo ergo sum”; “I love, therefore I am.”
• Independence Day (1996): Ah, that wonderful day where we can again trust the safety of associating with other human beings, where we can hug sans masks, and where we can smile without worrying about what we might inhale due to the presence of others.
Which takes me to Gloria and Edgar. Gloria was a very plain girl in a world of social stars. The “popular girls” in the class decided who was “in” and who was “out” of social acceptance. The rest of the girls simply came to school — but they never got to go to the parties. And Glo- ria was definitely not “in.” Invitations flew around her and she never got one. But Gloria didn’t wilt under the exclusions. Instead, she threw her own parties, planned her own social events and joyous- ly invited everyone!
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982): The heartwarming story of a young boy reconnected to his grandparents, who he hasn’t seen in two years, thus thinking they must be aliens.
People are often most remembered for their acts of kindness toward others.
• Clueless (1995): What even the smartest people seem like at times as rules and regulations related to COVID-19 morph, are revamped, disappear and return. You need to use the Feynman Technique (communicating complex topics in a simple way) to figure out how many friends you can have at a funeral, wedding, meeting or dinner.
made fun of by the other kids on the block for his stumbling walk and the strange sounds he made.
Love is the great definer of life. Those who love, live. Those who live and never learn to love, are already dead of soul. Love something, love anything and everything in order to release the rest of yourself. No doubt about it: it
• Stand by Me (1986): What a classic! But the new version could be a dream, or perhaps a nightmare, as we simply can’t allow (most) people to “stand by me” in the pandemic twilight zone we still find ourselves in.
joanchittister.org.
Chasing The Light is pro-
duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
• Do the Right Thing (1989): Boy, what a remake you could do with this Spike Lee classic, as sadly too little has changed and doing the right thing in far too many in- stances remains a separator of far too many far too often.
Edgar spent his life being
KELLEY
But Edgar smiled at them anyway. He just laughed and spent his days helping old
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
with Sister Joan Chittister, OSB
• The Goonies (1985): Simple. This is what we call anyone who disagrees with us.
• I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): Yeah. Nothing.
• The Parent Trap (1961, 1998): What far too many kids found themselves in due to on-site college cancella- tions. Also, what far too many parents found themselves in due to, well, you get it.
• Dazed and Confused (1993): This time, you don’t even need illegal substances (or legal, as the case may be in some states) to realize how this title explains life in 2021.
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall (1998): Filmed, in part, at Turtle Bay. Nowadays, it would be easy to forget Sarah and just about everyone else you don’t see or talk to!
OK, back to reality. Stay safe, and it’s hurricane season. Think about it ...
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com