CeCe and I had some one-on-one girl bonding time today. I mean, it's not like we hang out almost every day- not us, no way. Lol. Anyway, we went on a crazy Disney movie hunt. We wanted Lion King- my tape of the movie has bit the dust. Sadly.- but we could not find it. We did, however, come across The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Sword in the Stone, and Pocahontas. I think we did quite well. I own a lot of the classics on DVD and I have Beauty and the Beast on tape- it came out of the vault before we got a DVD player (this was some time ago) and hasn't come back since- but I didn't own these specific DVDs.
We took the Hunchback of Notre Dame to CeCe's house because my roommate was using my living room.
This summer I visited Paris and I sat in front of Notre Dame and admired it's beauty for what felt like centuries- it was even more glorious than the Eiffel Tower in my opinion. Anyway, when the movie came on I started recanting every line detail of my trip to Sierra until I realized what I was doing. I then apologized and tried to keep my coments to myself.
When Quasimodo was pelted with those vegetables and fruit... well, I was so upset and sad. Esmeralda sang a song in the church that reflected my own feelings about Christianity. Those other patrons were asking for wealth and glory and power in their song but she just wanted those less fortunate to be treated fairly and given an equal opportunity to succeed. That is all she asked for in her prayer. Who knew Disney could be so deep?
Another thing that I noticed was the song of self-righteousness that the Judge sings. It almost made me vomit. I know so many Christians who act just as he does. They parade around in their outward appearance of piety yet the only thing that have at the end of the day is a set of rules and a certain clothing style. There is no humility, no acceptance of those different.
The greatest part of the movie came at the end. Esmeralda stood up for the one who was different- Quasimoto- and had done it regardless of the consequences. At the end of the movie, Quasi comes out of the church-his sanctuary- and faces those who had hurled vegetables at him just days before. Only this time, a little girl came from the crowd and embraced him.
At that moment I burst out crying. The tears came running down my face and I realized that no matter what a person believes or how he appears, I am going to accept them- not because they look like me, not because they act as I do- but because they are a child of God regardless of their chosen path.
As I write this, I think of all the Quasimotos out there that are looking in at us- the "supposed" Christians- and want to be a part of what we have but feel excluded.
I'd like to be their Esmeralda.
