People Are Strange When You're A Stranger:Thoughts on "Finding Dory"

I realize it's been out a month. I only saw it the other night at my daughter's suggestion. People are strange is a good overall theme (and I am going to go with the Echo and the Bunnymen version because it's my blog.) 

So, I read nothing, watched no previews, had no opinions other than my daughter's going into the movie. Truthfully, I didn't care for "Finding Nemo." I strongly dislike Marlon and I kind of felt like the Nemo movie had this undertone that broken people should settle for dysfunctional relationships. (Roll your eyes if you want but you tell me that if Marlon and Dory were in human form and in your circle that you wouldn't find their relationship in the first movie a bit offputting.) 

Dory hit me right in the feels. It hit me in the place that still feels weird and awkward after all these years, sure. Oh, but the place in my existence that so deeply identified with Dory's parents, I can't even type the sentence without welling up. Without giving too much away, although the reasons all that resonates with me are different from Dory's parents, the emotions and reactions are the same.

Life feels hard when you feel like you don't belong or that you are somewhat less than because you are differently abled. My friend, Statler, and I were talking about it last night. We have this pervasive feeling that awareness as it manifest itself these days does more to divide than include. It is almost as if people become some obsessed with their label that they champion it to the exclusion of any sort of meaningful relationships. Also, it seems that if there isn't a ribbon or celebrity endorsement for whatever makes you an alleged outlier in society, then you slip further in the cracks.

All this from a fish movie...a fish movie that made me cry and secretly want to the space in the hall by my door with shells. I hope that I am not the only one who sees it who gives pause. Faces do look ugly when you are alone and what sort of cruelty is it to ostracize or ignore because lack of understanding or egocentric perfectionism. If I have learned nothing from scrolling through Facebook, I have learned this...

Be kind. Everyone is facing a hard battle.

Oh, and JUST KEEP SWIMMING!