Sitting in class, slowly your eyelids grow heavy and body becomes limp as we listen to the ramblings of Mr. Cox. Doodles slowly become real as the curves and shapes fill the page creating their own world in black white and blue. Mr. Cox mentions words of Hamlet and Shakespeare, and within minutes you find yourself lost in a Renaissance time dressed in large gowns and steel capes, chasing bandits and sewing hangings. Quite literally, we are taken to another world. But why do we do this? What creates this perception of imagination and exaggeration in our minds? Much like Edward in Tim Burton’s movie, Big Fish, I believe we have all felt our imaginations take a hold of our minds at some point, as we exaggerate, emphasize and modify our stories into something more. The power of story and imagination is a central theme of ‘Big Fish’ brought into the story by Edward Bloom, the highly imaginative story teller and father of William Bloom who is a completely opposite smart, factual writer. The two contradictory characters are the foremost conflict in the story. Will wants to know the truth about his father and parts of his life, but his father does not tell him anything but his tall tales. Even by looking with close detail into Edward’s stories Will fails to see the truth in them. The difference between the two and their forms of communication become so great that their relationship is destroyed. After years of not speaking that the power of story and imagination births in Will as he sits upon his father’s deathbed and opens his own mind into the world of fiction and fantasy.
The movie reviewer David Dicerto explained in his review that Tim Burton “strikes the perfect balance between the magical and the mundance, blending fantasy and reality to craft a timeless fairy tale that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. Its offbeat message serves as an antidote to the cataracts of cynicism afflicting society by inviting us to see life through more wonderful eyes. Burton has fulfilled the duty of the artist-which, according to G.K. Chesterson, is to awaken and keep alive the sense of wonder in man.” David’s insight regarding story and imagination as a cure for the clouded eyes of cynical people in society explains the importance that creativity is in our lives. He believes that at the core of humanity we find the imagination and creativity that diffracts us from animals, and describes to us what is means to be human. Our minds are driven by the power that imagination has and it is a need all humans have in life. To learn, grow and understand we must be imaginative and open our minds to new things. Tim Burton’s main idea’s may differ from what David Dicerto’s are, but we can draw that this teaches us that to be healthy as humans we must be open to using our imagination and develop the story-teller within each of us.
Will once the largest of cynics to imagination, becomes healed as he learns that the reason and truth behind the stories cannot be just black and white but rather a canvas of a spectrum no one can fully see. Everyone will take something different from each story but by hearing it we all can learn to grow and imagine. While trying to understand his father, Will confronts Edward by stating:
“I’m trying to make a metaphor here.”
“Then you shouldn’t have started with a question. Because people want to answer questions… You should have started with, “The thing about icebergs is…””
"Okay, okay- The thing about icebergs is you can only see 10%. The other 90% is below the water where you can’t see it. That’s what it is with you Dad. I’m only seeing this little bit that sticks above the water.”
In this conversation we learn that Will not only knows that he is unable to dive into his imagination to understand his father’s stories, but also that he is closed to the idea of it. He knows that he is missing the 90% and has to be more open to it, but he cannot find it himself. This demonstrates that without the power of imagination your intelligence is weakened. By not using his imagination Will cannot see the big picture and in turn cannot learn from his father’s stories.
This same thematic idea is discussed in George Faludy’s convocation speech. From him we hear his story of the true power of imagination and its importance in our lives. While being imprisoned at a Soviet Union concentration camp he began a lecture and learning group where prisoners could gather after long hard days to learn and share information keeping their minds healthy. George found that the prisoners that joined the group all survived and those that concentrated merely on their bodies and staying alive, were the ones to go crazy and die after trying to run into the snow. Now he explains that it was by learning and keeping a creative and imaginative mind alive while imprisoned that he survived and is here today.
We may never truly know some of the truths in Edward’s stories, but from that we find a truth. The truth that we cannot know every detail, so we have to fill in some of the blanks ourselves using our own imagination. This is recognized in the final scene between William and Edward as we notice that Will is able to finally appreciate his father and his stories. It is a turning point for William where we don’t find the answers but we gain insight on how to find them. By using our imaginations we are strong, smarter individuals and I believe that is the main issue being addressed in Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish.
Sitting in class, slowly your eyelids grow heavy and body becomes limp as we listen to the ramblings of Mr. Cox. Doodles slowly become real as the curves and shapes fill the page creating their own world in black white and blue. Mr. Cox mentions words of Hamlet and Shakespeare, and within minutes you find yourself lost in a Renaissance time dressed in large gowns and steel capes, chasing bandits and sewing hangings. Quite literally, we are taken to another world. But why do we do this? What creates this perception of imagination and exaggeration in our minds? Much like Edward in Tim Burton’s movie, Big Fish, I believe we have all felt our imaginations take a hold of our minds at some point, as we exaggerate, emphasize and modify our stories into something more. The power of story and imagination is a central theme of ‘Big Fish’ brought into the story by Edward Bloom, the highly imaginative story teller and father of William Bloom who is a completely opposite smart, factual writer. The two contradictory characters are the foremost conflict in the story. Will wants to know the truth about his father and parts of his life, but his father does not tell him anything but his tall tales. Even by looking with close detail into Edward’s stories Will fails to see the truth in them. The difference between the two and their forms of communication become so great that their relationship is destroyed. After years of not speaking that the power of story and imagination births in Will as he sits upon his father’s deathbed and opens his own mind into the world of fiction and fantasy.
The movie reviewer David Dicerto explained in his review that Tim Burton “strikes the perfect balance between the magical and the mundance, blending fantasy and reality to craft a timeless fairy tale that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. Its offbeat message serves as an antidote to the cataracts of cynicism afflicting society by inviting us to see life through more wonderful eyes. Burton has fulfilled the duty of the artist-which, according to G.K. Chesterson, is to awaken and keep alive the sense of wonder in man.” David’s insight regarding story and imagination as a cure for the clouded eyes of cynical people in society explains the importance that creativity is in our lives. He believes that at the core of humanity we find the imagination and creativity that diffracts us from animals, and describes to us what is means to be human. Our minds are driven by the power that imagination has and it is a need all humans have in life. To learn, grow and understand we must be imaginative and open our minds to new things. Tim Burton’s main idea’s may differ from what David Dicerto’s are, but we can draw that this teaches us that to be healthy as humans we must be open to using our imagination and develop the story-teller within each of us.
Will once the largest of cynics to imagination, becomes healed as he learns that the reason and truth behind the stories cannot be just black and white but rather a canvas of a spectrum no one can fully see. Everyone will take something different from each story but by hearing it we all can learn to grow and imagine. While trying to understand his father, Will confronts Edward by stating:
“I’m trying to make a metaphor here.”
“Then you shouldn’t have started with a question. Because people want to answer questions… You should have started with, “The thing about icebergs is…””
"Okay, okay- The thing about icebergs is you can only see 10%. The other 90% is below the water where you can’t see it. That’s what it is with you Dad. I’m only seeing this little bit that sticks above the water.”
In this conversation we learn that Will not only knows that he is unable to dive into his imagination to understand his father’s stories, but also that he is closed to the idea of it. He knows that he is missing the 90% and has to be more open to it, but he cannot find it himself. This demonstrates that without the power of imagination your intelligence is weakened. By not using his imagination Will cannot see the big picture and in turn cannot learn from his father’s stories.
This same thematic idea is discussed in George Faludy’s convocation speech. From him we hear his story of the true power of imagination and its importance in our lives. While being imprisoned at a Soviet Union concentration camp he began a lecture and learning group where prisoners could gather after long hard days to learn and share information keeping their minds healthy. George found that the prisoners that joined the group all survived and those that concentrated merely on their bodies and staying alive, were the ones to go crazy and die after trying to run into the snow. Now he explains that it was by learning and keeping a creative and imaginative mind alive while imprisoned that he survived and is here today.
We may never truly know some of the truths in Edward’s stories, but from that we find a truth. The truth that we cannot know every detail, so we have to fill in some of the blanks ourselves using our own imagination. This is recognized in the final scene between William and Edward as we notice that Will is able to finally appreciate his father and his stories. It is a turning point for William where we don’t find the answers but we gain insight on how to find them. By using our imaginations we are strong, smarter individuals and I believe that is the main issue being addressed in Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish.