Theme: Movies reflect human needs...
Joy
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| Image from storyblocks.com |
Dictionaries define joy as a feeling of pleasure and happiness. But joy is much more than that. Feelings of pleasure and happiness are fleeting, whereas joy is (or can be) long-lasting. When I think of times I've wept with joy, it's a much deeper, more spiritual condition than happiness.
Joy is that holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow. (Hellen Keller)
Joy is the serious business of heaven. (C.S. Lewis)
I define joy as a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace - a connection to what matters. (Oprah Winfrey)
We can find joy even when life is bumpy, in fact, sometimes we need the bumpy times to recognize joy (as mentioned in my post: Gratitude).
Father of the Bride (1991)
- As much as George Banks (Steve Martin) struggles with his daughter's engagement, he experiences joy in parenthood.
Inside Out (2015)
- Joy (Amy Poehler, voice) is represented as the main emotion and strives to keep the other emotions in balance.
Beautiful music touches my soul, so it's not surprising that these films make my heart soar with joy...
Broken Hill (2009)
- In Australia, a young man's father wants him to follow in the sheep-ranching business, but his heart yearns to compose music. During a mandatory community service, he utilizes prison inmates and make-shift instruments to form a band and choir. Their performance fills me with joy! (That scene found on youtube, here.)
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
- I love almost every song in this musical!
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
- A man dreams of being a composer, but his opus gets put on the back burner while he spends years, time, and energy teaching high school music classes. When he is ready to retire, many of the students he taught over the years get together and perform the opus he had been working on. It's another musical finale that makes my heart sing! (Found on youtube, here.)
I follow The Joyspotters Society on Facebook. I asked the group for recommendations for movies with joyful characters or movies that bring them joy, expecting maybe five or six movie suggestions, but the number of responses blew me away!
I gleaned almost 80 movie titles from their comments. That's too wonderful to keep to myself, so I made a Google Doc with their recommendations to share. You can find it here.
What movies invite joy for you?
(Note: The movies listed might not be completely family-friendly. See my "Movie Content" information on the blog's sidebar.)
Wow! Thanks for the great list!
ReplyDeleteHere from A to Z. Visit me at http://theroadweveshared.com/blog where our theme is Down syndrome in the media.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
DeleteI see your theme this year is Down syndrome in the media! I'll be over to visit real soon. I'm eager to see which movies you include.
I look forward to your lists each day, another good set of films :-)
ReplyDeletehttps://iainkellywriting.com/2021/04/12/the-state-trilogy-a-z-guide-j/
I'm glad you are enjoying the lists! If you have a "want to see" list, I hope I've added to it. :-)
DeleteThe two films that I could watch over and over again, and definitely include joy, are Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Legally Blonde - they always make me smile.
ReplyDeleteGood choices! I want to see Ferris Bueller again. It's been ages.
DeleteJoy is a very popular subject for movies, great! We need it ;)
ReplyDeleteQuilting Patchwork & Appliqué
That's for sure... the more joy the better.
DeleteMost movies gives me joy unless I'm watching something depressing. Although, I have to admit, I don't much like musicals, sometimes the songs just last a bit too long.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.
My A-Z posts are here.
Agreed... it's tough to feel joy when watching a depressing movie.
DeleteI haven't seen Mr. Holland's Opus but I love Richard Dreyfus. Yes to Fiddler on the Roof!
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
I think I became a fan of Richard Dreyfus when I saw him in The Goodbye Girl. Maybe you'll get a chance to see Mr. Holland's Opus sometime.
DeleteHere's an oldie I thought of: Roman Holiday. The incomparable Dalton Trumbo wrote a great script where the princess Ann "escapes" and is shown around Rome by a visiting reporter. With Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the lead roles, it can't get any better. Ann shows such joy at being just a normal woman taking in the sights, her mood is contagious.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen that movie in years. After watching her go through such joyful times, I felt sad when her time of "escape" ended.
DeleteI love that you have a dolphin pictured at the top since one of my most joyful moments of my life was when I swam with them! ��
ReplyDeleteI love all the time you took to create that doc with everything laid out so nicely!
When I researched images for representing joy and discovered the dolphin, it made so much sense. They always look happy!
DeleteThank you for your kind words about the google doc list!
Trudy,
ReplyDeleteJoy is what is with you no matter what life throws at you. You know there is more than the moment you're experiencing good or bad. Frequently, I find joy helps to propel me through rough patches because I know whatever bad stuff I'm dealing with someone somewhere has it a whole lot worse which makes me more appreciative. The first movie I thought of was Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. At the end, the way Steve Martin looks at his wife as she comes down the stairs I see joy in his eyes and I can imagine that's how someone might truly feel if they had been what he had gone through and to learn his new friend no longer had a wife.
Thank you for sharing how Steve Martin's character looks at his wife with joy. That's a wonderful example!
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