Answer the Call

Last evening we watched Cloud Atlas with some friends. In a very complex plot, spanning six locations and seven time periods, Sonmi-451, a human clone in 2144, works as a slave in a fast food restaurant. She becomes awakened to the truth that the workers are not freed after the end of their contract but are actually killed and fed to other clones. As with each of us, awareness invites inspiration.

In the throes of a sweet attack after lunch today, I resorted to eating a fortune cookie left over from our last Chinese take-out. This is my fortune:

         

          You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble. Answer the call.

It is my prayer that we all know our whole lives are about answering the call. Cloud Atlas is not an easy film to watch. It is much too violent for my taste, and it is three hours l—o—n—g. Even so, it is a film I will watch again. The story has a significant message that is relevant to our lives. 

Even as I was watching "Cloud Atlas" the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I've seen it the second time, I know I'd like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything. To borrow Churchill's description of Russia, "it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." It fascinates in the moment. It's getting from one moment to the next that is tricky.
 
Surely this is one of the most ambitious films ever made. The little world of film criticism has been alive with interpretations of it, which propose to explain something that lies outside explanation. Any explanation of a work of art must be found in it, not taken to it. 

~ Roger Ebert, in his review of Cloud Atlas (24 October 2012)

As we drove home from the having watched the film, I had a profound memory of an experience I had several years ago. Our grandson, about 13 at the time, had gotten all caught up in a video game. The family was ready to go out to dinner, to celebrate a couple of birthdays, but he was trying desperately to make it to the next level and kept saying, "Wait! Just give me a few minutes." Everyone was in the car, still waiting for him, when his mom went back in, and pulled the plug. We ended up having a very uncomfortable situation.  

The following morning, my husband and I were on the road. He was driving and I was pondering the events of the previous evening and writing in my journal. I was thinking and writing, " It is ridiculous that he gets so intense—it is just a game."

I heard in my head, "It is just as ridiculous to get caught up in the game of life. That, too, is just a game. Even if it is something like global warming. You entered a 'game of life' zone. When you see it as it really is,  you will understand why people say not to sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff.

The archivist asks Sonmi-451 if she had known the rebellion would fail. She admitted she had known it was doomed, but if she had remained invisible, the truth would have stayed hidden also. Before being executed, Sonmi-451 makes a public broadcast. The power and clarity and relevance of her words resonated in my heart as I fell asleep last night and are still with me today:

“Our lives are not our own.

From womb to tomb,

we are bound to others,

past and present.

And by each crime and every kindness,

we birth our future.

I believe there is another world waiting for us, a better one.

And I’ll be waiting for you there.”

Cloud Atlas is not an easy film to watch. It is much too violent for my taste, and it is three hours l—o—n—g. Even so, it is a film I will watch again. The story has a significant message that is relevant to our lives. It is my prayer that we all know our whole lives are about answering the call.