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family entertainment

Team Marco – Life Is Delicioso

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“Life is delicioso; you just have to bite it.”

Team Marco, from director Julio Vincent Gambuto, is a story about generations learning from each other. It asks us to look up from our screens to see the world, and more importantly, the people around us. It also reminds us to cherish the love that fills our lives.

Middle-schooler Marco’s (Owen Vaccaro) plan for the summer is to reach Level 100 in a particular video game. His absent father has promised that if he makes Level 100, he will take him to a big video game expo. But that plan hits a road bump when his grandfather Nonno (Anthony Patellis) nearly burns down his home and moves in with Marco and his mother Anna (Anastasia Ganias). When camp for Marco falls through, Anna talks a reluctant Marco into babysitting his grandfather and talks a reluctant Nonno into babysitting his grandson.

It’s a difficult start. Nonno doesn’t understand the fascination Marco has with his game. Marco is resentful that Nonno has taken over his room. Nonno forces Marco away from his screen and takes him to the bocce ball court where Nonno and his cohort of older men play every day. In time, Marco begins to become attracted to bocce. In a bet to get control of his life, Marco recruits some others his age to form a bocce team.

The film is not so much about knocking screens and virtual entertainment as it is about the value of real connections. Marco, through his video game, has virtual connections with people in many countries. But those relationships do not carry the kind of love that Nonno has with his friends—and Marco begins to find with his new friends.

There is a bit of crossover, though. Much of the time playing his video game, Marco plays wearing a VR headset. There he sees the game in a new way. When Nonno tries to teach Marco bocce, at one point he blindfolds him. He is told to see the game in his head before he tries to do it with his body.

My favorite scene is when Marco’s team meets the older team. Nonno’s friends are all older Italian men. Marco’s team is boys and girls, and different ethnicities. The younger team tells the older bunch that their advantage is their diversity and the ability to build networks that expand their horizons. It serves as a reminder that those kinds of connections that Marco had with his online game are not without value. But we know that the connection Marco has with his new friends, and with Nonno and his friends, is special.

The film teaches that we make choices that may expand our worlds. We may find our insular lives satisfactory, but there are other things that can bring new knowledge and joys.

Team Marco is available on VOD.

Photos courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Dumbo – Celebrating Our Flaws

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Dumbo is the latest Disney animated classic to be remade as a live action film. The original, a 64-minute feature film from 1941, can be visually identified by most people, but I wonder how many have actually seen it in its brief entirety. Now the story comes back to life in an expanded adaptation under the direction of Tim Burton—a master in telling stories about outsiders. And outsiders abound in this new version.

Like the original, the plot revolves around a baby elephant with amazingly large ears that enable it to fly with the help of a feather. And as in the original, the baby’s mother is locked away as a “mad elephant” after protecting her child, leaving the baby alone in the world. Unlike the original, there are no talking animals in this retelling. No crows (which in the original were something of a black-face minstrel show) or Timothy Q. Mouse, Dumbo’s mentor.

Instead, the remake builds a human story around Dumbo. The story is set in 1919, right after the end of World War I. A run-down circus, presided over by Max Medici (Danny DeVito) is setting off on a new season. Two children, Milly and Joe Farrier (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins) have lost their mother to the flu. When their father Holt (Collin Farrell) returns from the war, he has lost an arm. He can no longer do the riding and roping that was his act. He is relegated to caring for the animals, which brings him into contact with Dumbo. (Actually, the animal’s name is Jumbo Jr., but because of his freakish ears, people yell Dumbo instead of Jumbo.) When another trainer is cruel to Mrs. Jumbo, Dumbo’s mother, she attacks him and ends up (as in the original) locked away. Meanwhile, Milly and Joe take care of the baby and discover that his ears give him the ability to fly.

Already we can see that the film is about families struggling with brokenness. Mrs. Jumbo and Dumbo are separated. (The film includes its version of the sorrowful nighttime visit of Dumbo to his mother with the song “Baby Mine” from the original.) The Farrier family is without a mother, and Holt is without an arm. And the circus as a whole serves as a family, but one going through very hard economic times. Each version of family is in need of healing, acceptance, and a future.

When word of a flying elephant gets out, it attracts the attention of V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton) a slick promoter with arm decoration Collette Marchant (Eva Green) who swoops in to buy up the circus. He offers Max the vision of the big time, and the chance to take care of all his people—his family. He plans to bring Dumbo and the others to his new extravaganza park, Dreamland, where he will use the act to leverage new loans from banker J. Griffin Remington (Alan Arkin).

I found the vision of Dreamland interestingly similar to Disneyland, which seems like a small nip at the hand that feeds, given that Dreamland turns into a nightmare for everyone we care about in the film.

Getting back to the common Tim Burton theme of outsiders, each of the main characters fits such a category. Dumbo with his grotesque ears, Holt as a rider/roper with only one arm, Milly, a girl who wants to be a scientist, Joe, who loves the circus but is talentless, the whole range of strange circus performers, and Collette, a talented aerialist, who Vandevere treats as a toy. By making the physical or emotional flaws of each character so obvious, it ironically allows us to get beyond the surface to emotionally bond with each as they struggle for acceptance and search for happiness. That is one of the gifts that Burton brings to many of his films. He reminds us that humanity is not about perfection, but about the way all those flaws are what make us human.

I’ve been critical of Disney’s remaking animated classics as live action films. As with any endeavor, some will be better than others. My first reaction to the news that Dumbo was being remade was negative. After all, those animated classics were beloved because they told human stories in ways that touched us. However, Burton, screenwriter Ehren Kruger, and everyone else involved created a new depth to the story and all its emotional touch points. It becomes more than a story of separation and reunion. It is a story about the healing and enabling power of family. It is not about overcoming our flaws, but about making those flaws work for us and allowing us to soar.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

When Pop Culture and Politics Come Together

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At the Variety PURPOSE Family Entertainment and Faith-Based Summit, one of the panels of industry people discussed “Creative Trendsetters”. That panel, moderated by Malina Saval of Variety, included Reza Aslan, Producer of Believer, Of Kings and Prophets, and The Leftovers; DeVon Franklin, Producer of Miracle from Heaven and The Star; Arturo Navarro of Echo Park Films who is involved with an upcoming film From Heaven: Fatima’s Secret; Joan Scheckel, Producer of Transparent; and Jennie Snyder Urman, Creator and Executive Producer of Jane the Virgin. After each discussed bits of the creative process involved in their projects the discussion drifted into the role that the current political situation affected the products.

purpose summit

Malina Saval: There’s so much going on in politics today, as you know. The last two weeks [during the political conventions] have been tumultuous and interesting, riveting at times and upsetting at other times. Does the current political climate influence at all what you cover in terms of faith-based content?

Arturo Navarro: That’s a great question. When I think about Fatima, these are timely spiritual prescriptions. Particularly what we’ve been through the last couple weeks.

DeVon Franklin: That is a really good question. For me, it’s that what I see is that there’s a narrative of division, no matter what. Diverse groups pitted against one another, when in reality, the day to day existence that we live, we don’t necessarily live that way. But when we turn on the news or we turn on the TV or go on the internet, it’s like “Oh, wait! There is chaos.” So I think there is opportunity to make content that authentically portrays our day to day experience which is—this room is as diverse as it gets—of all walks, of all faiths, of all races, of all genders, of all persuasions—and we’re here and we’re communing and we’re having a great time, and we’re not even thinking about it. I think that’s the real America out there. And I think the more we can make content that speaks to the light that is in the world, the peace that’s in the world. I think the political climate actually gives us a great opportunity for content like that, to cut right through. Because the wide majority of us want peace, want unity, want family, we want faith, we want to believe that there’s more than we can see. The chaos that’s being portrayed has really given us new opportunity.

Joan Scheckel: To speak further to that, the issue is feeling. How can we connect the country unless we talk about it in a real way, unless we address the hate in a real way, unless we address envy, unless we address the core feelings that are dividing us? Story does that. Story is a safe context for feelings. It’s a way to bring it up between different characters and have them get in the mix, get in the ring with one another, where there is a little bit of remove and you can feel it. You can empathize with it. You can see how there’s no better or worse, there’s just the multiplicity of feelings. That’s not getting addressed in politics. But it can receive a better treatment in story.

Malina Saval: So just to take an example, how can a show like Jane the Virgin, a really relevant piece of pop culture today, how can that help bridge some of the divides that are in our society?

Jennie Snyder Urman: We try really hard to personalize the political. Our show advocates for immigration reform and our characters believe in that. Sometimes we never give characters a point of view because you’re afraid of offending anyone. Abuela is somebody some people want to get out of the country. Who is going to watch our show and want to deport Abuela? You’re rooting for them and if you make the political personal and have faces, you show this family has fear and has success and struggle. She’s a faithful woman. She really believes in God. She’s also undocumented and wants to do something about it. A point of view doesn’t have to divide us. As you’re saying, it gives you the space to have that conversation. You feel the pain. You feel compassion. What you do after is up to you. I think there’s always a point of view of the creator—always, always, always. So why not make it just a little more explicit.

Malina Saval: You talked about how pop culture right now is probably the best way that we can get through to people. When you’re saying “most people want peace, most people want unity”, right now I’m not feeling that that’s true 100 percent. But I hope that people do feel that way. But from your experience and your expertise how can pop culture create an atmosphere where people really get a sense of the contectivity and peace.

Reza Aslan: I think we’re sometimes under the mistaken impression that bigotry is the result of ignorance—particularly in sort of liberal, progressive, intelligent crowds. People think, “Well, if you’re a racist or a bigot, it’s just because you don’t know. If we just give you knowledge then you’ll stop being such a a racist and a bigot.” That’s not how it works. Bigotry is not the result of ignorance. It’s the result of fear. And fear is impervious to data. It doesn’t matter how many times you try to debunk a particular stereotype, if you can’t address the fear then that bigotry will always be there. So the only way to actually address fear, the only way to take away fear, is through relationship. It would be great if you could just meet each other and knock on each other’s door and say, “Hi, I’m Christian.” “I’m Muslim.” “Hi. I’m gay.” “I’m straight.” But that’s not how it works. So all we have is pop culture. All we have is television. In this country it’s not our politicians that have changed our society, it’s Hollywood that’s changed our society. Remember when the Vice President expressed his support for same sex marriage and was asked why it was there was such a giant pendulum swing in views about the LGBT community? What did he say? Remember? [From audience: Will and Grace.] Will and Grace, that’s what he said. He said because of Will and Grace. Everyone laughed and said, “Oh my gosh, there’s Joe Biden again.” He’s right. He’s 100 percent correct. It was television that changed the minds of Americans about gays and lesbians. It’s television that has changed the minds of people about the trans community. Not our politicians. They’re just catching up.

Malina Saval: I just think a lot of times Hollywood is not necessarily a microcosm for the rest of the world. A lot of time the people making entertainment and writing have a different mindset that let’s say, I’m not picking on someone in any particular state, but say Peoria, Illinois, or some small place in Kansas. Sometimes it is different. And I think if you see something on TV before you know about it or believe in it, I think it can effect positive change.

Reza Aslan: That person in that small town, the only gay person that he knows, the only Muslim he knows, the only Jew he knows is the one that he sees on television. That’s it. That’s an enormous responsibility for us. Because we’re not just making entertainment. We’re not just telling a story. We’re trying to reframe the perception that people have in this country towards the other.