Helping the Lost

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths." — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

On Saturday I saw a couple of movies that were incredibly challenging in considering the world. The first was "Southpaw," a boxing movie that was about so much more. It was about two central characters who navigated the foster care system together, found love, found strength in each other, and were able to make a life together.

That life was shattered, and one of those people (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) had to pull himself together to save his young daughter from being trapped in the system, too. It was an emotional and interesting depiction.

Later on Saturday, I saw "Short Term 12." It's a film about a group of adults who work as part of the system, serving as role models and figures for kids stuck in the system. Their home is supposed to be a way station before kids get to more permanent foster care homes. But in a system that's broken, the kids are often residents at the short term house for years, sometimes until they age out.

"Short Term 12" isn't a movie that had a big budget or a big marketing release, but it's a powerful story, powerfully told. The primary leaders at Short Term 12 — Grace (Brie Larson) and Mason (John Gallager, Jr.) — are products of the same broken system, giving them an insight into what these kids are going through and the drive to want to make a difference.

I loved the movie. I loved the way the characters resonated with me, the performances, and the emotional depth of the story. But more than that, what it made me think about was what a gift and what a calling it is to work with kids in these situations. So many children come from broken homes — places where they suffered neglect, abuse, or worse. And they get dumped into an overwhelmed system where they have to fight for attention while trying to fight through these issues.

I was moved, in the film, by the stories of the kids, the stories of the adults and how they helped each other navigate the world. It wasn't a film that offered easy or cheap answers, just a slice of life aimed and shining a light on an underserved segment of our population, and a great area of need.