Me, Me, Me…

In the classic movie Hook, Captain Hook thrives on despair. He hates. He wants others to hate as well. But Maggie, Peter Pan's sister refuses to buy into his worldview. Her brother Jack, already brimming with resentment is a big easier to trick. Here's some of my favorite lines from the movie:

Captain Hook : You, the cute little urchin in the front row, won't you share your thoughts with the whole class?

Maggie : Yes! I said mommy reads to us every night, because she LOVES us very much!

Captain Hook : Loves you? Isn't that the, uh, the...

Smee : The 'L' word, Captain.

Captain Hook : Ooh, yes!

[grimly chuckles] 

Captain Hook : No, child, Your mother wants to read to you every night in order to stupefy you to sleep, so that she and daddy could sit down for three measly minutes without you. And your mindless, inexhaustible, unstoppable, repetitive, and nagging demands: He took my toy! She hit my bear! I want a party! I want a cookie! I want to stay up! I want, I want, I want, me, me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, mine, now, now, now, now!

[inhales deeply] 

Captain Hook : Can't you understand, child? They tell you stories to

shut you up.

Smee : And conk you out.

Maggie : That's not true, Jack!

[to Hook] 

Maggie : You're a liar!

Captain Hook : [laughs]  Lie? Me? Never.

[inhales deeply again] 

Captain Hook : The TRUTH is far too much fun.

I think the world looks an awful lot like Captain Hook's world right now, filled with folks trying to convince other folks that they are unlovely or unloved, trying to turn friend against friend, family members against one another. The illusion of an ugly truth is indeed far more fun to spin than living with the complicated, plodding, big T truth of who we really are - people who are capable of reading endless bedtime stories, even when we are tired; people who respond to both the wants and needs of children especially when it is difficult and inconvenient. Why? Because we love them.

So, yes, Captain Hook, the truth is far better although I would argue it is not always fun. You just do not happen speak it.