Getting a lift Up

Matthew Rettino

March, 2010

At their second annual intergenerational evening February 13, the youth of St. Luke’s Parish in Dollard des Ormeaux watched the movie Up with older members of the congregation and discussed the movie and life.

“It was interesting to see what Grandma had to say,” said Kim Macaulay, 17.

Up is a Disney-Pixar production about a senior, Carl, who is accompanied by energetic Boy Scout Russell on an adventure in a flying house powered by helium balloons. Carl makes a promise to his late wife, Ellie, to take their house to Paradise Falls in South America, a journey he makes, unwillingly at first, with Russell. His solemn vow conflicts with Russell’s attachment to an endangered bird, Kevin, who needs to backtrack to feed her babies.

There is one scene in which Carl empties the furniture from his house to make it fly again after some of the balloons pop. Letting go of the past, he is able to save Russell and Kevin from mortal peril. “I could see the relation between Carl emptying furniture and unloading some of the baggage of his past,” said Gerry Meuris, who attended the evening. “Once he got rid of it, he became a different man.”

“In life, we can only take things as they arrive,” said Kim about the same scene. “Sometimes it’s hard not to give up.”

“I think we tend to underestimate the youth,” Gerry added. “We assume they’re young and that they’re preoccupied with movies and other stuff, that they don’t have a heart. I think the youth here are exceptional.

“I could relate to Carl. My ambition as a teenager was to go to South America and take a boat up the Amazon.”