The Church of the South Pole

The French who made the splendid, Oscar Nominated Winged Migration, have done it again, even more dramatically, with the now-playing March of the Penguins. 'Enthralling' is too mild a word given how enraptured and astounded I was last night at the movie theater.

Those penguins God bless them have lessons to teach us. Numero Uno for me happened to be that it is normal, in line with nature and God's will, that the male of the species actively engage in the sheltering and nurture of his offspring. How the male Penguin does that is so astounding that you, one, might think it was invented by Walt Disney.

During the credits at the end we are treated to inset action shots of the film crew actually shooting the movie. In some of those shots it appears the penguins were not at all afraid of the humans. Those shots, of the French crew, couldn't be used along with the credits of an American-made movie, most likely, because of union restrictions: if they are onscreen, for example, they must be paid as actors! Ha! I half agree with that.  

The tenderness, courtliness, sensuousness and love clearly visible on the screen during the penquin courtship sequences are a 'marriage manual' for us men: don't be afraid of enthrallment, slowness, waiting for the moment, solicitude, showing need, and being responsible.

Another inescapable thread throughout the magnificent script, is the role played in our lives by hardships. Somehow, I believe the movie, and Nature, is telling us, hardships must almost be welcomed, or at least not resented or taken as a punishment for evil, but bowed to with humble acceptance, and once achieved we will be rewarded by innumerable thrilling compensations. We have been offered the option of partaking in creation.

Barry