The Iron Giant

  I first heard about The Iron Giant long ago, but never got around to watching it.  Something jarred it in my memory recently, so I added it to the queue, and last night we finally watched it.  This is a great movie--it reminds me why I love movies.  At the end of it, I got that feeling of amazement, one that reminded me of the magic that is possible with movies. 

  In the movie, a giant metal robot crashes down from space one dark and stormy night.  Hogarth, the young hero, goes out in search of the mythical robot, and soon the two are inseparable friends.  What young boy doesn't want a giant talking robot?

  Needing a place to hide the giant, as well as worries about supplying enough metal to meet the giant's appetite, Hogarth hides him in the local junkyard, run by Dean.  Throughout the movie there is a government agent hot on Hogarth's trail, desperate to find (and destroy) this elusive giant.

  In this movie, the giant is a beast we do not understand.  Only towards the end do we have a view of what he is truly capable of, and yet we also see how powerful a lesson human compassion can be.  Through Hogarth and the giant we learn about death and the soul, about guns and violence, about love and friendship.  We watch the giant grow in his understanding of humanity, and it is heartbreaking as he sees the best and the worst of us.

  One thing that sticks with me about this movie is how deep our fear is of those things that we don't understand.  The government agent is desperate to kill this giant out of fear of the unknown.  Others shy away because they don't understand him.  Hogarth isn't afraid to engage the giant, and because he does so, he changes the giant.  They each learn from each other, and the deep love that develops between them is because they don't fear each other.  How the world might change if, rather than fear those things we don't understand, we made genuine efforts to engage them and serve one another in love!