ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

What makes a good parent?

Seriously, I bet there is no one single definition for a good parent.

But I think most importantly, the only parent that is right for the child are the ones who are able to give them the love they need.

Those who are completely clueless would wish that their parents give them monetary gifts and all (oh well, to a certain extend, who doesn't want money, right?) but I think the greatest thing a parent can give is love.

"I Am Sam" highlights the theme of parenting.

First of all, this is my first Sean Penn movie...can you even believe it? I haven't watch "Milk" yet but I'm thinking it'll be good.

Anyway, Sean Penn was brilliant as Sam, duh! HE DID WON AN ACADEMY AWARD FOR HIS ROLE! This is one movie that didn't let me down after all the greatness I've heard about it. Okay...I know I know...after SO MANY YEARS, I have finally watched "I Am Sam" in year 2010.

I've heard that many people cried while watching this movie. Oh well, I had my moments but it really wasn't really like all tissues and crappy mucus for me haha. Thank God!

There are 2 things I really like about the movie. First of all, of course, it is its meaningful storyline.

The movie brings to attention few things:

1. Being a good parent doesn't mean that you need to be more intelligent than your child.

So what if Sam is lower in terms of IQ and intelligence due to underdevelopment of his brains. I think most people cast mentally retarded people as generally abnormal, and thus not fit mentally to raise a kid. I mean, I wouldn't disregard the fact that in certain cases, yes, it could be dangerous to have an underdeveloped person raising a kid if he/she is really not demonstrating good parenting skills. However, perhaps there are also many cases in which mentally underdeveloped people, with the necessary training, are also able to be caring and good parents, but they are just not given the opportunities to learn to be parents.

There was a part in the movie in which the 'shrink' quoted that Sam is unfit to be a good parent because he feels that he did a lot of mistakes and that he feel lost and clueless. I love how Michelle Pfeiffer's countered that statement.

She brought in the fact that even as normal parents, they feel at certain points in life that mistakes were made with regards to the children's welfare and well-being. If a "normal" human feel that pressure, why ain't it normal for someone with lower mental capabilities to also feel the same.

2. All you need in order to be a good parent is the ability to teach your child good values and of course, provide the love and care a child needs.

3. Normal or if you are slower in terms of mental development, we all have our problems and challenges in life - so we are in many ways no different than one another.

Everyone has problems no matter how perfect or flawless they seem. That much is true I guess. I mean, there's this Chinese saying that has a similar meaning to "the grass is always greener on the other side"...and if the Chinese proverb is directly translated to English, it'll be "You see me good, I see you good". Lolx...

I believe that is very true and I guess in many ways we should never try to condescend other people's problem by thinking that their problem is not as big as ours or etc. Oh well, it's not that I can do so myself, there were many times I really can't understand other people who seem to make a huge deal out of the smallest problems. Oh well, I really try my best to think from their perspective (TRY MY BEST) but sometimes we will never know what others feel unless we are in their shoes.

In "I Am Sam", Sam feels that his lawyer, Rita (portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer) is perfect but the truth is she is suffering from the pain of a broken family. She loves her son but she doesn't know how to show it.

So what is seemingly a successful career woman on the outside, who portrays so much confidence is actually so lonely and sad on the inside, with her own sets of problems as well as weaknesses.

Sam, who feels useless and has lower self-esteem is actually admired by Rita for his ability to be so closed to his daughter and the fact that he is his daughter's best friend.

The next best thing about this movie is the use of the Beatles songs as soundtrack and how all the lyrics from the songs are incorporated into the story. Very nice.

So needless to say, "I Am Sam" is a must-watched, heart-warming film suitable for all ages.

TC-My Ratings:

With Lotsa Love,

TammyC