I Gotta Be Me

This morning, one of my favorite movies was on TCM, so I spent my Saturday morning snuggled up with my oldest son, who was seeing it for the first time.  The movie was Singin' In the Rain, which is, in my opinion, the greatest movie musical ever.  There is so much energy, humor and just fun in it; mixed in with great songs, dance numbers, acting, beautiful photography, snappy dialogue...everything a great musical should have.  This morning, one scene in particular struck me.  Toward the end of the film there is a long sequence usually called "the modern sequence" or "The Broadway Melody."I have to admit, that I've always found the scene interesting if not a bit out of place in the larger picture of the movie.  Today, I found it not only great, but also somehow quite profound and moving. 

It begins with Gene Kelley dressed as a poor aspiring Broadway performer, just off the bus, knocking on agents' doors singing "gotta dance!" and having door after door slammed in his face.  A bit discouraged, he heads off to a nightclub where he is enchanted by a beautiful woman (Cyd Charisse) who he seems to have won over until a scarfaced mafia don, flipping a coin (an homage to the 1932 version of Scarface), lures her away with a diamond bracelet.  The young hoofer is then ushered into a stage door where he is seen climbing the rungs of stardom.  He walks into a high class nightclub where he is now the man with the wealth and the fame.  He spies the same woman once again and thinks he will be able to win her over with his newfound station in life, but she is still attached to her mafia don and flips a coin to our hero who slinks of into the street feeling empty.  A young man just off the bus, dressed exactly as he used to, catches his eye and he is reminded of his real joy.  And begins shouting into the streets "gotta dance!"

How easily we lose ourselves.  The troubles of life, and often the successes of life, distract us from the reason we pursued our passions in the first place.  God wants us to love what we love.  He gave us joy in our gifts and talents for a very good reason:  to serve Him with them.  What joy we can find in that service!  On this fourth day of lent, remember when we lose our way that God put the dance in our hearts, and we just need to remember why it was in the first place that we "Gotta Dance!"


By the way, my son was so entranced by the movie from beginning to end that he asked before the end if we could watch it again when it was over.  The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.