Third Post

I really enjoyed the movie Pay it Forward. I agreed with the idea that we should all do good things for one another.

I looked up the phrase Pay it Forward, and it seems that it originated from banking. This seems a little odd to me, considering banking is, it seems, inherently evil. I also learned that the concept is used by some service groups that travel to cities and do community service projects in the hope that the community will pay it forward to their own members.

In the larger sense, Pay it Forward is an example of reciprocity; the act of doing something positive, and that action leading to another positive action. I believe we would all be a little better off if we could all adhere to this principle.

The movie itself was a good addition to our class. I really enjoy that we use different mediums to get the point across. This is a concept my other, lecture-based, professors need to learn from. Sometimes, when classes stick to one medium, the professors can begin to sound like this:



Fortunately, this is not one of those classes.

The movie itself was pretty good. I have seen it before, well, at least part of it. I really like the actors. Not Helen Hunt though, ever since Castaway, I cannot take her seriously. I love Kevin Spacey in it (but I loved him even more in American Beauty). The movie kept my attention and did a good job of explaining the concept of paying it forward.

I was excited to hear that the book and movie inspired people to create the Pay it Forward Foundation. This foundation aims to educate people that they can change the world. I can really buy into that concept. I feel like, when people are young, they really do want to change the world. However, as we grow older, we lose sight of the dreams we had as youth. I feel like I am in between the two stages, and I don't want to cross to the side of indifference. I feel like I can change the world a little by being a music teacher, but I'd really like to make a larger impact. I considered entering the peace corps after college, and I haven't totally written off that idea yet. I can't live my whole life without affecting some sort of change. Otherwise, I feel like my life is a waste. People ask, "What is the meaning of life?" I think the meaning of life is helping others.

Pay it Forward relates to our class because it emphasizes how we can change the world. In Soul of a Citizen, Loeb talks about how people neglect to be activists because they think it is somebody else's job. This movie invites us to believe the opposite. We can change the world, and it's not up to the larger-than-life characters.