A Gift From God
Gunn’s film asks thoughtful questions. He opens with an extreme close-up of Ed gazing at his newborn, while a sickly but smiling Theresa names their baby Michelle, or “gift from God.” It’s as if Gunn’s asking: What is one life worth? Here, the real-life community in Louisville answers by the mountains they move to save one life.
But, Gunn insists, new lives aren’t like snowflakes, dropping out of the sky. First, two adults, otherwise strangers, must lovingly commit to each other and to having and raising children. Before they unite as one, each is an individual: separate, distinct, exploring where and how to find meaning and purpose. Their reason dictates self-preservation and the status quo for them as single adults. It’s love and faith that nudges them to bravely step forward, taking the risks that marriage and family demand.
In the film, Stevens is estranged from her husband and adult son, partly because she turned alcoholic as a ruse to escape her suffering. She couldn’t put the energy into those relationships when and where she needed to. It’s why she admires the energy Ed has poured into his family, as a hardworking husband and father.
Gunn’s saying that, far from triggering self-pity at our fate, or contempt for those less fortunate, our human frailty must draw us to each other. An Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that Stevens goes to echoes that, urging her to find a reason to live that’s bigger than her and her problems.
But for all her kindness to them, Ed won’t tolerate displays of her addictions around his impressionable daughters whom he loves deeply; it’s why he’s prepared to risk being disliked by them if his discipline helps make them better adults. If Stevens turns off her tap of kindness, so be it.
To Gunn, single parenthood is not only sad, but undesirable. Through no fault of his, Ed’s life is incomplete without Theresa. Stevens is partly to blame for how broken she feels without her husband. Instead of pointing fingers, Gunn points to how fragile a family can be, and how treasured it must be.
Media in Action
Gunn asks other questions, too. Is the media meant to merely entertain? Or does it also have a more traditional mandate: to inform, to educate, and to influence as a force for good? Yes, tell the truth, but whose truth? To what end? It may be a seemingly trivial newspaper article that starts Stevens’s journey of selflessness. But she ends up spurring TV and radio stations to similar action, leveraging their incredible reach to fulfill her mission.The writer, whose article inspired Stevens, chose to spotlight the plight of one life among many events in Louisville, figuring that even one life deserves an entire city’s attention. The writer had faith in public goodness, and hoped that his article would inspire at least one person to act, even if others merely thought good thoughts or felt warm, fuzzy feelings.
