Places in the Heart

I was trying to figure out what “Places in the Heart” was trying to tell me while watching it and couldn’t seem to work it out. I didn’t really care too much about the characters for some reason. It wasn't until the very end of the movie when I put all the pieces together and figured it out. They were normal people fighting for survival in a land that kept pushing them back down. A widowed mother of two, a black drifter, and a blind man all try to work together for mutual benefit against a town that has done nothing for them except set up road blocks. Even though they had it all going against them they fought hard against the establishment and won.

After all they had worked for they had won. They finished on time and ahead of everyone else. However that didn’t seem to be the climax because there wasn’t a drastic build up of music, there wasn’t a crying scene, there wasn’t jumping and shouting and whooping into the air, it just passed us by like it didn’t mean anything. Then the real meaning of this story was revealed.

Throughout this story, people without the normal requirements or experience were put into situations that should have eaten them alive and spat them back out. Under normal circumstances everything should have been taken from them but in this case, Edna Spalding (Sally Field) fought. She had no one in her corner and all of the odds against her. There was no hope for her survival until Moze (Danny Glover) shows up and begins to help her farm cotton off her land. Then Mr. Will (John Malkovich), a quiet and moody blind man comes in to lend whatever talents he can. None of them are the type of person you would want to pick first for your kickball team. In spite of that for some reason they made a perfect team together. This is a story of seemingly worthless people who are able to overcome their social boundaries and expectations to break out of their limitations.

They all had their own problems they had to deal with. Edna had to overcome the death of her husband and face the predicament of raising her two children without having any sort of income. She had to find a way to make money and keep her family together. Moze had to somehow overcome the flood of racism in a small Texas town and find a job. He had to prove himself, not only to Edna, but to the rest of the town as well who was watching them, just waiting for them to screw up. Finally Mr. Will comes and has to overcome his own battles with blindness as well as finding his place in a world where a man’s importance is tied to his usefulness. They all had to face their struggles face on. They weren’t just going to sit by and let the world roll over them without putting up some kind of fight. This movie wasn’t about getting the cotton, or surviving the twister, or saving her husband, it was facing the challenges that life hands you and never running away. It was about leaning on others and trusting in them when no one else will.

Do not fear and do not doubt. Man is capable of terrible and amazing things. The ones who can actually stand up for what is right and fight no matter what the statistics tell you, will eventually win in the end. It’s all about faith in yourself and trusting in others. People are never as weak as they seem.