Empathy: The Fisher King

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot suffer with our weaknesses, but One who was tempted in all things like we are, apart from sin.

I was doing some reading the other week and came across some work by Simone Weil, the French writer and thinker. The myth of The Fisher King was central in her life mission of caring for others' pain and suffering. She carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and was broken by it, and died quite young. Love her quote: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity,”   

The Fisher King is an aged king who has a grievous wound in his thigh, incapacitating him; all he can do is sit, ice-fish fruitlessley on a frozen pond. A young knight, brash, bright, and bold, approaches the king an asks him where the Holy Grail is. The old king is silent. And the young ambitious knight leaves. Thirty years later, the young knight returns to the frozen pond where the old king is still fishing. The young knight is however no longer young. He is world weary and worn out from pursuing the Holy Grail and not finding it. As he rides up to the old king, he asks "What Ails Thee?" 

Spring comes to the land and pond, the old king catches a load of fish, his wound is healed, and he shouts that the Holy Grail is just over the hill. The moral is that empathy of others brings to us what we are searching while selfishness--despite its promise-- leads to a lack of fulfillment. Only until the once young knight sees his pain as a drawbridge to others pain rather than a moat, does he fulfill his quest.

After reading the legend of the Fisher King, I put The Fisher King movie on my Netflix. It has been years since I had seen the film. Essentially a shock-jock pushes a troubled and terribly alone man in New York City over the edge into an act of extreme violence where the loner opens fire with a shotgun at a trendy bar, blowing the brains out of Robin William's character life love, splattering her blood all over Robin Williams character's face and glasses, sending him into years of delusional madness. The shock jock also descends into a deep depression also for years where he can't escape the guilt of the tragedy that he has contributed to. The arc of the story leads to redemption for both the shock jock (Jeff Bridges) and the Robin William's character. It is a heavy film. And, has some contemporary lessons in a land where guns are more common the gum and our culture is increasingly amoral. What should be put in schools? A giant sign that states "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

Last night, I wanted a lighter comedy and after seeing a friend of mine on Facebook post a reference about the "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" I decided to download it from Netflix. The two main characters Steve Martin and John  Candy are an odd couple of sorts forced by fate to join each other on a road trip journey to home for Thanksgiving. Some truly hilarious scenes transpire with the two characters antagonizing each other. Steve Marin plays a Type-A businessman who cannot tolerate inefficiency and not getting his own way, John Candy portrays  a sloppy salesman who is jolly and easy-going. Despite the travails of the travel, both get home for Thanksgving. Or so we think. It turns out that John Candy's wife had died 8 years before and John Candy has no home to go home to. He has not indicated that before to Steve Martin's character until Martin's character returns to the train station because he senses that Candy is really alone. The story concludes with both men going to Steve Martin's characters house for a family Thanksgiving celebration. Steve Martin spends most of the film desperately trying to leave Candy's character behind and then in the end, seeks him out and invites him in. It actually is a very sweet ending scene. I had forgotten how the film ended and was emotionally jolted to tears.   

Both films show the power of empathy. Highly recommended. Film-making at is best.