The Renegade Doc Comments

A couple of nights ago the family watched “An Officer and a Gentleman,” the 1982 film directed by Taylor Hackford starring Richard Gere (Zack) and Debra Winger (Paula).  My wife and I had seen it years ago but our son had not seen it.

This film would not have been “allowed” in my earlier days because it depicted too much skin, sexual behavior and intent, and had some rough language.

However, it also depicted some themes, issues and behaviors that make it a very worthwhile film to watch and ponder.

Some of those themes included:

Father issues.
Zack’s father was the absolute worst excuse for a father anyone could imagine.  Selfish, self-destructive, philanderer, immoral, totally uncaring about his son, criticizing and minimizing him at every turn.  When Zack pulled himself out of the pit in which he was raised and actually became the officer, his Dad could not pull himself away from himself and his hedonism long enough to show up and appreciate Zack or the moment.

Paula’s real father was an officer candidate who just used the local girls for their own pleasure, then returned to their “real life,” leaving behind broken hearts and broken lives.  She was following in her mother’s footsteps, looking for love in a man’s arms, disconnected from her family and her stepfather.

Zack’s friend, Sid (David Keith) had a father who expected him to be something he wasn’t, to carry on some family tradition of military heroism at all costs.  Just another form of selfishness that looked respectable, but was even harder for the son to overcome than Zack’s obviously wicked role model.

Self awareness/Self worth issues.
Each of the officer candidates had dreams and aspirations.  It took the drill instructor, Foley (Louis Gossett, Jr.) to be the “psychologist” to point out to them their dreams were not based on reality and they were not being with themselves.  The female candidate was lacking love from her father (that issue again) and had to prove to herself and the world that she could compete and perform with the big boys.

Zack finally realized that his bid to become an officer was the only “home” he had, that being a sailor was the only thing that gave him meaning.

Tragically, Sid finally realized that his whole purpose in life was to be his brother and his father’s “wish-fulfiller,” that he had no life of his own.  When he finally decided to do something about it and be himself, he could not deal with the disappointment that he faced when his dreams didn’t work out.

Rescuing the Beauty
Both Paula and Lynette were looking for a way out of a dead-end job and a culture that had trapped their families and communities for years.  The women of the community would give themselves and their bodies to young men coming through the Navy base for 13 weeks in hopes that by trickery or luck they might get a ticket out.

The contrast between the two of them, however, has some interesting insight.  Lynette was the typical local female.  She knew what she wanted and how she wanted it.  She wanted a PILOT, a ticket OUT, not a MAN TO LOVE her.  Paula, on the other hand, was not so engaged in the process of leaving, but was focused on the MAN who paid attention to her, who at first acted like he cared about her.  Though she had to struggle with the idea, she could let go of the ticket and just interact with the man, encouraging him and challenging him to grow and be honest with himself.  Even when he spurned her, she was able to maintain a watchful and hopeful attitude.  She could literally and figuratively get on the back of his motorcycle and let him control things.

The result was just as different.  When both men came to rescue their beauty, the controlling one refused and was still caught up in her dreams and control.  The letting go one got whisked away to a new life and with the man who came to love and care for her.

I can’t help to think “Christians” in the church today relate to Yeshua more like Lynette to Sid than Paula to Zach.  Caught up in the process, looking for a ticket out, the way we want it, instead of letting go and riding on the back of the motorcycle and whatever that brings.

Character issues
Zach was a loner.  Hurt, abandoned by his mother who committed suicide, rejected by his father who taught him how to be immoral but not how to care about anything or anybody.  Now he is in a group of people who need to learn how to live as a team, how to give up their own special needs and help others make it.  From the conniving, self-absorbed overachiever, he learned to be the team player, forgoing the obstacle course record to help the female over the wall.  But it didn’t come easy.  It took being found out for what he really was and losing his friend to break through the shell of aloofness he had built to protect his battered heart.  It also took Foley getting his face and not letting him get by with his crap.

Paula was also instrumental in the transformation, not letting him get by with lying to himself about how much it no longer hurt that he was so abandoned and rejected.

The most profound line in the whole film was when he finally admitted, out loud, “I don’t want you to love me!”

Sexual issues
Men and women alike were looking for love and fulfillment, and were doing so through sexual activity, primarily.  This points out how powerful this drive, this energy is.  I postulate that sexual energy is the Life Force of which the Eastern world speaks when they use the word “Chi” or “Prana.”  This is what God had in mind when he created the planet.  ”It is not good for a man to dwell alone.”  This is why Yeshua came to suffer and die, to restore for himself a Bride and no matter how much the church tries to spiritualize it, pure and simple that is the intimacy depicted in what we call sex.

I like that the film did not hesitate to walk into the sexual issues, though it also pointed out the pitfalls that come when sexuality is handled wrongly and selfishly.

As persons and as a culture we need to grow to the point that we can use the sexual energy within each of us in productive and creative ways and not just in sexually behaving ways that get us into trouble.

One could no doubt go on and pick out even more themes, like how much Foley really cared about the candidates though could not/would not show it, or how fear paralyzes, or how goals and dreams are important.  But I have rambled long enough.  Take an evening off and revisit an older but worthwhile film experience.

Blessings,

Dr Jon

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