Life is Beautiful

In the 1998 Oscar-winning film La Vita È Bella (Life Is Beautiful), principal protagonist Guido, an Italian Jew played by the film's director Roberto Benigni (who won a Best Actor Award for his remarkable and unforgettable performance) and his young son Giosue were arrested and taken to a concentration camp during the early years of the Second World War. As the horrors and realities of war slowly crept into the walls of the concentration camp, Guido protected his son by explaining to him that they are actually inside an elaborate game, and that in order to win Giosue must play along or he will be sent home. Giosue, innocent and perhaps convinced by the tales of Guido, played along and patiently waited for him to return after he was taken by the Nazi guards. Even up to the end, Giosue believed that the Holocaust was simply a game that he needed to win. The young boy even cheered when he saw a real tank in front of him after Italy was liberated by the Allied forces, thinking that it was his prize for staying alive. It was later that he realized that his father was no longer able to come home.

The simple message of the movie is very clear: children must be shielded from the harsh realities of our lives.

It is this message that best describes our reaction when we first heard the news about Mariannet Amper, a 12-year old girl from Davao City who committed suicide last All Souls’ Day because she had lost hope that her family would ever rise from poverty.

Although the thought of a child taking her own life disturbs our conscience, we find more disturbing the fact that for a 12-year old, she has already seen (and perhaps felt) despair and lack of hope—emotions which are unusual for a child to feel, considering her tender age.

There is only one thing that makes children the way they are—their innocence. By opening their eyes to the harshness of the society they are presently living in, we adults are virtually shattering our children’s innocence. And when we shatter their innocence, we adults are actually killing the child within them.

We adults are not in the position to control the negative things we see and feel every day. All that we are capable of doing is to veer away from such negativity and look at the more pleasant aspects of our lives. Children, however, are not capable of doing so. Unlike adults, children would accept as real everything they see. And it is what they see that makes up what they think is the kind of world they are living in.

Mariannet’s death should be a reminder to all of us that living in this world all depends upon attitude. Poverty, in whatever form and wherever it may be, is a reality. It is a part of our lives. We must think of ourselves as bearers of our own crosses. It all depends upon the one carrying it whether he will view his cross as lighter or heavier that the others. But one thing is for sure—every one has his own cross to bear.

Also, it is about time that we be reminded that there is more to our lives than hardships, bitterness and negativity. We must learn to appreciate the beautiful things in our lives, however simple or small they may be. Perhaps by reliving this simple yet almost forgotten virtue we adults may be able to pass it to our children, and they in turn would constantly remind us that life is, indeed, beautiful.

(Film summary courtesy of Yahoo! Movies)