I stumbled on my old DVD of The Princess Bride the other day. It brought back college memories of piling into beanbags and ratty couches with dorm mates to laugh about the overly dramatic scenes from the fire swamp.
While The Princess Bride is not for young children, my oldest—a middle-schooler—was having a sleepover and I couldn’t resist sharing the classic with the girls. As we snuggled on the couch with our popcorn and giggled our way through the movie, I realized there are more than a handful of life-lessons inside the story and good reminders for us as parents.
Generations are important.
When the grandfather first enters the scene, he’s portrayed as a fuddy-duddy who’s out of touch with reality. But as Grandpa steadily pursues his grandson, he stirs us to follow his example and introduce the next generation to the traditions and values of our own history.
Friendship is priceless.
Fezzik (the giant) & Inigo Montoya (the sword fighter bent on revenging his father) are best of friends and watch each other’s backs. When their employer berates Fezzik, Inigo encourages the giant’s talent for rhymes and uses it to great comic effect—“Stop this rhyming, and I mean it. Anybody want a peanut?” Fezzik later repays his friend, reviving Inigo when he’s gone off the deep end, and setting him back on his mission.
As I watched this charming friendship emerge, I wondered if I do as well modeling friendship to my kids—being aware of their hurt and encouraging them in ways meaningful to them.
Overconfidence will ALWAYS lead to failure.
There’s a difference between being confident and being Vizzini. His repeated exclamation of “Inconceivable” shows his enormous pride, which ultimately leads to his demise.
I find it interesting that Vizzini is the only person Westley kills in his quest to save Buttercup…because he never admitted the possibility that he may be wrong. Do we really want to be the obstacle everyone has to kill to get past? Maybe it’s best to be willing to be wrong on occasion and avoid poisoning all our relationships with our overbearing pride.
It isn’t over until it’s over.
In the climax of The Princess Bride, Inigo and Fezzik mount a rescue of Westley only to find him seemingly dead. But since all their plans rest with Westley, they decide to find a miracle worker.
There are times in life when the end seems to be at hand, the job is done, the relationship unsalvageable. But when I pursue a miracle, I sometimes find that things were just “mostly dead”. I can’t possibly know the ending from this side of things, and the only way that I’m assured a bad ending is when I give up.
While we’re on the subject…
Sometimes hope is all the miracle you need.
I think one of my favorite snippets in the movie is this one:
Miracle Max: “Have fun stormin’ da castle.”
Valerie: “Think it’ll work?”
Miracle Max: “It’d take a miracle.”
But because Miracle Max had given the friends hope, they found a way to succeed. And I wonder if we spent more time giving people hope, how different the world would be.
[tweetthis display_mode=”button_link”]I wonder if we spent more time giving people hope, how different the world would be.[/tweetthis]
Laughter is good medicine.
At the end of the day, we often have a choice—laugh or cry. Granted, sometimes you just need a good cry, but most times laughter will do just fine.
So while you’re out there storming the proverbial parenting castle, rescuing the fair maidens and soft pirates in your home, take a little time to brush up on your Princess Bride lessons and you might find your mission just a tad more pleasant.
Editor’s Note: Presently, there is no official Dove review of “Princess Bride.”
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