Bridge To Terabithia (2007) is a Disney movie. It tells the story of young outcasts. Plus, it teaches us about the value of imagination.
In this movie, Jesse, played by Josh Hutcherson, is an outcast. At home, he’s the black sheep of the family. At school, he’s the object of bullies. Meanwhile, Jesse has a poor relationship with his father.
Throughout this flick, we learn things about Jesse. He’s an artist. Also, he likes to run. Moreover, Jesse seems to be withdrawn. We get to know Jesse in this movie.
Additionally, Leslie, played by AnnaSophia Robb, is another outcast in the movie. Leslie has just moved into town, and she’s next door neighbors to Jesse. Further, Leslie’s considered an outcast at school like Jesse.
As the movie continues, we learn Leslie is an aspiring writer. For a class assignment, she writes a really good story called “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus,” which garners respect from her teacher. However, later, classmates tease her about writing; also, Leslie gets teased for not having a television.
The audience learns Leslie’s family isn’t close. Her parents are busy fiction writers, and her family hardly spends time together. Occasionally, her parents come out of their writing quarters. For the most part, Leslie is alone.
Interestingly, the abandoned car scene caught my attention. In this scene, Leslie tells us, ‘They[car passengers] got so close to the kingdom…That’s the sound of prisoners rattling their chains. The prisoners of the dark master.’ In my opinion, this scene sounds like a biblical message.
Also, I liked the church and truck scene. In this scene, after an afternoon at church, Mable tells Leslie in the truck, ‘You got to believe in the bible, Leslie, because if you don’t believe in the bible, God will damn you to hell when you die.’ However, Leslie responds, ‘You have to believe it, and you hate it. I don’t have to believe it, and I think it’s beautiful. I seriously do not think God goes around damning people to hell. He’s too busy writing all of this[nature]!’ I thought this scene was interesting, since the hellfire doctrine has been discontinued in some faiths.
Another thing: I liked the class music hour scene. Here, the class plays instruments and sing ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends,’ which has lyrics opposite of what you think about the song. This, too, is the scene where Jesse falls for his teacher.
Notably, all the girls seem to beat boys in this movie. Leslie beats Jesse in a race. Mable, Jesse’s younger sister, is the favorite child. Janice Avery, the school bully, rules the school boys. Girls dominate in this movie.
While Jesse is off on a weekend school trip to the science museum with his teacher, Leslies drowns in a creek. See, Leslie was trying to get to the play fort in the forest. However, as she swung across the creek, the swing broke and she hit her head and drowned.
After this scene, I had a strange idea when Leslie died. What if Leslie didn’t accidentally die. What if she killed herself. Maybe, she got tired of having no friends, being an outsider, and absent parents. Anyways, it was just a thought.
Aside, a funny thing about imagination: If you keep think about something, it might come true. This is the case with good and bad. That being said, imagination can be a blessing or curse.
Further, the movie talks about an open mind. It tells people to keep an open mind. However, bad things can enter open minds, which might not be good.
In my opinion, this movie is about imagination. Specifically, imagination can be used to deal with the loss of friends. Also, imagination can be used to deal with death. Imagination can help us cope with hardships. This movie demonstrates the power of imagination.
In summary, I liked this movie for various reasons. First, it shows outcasts can be friends. Second, we can pull through the death of friends. Finally, we can use our imagination to help us continue.