"BIG"

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4)

At the outset, I’m going to tell you “point blank” that this posting may “come back to bite me”.  It’s likely it will confuse some folks.  It COULD even upset a few people.  I expect at least 25% of those who’ll read it to disagree with what I write here and to not like this posting.  I also expect about 30% of those who read this and who THINK they understand it to in fact NOT understand it at all.  With that disclaimer in mind- if you’re “game”, then keep reading!

On weekends, one of Boston’s PBS television stations (we MAY be the only T.V. market in America that has two PBS television stations!) ran the Tom Hanks film, “Big” with no commercial interruptions. I was glued to it.  I LOVE “Big”!  It’s not my absolute favorite film, but it IS in my top ten.  (My top film is “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner.)  I know that a lot of strict born-again Christians would have a lot of problems and disagreements with each film.  (That’s the kind of thing that drives my 24-year-old son crazy! Jon happens to be an avid film buff AND a committed Christian, and he can’t understand why so many committed evangelicals find that an impossibility!)  We DO need to “lighten up” at times!  These ARE fantasy films which are NOT meant to be taken literally any more than is, “The Wizard of Oz”, and YES I know that some born-again Christian hate THAT film!  In “Big” I don’t like some of the language.  The “F” word is used at least once.  (To my surprise, PBS bleeped that- PBS usually lets ALL language go.)  There are several uses of “G.D.” which PBS did NOT bleep and I find “G.D.” more offensive than “F”.  There are also several other choice words in “Big”.  Had it been up to ME when the film was made, I’d have eliminated all profanities, but you’ve got to understand I actually cannot tell you the last time I uttered a profanity- it was many years ago.  There is pre-marital sex in “Big” - almost nothing is actually shown, but in the film, pre-marital sex is O.K., and I’m well aware that in God’s eyes, it’s NOT O.K.  I also realize that in “Big”, the twelve-year-old kid Josh wishes to be “big” in front of an occultic/demonic wishing machine that looks like something right out of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” from circa 1960.  (In SOME respects, “Big” IS like a long episode of “The Twilight Zone”.) I know most born-again Christians would prefer he’d have made his wish in front of a friendly stuffed bunny or something, but that’s not the way the film was written, and again, it’s a FANTASY, a STORY;  it’s FICTION, and not meant to be taken literally!

I’m guessing most of my readers have seen “Big”.  For the sake of any who have not seen it, a 12-year-old kid is magically changed into a 30-year-old man, and later magically changed back.  It’s NOT, however, that he’s changed into a 30-year-old man who suddenly thinks, lives, and acts like a 30-year-old man.  Instead, he’s a 12-year-old trapped in a 30-year-old man’s body.  The character Josh ends up going to work for a toy company, and just by being HIMSELF, ends up being promoted to being a Vice-President in charge of toy development. You’d have to SEE the film, and I can’t do it justice on paper, but the film is both funny and sad to watch.  What you realize as you watch it is the world would be a MUCH better place if we were all really just a bunch of 12-year-olds trapped in adult bodies instead of the sophisticated, selfish, manipulative, phonies that at least half of adults become.  Did I really mean that last statement?  Are at least half of adults sophisticated, selfish, manipulative, and phony?  In my life experience, YES.  

One of the reasons I like “Big” and I relate to Josh is that I’m a lot like him.  Back in the 1990s one fellow pastor angrily told me, “Grow UP, man!!”  I’ve faced similar rejections when I just won’t play all the stupid games that so called “grown ups” play.  Ironically, the woman who falls in love with Josh says she falls in love with him because, “He’s a GROWN UP!”  By that, she means, he’s open, and honest, and vulnerable, and genuine.  In the film, many people REJECT Josh, but a minority of people greatly love, respect, and appreciate him.

It’s interesting that Jesus did NOT tell us, “Grow UP, man!!”  Rather, he told us to become as little children!

Now, I realize that there are some NEGATIVES to this “childlike behavior” thing.  Many children TALK way too much.  They babble and babble and babble and tell EVERYBODY, EVERYTHING.  That’s very unwise.  In Matthew 10:16, Jesus DID tell us to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves”.  In the film, Josh ultimately learns to act a little more like an adult.  He stops telling everybody everything, and that helps him.  As much as I tend to be child-LIKE, I have tried to learn to not be child-ISH.  Many times in public meetings, I don’t say a whole lot.  I’ve found the Mark Twain maxim very helpful...you know, the one about, “better to be quiet and thought of as a fool than to speak and to leave no doubt about it”.  That’s TRUE.  One of my instructors at Stonehill College, (Mr. Chamberlain) said it’s always better to be quiet; that people will THINK you know more than you do when you’re quiet, and that people will be more impressed with you.  I’ve found that’s absolutely true.

This next paragraph may not “go over” with some folks, either, but somebody I’ve admired in life is Larry Glick.  I know, “Larry WHO?!”  Larry Glick retired from being a Boston area radio personality over fifteen years ago.  He is now 86 and lives in South Florida.  I’ve actually spoken to him a few times, both on the air, and in private conversations (though not lately).  Larry Glick is a very childlike guy.  Larry Glick is a “Josh” and a “Bob Baril” kind of person, and he became very successful in life by being himself.  I’m still naive enough (“childlike enough”!) to believe I will be successful in life by being MYself.  Larry Glick may be humorous and childlike, but he’s not some jerk.  Glick fought in World War 2 and was wounded in combat in France.  In the early 1960s after doing various things in radio in both the business management side of radio and the broadcasting performer side of radio, he was not too happy.  Larry Glick was inMiami, Florida doing an issues oriented talk show.  Each night, he argued politics and national issues with callers.  Glick was miserable.  He really didn’t like all the anger and arguing.  One night, he just came in and did a light, fun, and I’ll say it:  “childlike” show.  He had a blast!  He never went back to the confrontational/issues format.  In time, he was hired to return to his hometown of Boston, MA to do a show with his trademark light and entertaining format, and over a twenty-five year period of time he did just that on WMEX, WBZ, and later WHDH.  He was “real”, he was “vulnerable”, he was “childlike”, and he was happy.  The fact that he’s still alive and in reasonably good health at 86 has GOT to say something.

Yes, that character Josh in “Big”- he’s a lot like Bob Baril; or Bob Baril’s a lot like him.  And, despite what a lot of grown-ups may THINK of that, I think it’s a good thing.