Reactions to "The Man Who Planted Trees"

[sonia]

amaebi and asakiyume recommended the 30 minute animated movie "The Man Who Planted Trees" to me, in reference to the power of labors of love. The animated art is great, and I agree that individual efforts can make a big difference. At the same time, I was uncomfortable with some of the underlying messaging. I don't want to harsh their squee, so I'm responding in my own space.

As someone who lives alone and runs a business alone, I'm uncomfortable with the explicit message that this man re-forested a whole valley alone without needing support from anyone. Where did he get his seeds? Where did he learn about each tree and what it needs to grow? Where did he get the iron staff that he used to dig holes? Even living as a hermit, it took a network of support to enable his work.

There is also explicit mention that he must have had some bulwark against despair, must have wrestled with his demons and won. If this were a true story, I would be very curious about the details. Since it is fiction, the author can mention that and move on. I think this is the crux of the story. We could all accomplish great things alone if we did not need emotional support, encouragement, commiseration, and celebration. I think it is disingenuous to handwave that missing piece.

I was surprised that the narrator of the story doesn't offer more material and emotional support for the project. I fully expected him to help with planting while he's there, at least. He remains a passive witness, except for enlisting a forestry official as an ally at one point.

At the end, I was uncomfortable with the explicit whiteness and goodness of the restored valley's new residents, in contrast with the misery, murders, and suicides of the few residents when it was barren, who are depicted with darker colors. No people of color to settle a beautiful valley in the Provençal Alps at all?


I suspect this is a Christian allegory in conversation with texts I'm unfamiliar with.

Comments

[asakiyume]

No worries ever about harshing my squee! I agree with everything you said. The hermit is more like a force of nature that the narrator reacts to and is impressed by than an actual person, and that's a weakness in storytelling. I think you're right that it's more a representation of what's possible with dedicated, constant effort than a realistic portrayal of what it takes to truly make a change of this scale. None of us live lives totally on our own; we *are* always involved in networks.

And the whiteness is a problem too. At the time I watched the film, I was blithely ignorant of my comfortable place in a white supremacist society, but since then, I've had my eyes opened. I haven't seen the film since then, but I expect it would hit me the way it hits you, because I'm always noticing (and feeling depressed or angry about) all-whiteness in pictures, ads, films, what-have-you.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughtful reaction!

[asakiyume]

...And I realize that this may seem contradictory:

I think you're right that it's more a representation of what's possible with dedicated, constant effort than a realistic portrayal of what it takes to truly make a change of this scale.

What I mean is: he's like a symbol of the power of effort. Effort--personal effort--can accomplish a lot. BUT, if you do examine any one person's personal effort, there's always support and a network in there somehow, even if the person is living alone, etc.

[sonia]

Glad to hear that harshing wasn't an issue! "Force of nature" sounds right. I wonder if he's a metaphor for Nature, or God, even though it's explicitly said, "Look, a man did this, not God." And yes, dedicated effort and support both.

Yeah, I didn't notice all-whiteness in the past, either. Good to notice progress in awareness...