Over the Holidays, I saw a magical movie called, “The Shape of Water” by Guillermo del Toro. He wrote and directed the movie about a time many may not remember, the 1960s. The Cold War was in full bloom. Homophobia was very active and Civil Rights were no where to be found. But what makes this movie so magical is that it is about an amphibian man found in Brazil and brought to the U.S. by the Secret Service and FBI. The commander of the rescue, a villainous, prejudiced man, brings the creature back to the states to be used as an “asset” that could be sent in rockets for exploration into the universe. Cruel tests are run on the “water man” and he is kept in a tank at an underground testing center.
Along comes our heroine. A night-shift maid at the facility that is a mute. She was an orphan left at a doorstep as a baby with her vocal cords cut. She feels less than human herself, and is only friendly with a co-worker and a gay man who she shares her flat with.
She plays music to the water-man and even brings him boiled eggs for lunch. She feels his equal in this crazy world of being invisible and unwanted.
What no reviewer or movie critic has focused on is what I saw immediately. The water-man is so much more than an earth-bound creature. First of all, he has talents that add tremendously to the outcome of the story. No one mentions that. I compare his intelligence and his abilities to a being that perhaps did not originate from Earth.
Many of my clients tell me they just don’t feel like they fit in on Earth. In sessions, we discover their souls are not originally from Earth. They may have had several lives elsewhere, and are now experiencing Earth lives. They are having a hard time making the transition when they catch up with me for a session. These light-beings feel misunderstood and outcast much of the time in our society. Much as this amphibian man felt, at best, and the maid, for sure.
The maid befriends him on her breaks and they seem to understand each other without ever speaking. The two use sign language and the universal language, music, to communicate.
Meanwhile, Russia is a constant threat in the movie to steal this “asset” for their own reasons. The feeling of this Cold War has so many similarities to our government interactions with Russia today, that you can’t help but remember that time in the ’60s when we, as kids, would have school drills for atomic bombs that might go off any time. Sound familiar?
I won’t tell you the ending, but it’s magical, beautiful, and brings the serious plot to a higher level of consciousness for some of us that were viewing it. I believe that all directors and writers of movies today in this very changing world are given some of these “ideas” by their higher consciousness and, Oh Yes, More Advanced Beings, to help Earth advance more quickly.
See for yourself, this movie in its shaded, dull coloring and using of the color Green in almost every scene, is heartwarming throughout. Though very different, the theme reminds me of my favorite movie of all time, Avatar. First of all, del Toro chooses to put green in almost every scene. This is the color of the heart chakra which means heart, love, and tenderness in all that it expresses. Avatar is a movie all about the heart and “I See You.” Avatar is a movie about a civilization on planet Pandora of loving creatures, until the dark, sinister humans from Earth come to conquer it. Sound familiar? The Heart is the real heroine of “The Shape of Water.”
But the tail about love for another being always trumps sinister.
Love can conquer all the evil we see before us. This movie gives you hope and faith that this can still happen for us on Earth. Don’t let the sinister feeling you get sometimes from the events you see on the news drag down your heart. Just make that heart stronger by reaching out to others anytime you can. It Can Change Everything!!
Just remember to Lean in, breathe through the Turns and be Brave. Good Advice when Skiing, but it Applies to Much More….
Love and light to you, Lee
