When our friends invited my hubby and me to the movies for New Year’s Eve, we weren’t sure we were up for the adventure. After a beautiful Christmas season, we were tired, but regardless of our weariness we agreed to go. They reserved tickets to the movie, Fences, which I had vaguely heard of. I knew Denzel Washington starred in it, but nothing more.
To be honest, I struggled with this movie. I struggled with some of the language and I struggled to like Denzel’s character, Troy. Now, I battle getting the movie out of my mind. I can’t stop thinking about the fence. Troy’s wife, Rose, wanted a fence built around their little property and throughout the movie, work is done to build it. But my aha moment came when Troy’s friend, Bono, said, “Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in”. He spoke this during a tough conversation with his friend, who refers to Rose’s desire for the fence. It seems Rose wants the fence in an effort to protect her family, while Troy has built a strong fence around his heart to keep …show more content…
As more of Troy’s life is revealed, I gained more understanding of the reason for his fence. Refusing to move on from the pain of the past, Troy built a fence around his heart to keep others out; this ultimately made it impossible for him to see beyond himself to the needs of his family. Life became a game of blame. My fence has been built from boards of rejection, criticism, betrayal and deep disappointments. Boards built out of insecurity are great at keeping others out—the problem is—God never intended for me to live behind a fence of fear. Unfortunately, many of us do. It’s easy to use blame to justify our need for the fence we put up; it’s important to protect our hearts from the possibility of another infliction of pain. But we miss so much when we live behind a fence of fear and there’s very little life behind the fence of control and
To be honest, I struggled with this movie. I struggled with some of the language and I struggled to like Denzel’s character, Troy. Now, I battle getting the movie out of my mind. I can’t stop thinking about the fence. Troy’s wife, Rose, wanted a fence built around their little property and throughout the movie, work is done to build it. But my aha moment came when Troy’s friend, Bono, said, “Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in”. He spoke this during a tough conversation with his friend, who refers to Rose’s desire for the fence. It seems Rose wants the fence in an effort to protect her family, while Troy has built a strong fence around his heart to keep …show more content…
As more of Troy’s life is revealed, I gained more understanding of the reason for his fence. Refusing to move on from the pain of the past, Troy built a fence around his heart to keep others out; this ultimately made it impossible for him to see beyond himself to the needs of his family. Life became a game of blame. My fence has been built from boards of rejection, criticism, betrayal and deep disappointments. Boards built out of insecurity are great at keeping others out—the problem is—God never intended for me to live behind a fence of fear. Unfortunately, many of us do. It’s easy to use blame to justify our need for the fence we put up; it’s important to protect our hearts from the possibility of another infliction of pain. But we miss so much when we live behind a fence of fear and there’s very little life behind the fence of control and