Fear of the Unknown; Day & Night
July 31st, 2010
Toy Story 3 is by far one of the greatest films I’ve seen in a long time. An emotional roller coaster of tears and laughter, of love, loss, redemption, childhood, memories, growing up, and of playing with the toys we did as kids. It is a beautiful reminder to those of a certain age who remember leaving behind those childhood artifacts. All the more poignant for me, and I suspect a few others, as I’m certain I still have the Chatter Telephone somewhere in the roof-space; unfortunately I wasn’t able to find it when I looked yesterday and didn’t bother to put on shoes so I could tread around the fiberglass on the relatively unstable floor.
Anyway, one of the greatest things about the Toy Story 3 experience, and many of the Pixar movies before it, is the short film shown before the main feature. In this case it was a film called Day & Night (watch here), which really hit me on so many levels. The film is about two characters, Day and Night, who meet — at first jealous of each other, but then realise what they can offer each other, both happiness and joy in their own ways. It is a beautiful tale of how two people come to see the each other through other perspectives.
When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! But as their suspicions turn to curiosity, they are delighted to find that this budding friendship can offer a new perspective on the world.
Were they not the keepers of daylight and darkness, Day and Night would be a couple of average Joe’s — Day busy with sunshine and joggers, Night focused on the stars, and drive-in movies. But when their paths cross, Day and NIght find that they are more alike than different — both are fearful and jealous, but ultimately proud to share the best of themselves as they discover, better together than apart.
The most significant part of the film for me is the radio broadcast, taken from a talk given by motivational speaker and author Dr. Wayne Dyer, the words match the mood of the film perfectly; that no one should be afraid of the unknown, where would we be without it.
Fear of the Unknown. They are afraid of new ideas. They are loaded with prejudices, not based upon anything in reality, but based on… if something is new, I reject it immediately because it’s frightening to me. What they do instead is just stay with the familiar. You know, to me, the most beautiful things in all the universe, are the most mysterious.
At the end of the film the two characters fall head-over-heels for each other, they accept each other, and what they can offer each other. To me, it is about tolerance and acceptance. This can be related to so many issues; race, sexuality, politics. That everyone should be accepted for who they are. We are all different, and all the same.
