All You Need Is Love

It takes a heart for somebody to see a movie like this.

It is a movie that shows the love of a father to his daughter. Sad thing though, it is not a normal father that is being portrayed in the movie, but a mentally challenged one. He is Sam, a retarded man with the IQ level of a seven-year-old child. He has a daughter named Lucy, through a chance encounter with a homeless woman. After she had delivered the baby she left it with Sam, so that he was raising the baby on his own despite his mental incapability. By the time Lucy turned seven, her intellect surpasses her father’s and that raised the attention of the people around especially the child welfare to take away his daughter from him and have foster parents for her. So Sam tried to look for a lawyer to help him take his daughter back. He met one, a lady lawyer, and took his case pro bono (for free). This is where the story evolves, trying to convince everyone’s heart of the theme “All You Need is Love."

Personally, as I watched the movie, I have questioned the capability of a seven-year-old mental capacity of a father in real life. But I have also affirmed the love of a parent for his/her son/daughter in any instances, whether he/she is normal or not.

In the movie, I was really touched by the effort of Sam just to take care of his daughter in the way he thinks “normal” for any father like him especially during those times that her daughter was taken away from him because they believed that he was not really capable of raising her. He himself was baffled as to why they acted that way while in his heart and mind, he was the father and that he should have that responsibility of raising her daughter.

With this, I appreciate the way the lawyer helped Sam to retain the custody of his daughter, Lucy. She was not just helping him, but she was also encouraging his potential as a father and to at least live just like a normal person. But somehow, other people in the movie were acting the opposite. But I also understand their sole purpose of having Lucy entrusted to a foster parent rather than be raised by her mentally challenged father. They were just after of the security and the future of the child because accordingly, Sam has a seven-year old mental capacity. And what could a seven-year-old do to raise a child in the real life setting? It is believed that “the child is the father of man,” so it is very important to have a proper nurture of child’s growth and development. Every child must undergo developmentally appropriate practices. Otherwise, it might lead to regression and stumbling blocks of the child’s life in the later stages. In connection with the movie, if the father is not even aware of his development and mental capacity, how much more of the appropriate practices that the child must undergo with. How should he take care and nurture properly the child’s holistic growth and development?

But to make it balanced, let us not also neglect the power of the heart for it is being said, “love conquers all.” It really never tires of spilling the beauty and madness of life. Since Sam doesn’t have the mental capacity to raise his daughter but does have the heart in which conquers and overrules “every villain” in the movie, it would be better if Lucy will not be taken away from her. Let him be that way and love Lucy for we can really never take away that thing from somebody else, especially their attachment from each other, provided however, that he must have the company of a normal person who can teach and guide him of the proper way of raising a child. Through this, we are not just helping Sam to make himself feel comfortable living like a normal person but we are also raising Lucy appropriately with full of inspiration of the love of his father.

It pays a soulless heart to break and pour out its angst to express itself. That’s what my companions felt upon seeing the movie. Though they were not really aware of special education, but they were aware that there are really people like that of Sam. They couldn’t help but negate the idea of taking away Lucy from her father. They could relate to the hardships that Sam had in the movie especially on the emotional side- the love of the father for his daughter. They were so engrossed in the fight of Sam especially during court scenes where Sam, with the help of the lawyer, trying very hard to defend himself to keep the custody of his daughter.

Nowadays, seldom you see people helping special people especially those who are in rag or torn-out garments. I was inspired by the character of the lawyer. Though, she was just forced to take the case of Sam because of peer pressure, but she managed to have her word of honor and helped Sam all the way wholeheartedly ‘til they won the case. I also wanted to be like that. Just like in my case, at first I didn’t even know what I was into when I enrolled in SPED course. But after having gone through a lot of discussion regarding special people, observed them and had a direct encounter with them, I have learned to love the course. And I realized somehow that I must have a purpose- to make a difference in the lives of the special people who are neglected and seemingly without hope...