Moonrise Kingdom

*Mild Spoiler Alert*


Recently, I saw Moonrise Kingdom.  It’s a story of love, belonging, and acceptance.  The two main characters are a pair of misfit 12 year old kids who run away together.  Sam and Suzy cling to each other so desperately because even though the world doesn’t understand them, they get each other.  It isn't a particularly moving film, but I cried quite a bit during this movie.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love Wes Anderson, and the movie is wonderful.  However, it touched something in within me that I haven’t dealt with in a while.


Sam, the male protagonist is an orphan who has lived a rough life in foster homes.  He is an intelligent, socially awkward loner.  His character saddened me so much because he reminded me so much of my ex.  This character, Sam, could very well have been based off my ex.  Their life situations are similar, their personalities the same.  Their manner of speaking is eerily alike.  Even the love of cartography is shared between them.  Both are searching for something when a girl appeared in their lives.  Sam is all alone until Suzy, the heroine, entered.


Sam and Suzy’s relationship is exciting and new.  Neither of them have people in their lives who understand them, until now.  They are instant best friends, and they run off together to escape the lives that they hated.  This is so similar to how my relationship began with my ex.  We were coworkers, friends, and then lovers.  Just like Sam and Suzy, we felt as though we didn’t belong anywhere, yet somehow, we fit together.  It was great for a while, until I realized that unlike Sam, my ex had never dealt with his past.  He pretended that it never happened.  His lack of emotions and communication made me realize that something big was wrong.  Even though I wanted to, I couldn’t fix him.  I could never undo the horrible things that had happened to him when he was younger.  I couldn’t love him enough to make up for the lack of affection that he’d received throughout his life.  That’s how we ended.  


After the movie, I cried for a good ten minutes.   I haven’t spoken to him in a while, and honestly, I haven’t thought about him much either.  This movie and those characters were such a portrayal of our life, though, that I couldn’t brush it off.  Unlike Sam and Suzy, we didn’t have a happy ending.  He still hasn’t found himself or the acceptance that he so desperately wants, and I still haven’t been able to help him.  I hope someday he can find a place of belonging; meanwhile, I still have to remind myself that no matter how much I may want to help someone, the only person who can help them is themselves.