I'd like to reflect on a great movie that most of you will already have seen and appreciated. Many people will name A Walk To Remember among their most favorite movies.
I have to admit that I didn't read the book on which the movie was based. But the author of the novel, Nicholas Sparks, agreed with those differences and wanted the movie to be a separate creation.
In contrast to the book, which was is set in the past, in the 1950s, the movie had been set in the modern context of today (it was filmed in 2002), without loosing the attraction and power of the novel. The movie is even more up to date with regard to the facts on which the story was based: The main role in the movie, Jamie (played by Mandy Moore), was inspired by the author's admiration for his sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who died of cancer in 2000, and the movie includes the events of cancer and eventually the death of the main character. The novel, which was published in 1998, does not include this event of course, although it hints at this eventual sad ending.
Rebecca St James -does not appear in this movie but we know that she is, like Mandy Moore, a great singer, both having started very young (Mandy released her debut album at age 15, Rebecca at age 16); and while Mandy has acted in several films, Rebecca has at least also played some minor roles in (Christian) movies. But Rebecca is now also trying to "get into Hollywood" somehow, with the purpose of playing in movies with a good Christian message, for instance about how family life could be in a faithful family. Another link is not so much between Rebecca and Mandy, but between Rebecca and Jamie (the character played by Mandy in this movie). Jamie has definitely a couple of characteristics that fans of Rebecca St James will instantly recognize, such as Rebecca's firm stance on the need for sexual purity, her unfailing love for God and making no compromises with the world. And, by the way, they both have been wearing bangs - Rebecca did that around January 2008, for a change:
While Mandy Moore is not known for being such an outstanding role model on purity and so on, the fact is that she gave a very convincing rendition of such a Christian character in the role of Jamie. On the one hand, it must of course be definitely more difficult to live a Rebecca St James' life for 18 years than to 'play Jamie' for just a couple of months - but that doesn't alter the fact that this was a grand play. This was rather early on during Mandy's career, and was certainly proof of her being a great actress. It may also prove that there is something more to Ms. Moore than just being MTV's Britney Spears clone (as commentators used to say at that time).
About acting
Indeed, we did not really know Mandy this way. We first knew her as this MTV star, very mainstream. And later on, when this movie was finished, we still see a lot more Mandy than Jamie. The novel A Walk to Remember was already one of Moore's favorite books at that time. "My mom and I are big Nicholas Sparks fans" she declared during an interview. In another interview, Mandy considers the long-term influence of her characterization, almost philosophically when she says:
People have often told me that when you do a film, a certain part of that character stays with you. If that's true, then I hope a little bit of Jamie always stays with me because there is so much good in her that I'd like to emulate. If I'm ever upset about something I might think back to this experience and consider the kind of person she was and how she would handle the situation.
And from yet another interview:
I’ve never met anyone like her in my life. ... Playing Jamie has actually brought me closer to God and inspired me to go to church more. (...) There are so many other movies for kids to go see that are about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. They’re all about losing your virginity before prom night or college. Jamie shows people the other way to go about things.
Those last words could have been spoken by Rebecca. It is beyond doubt that in this movie, Mandy has been portraying someone and something that so many of us are longing for, an ideal, a someone or something that is not so easy to find in this world.
There's another interesting thing here. The character of Jamie isn't just exceptional, it is at the same time also believable - that is: authentic. Jamie feels so real to the average audience. One of the merits of this movie is that thousands of people, religious or not, could associate with Jamie. Even though we all feel we can hardly live her in real life, we nevertheless associate. It is more a desire that awakens in people, to be pure, or simple. One feels through this movie that this is also possible. We can associate because we see how the actress can associate, and really 'lives up' to the role, brings it to reality in a way. We can also associate because we know we have already seen characters like Jamie in persons around us - not all in one, but 'scattered among many people' so to say.
Jamie targets young adults 'in the wild' so to say, searching for something more than what this world serves them. Rebecca could help them a lot further on that road by showing that all of that may also really work in real life. But this movie is in a way more accessible - especially for non-believers.
The Plot
A mischievous prank is carried out on a fellow high-school student ('peer pressure' is a theme which will returns a few times in the movie). There is some dirty speak here (it's student life), but it supports the painting of the world of students, and is necessary to understand at the beginning of the movie. The prank turns out badly: the guy getting dangerously injured. The other students run away. Popular but rebellious Landon Carter (Shane West) shows most courage, tries to help the guy to the last minute, so he's safe. He tries to get away with his car when he hears a police car - but he cannot escape anymore. Clearly, he'll be the dupe - and of course, deservedly so.
In Church, he gets his first part of the blame (the preacher - Mr. Sullivan, also the father of major character Jamie - hints openly at some people who were "clearly not on the path of righteousness" that evening. Jamie is singing in the church choir, and also solo. (PS. The actor, Mandy Moore, is also really doing the singing here by the way). At school she is a quiet, bookish girl, Landon has known for many years but with whom he has rarely ever spoken. But here, in the church, she is even more clearly Landon's very opposite.
At the college. Starts already with one scene where Landon's friends are poking fun at Jamie (always wearing the same sweater). Landon is part of the group. Here, Landon is Jamie's opposite. The main line of the plot is set out: they are each other's opposites. (Yet, the audience will notice that Landon is never really taking the lead in these things - he probably 'has the wrong friends' as we use to say. But they are the friends of his choice anyway. At the office of the school director, Landon receives his orders: he is not expelled, but punished with mandatory participation in various after-school activities. That includes performing in the drama club's spring musical, where he will be forced to interact with Jamie Sullivan.
After another scene with his friends laughing about Jamie, the first after-school activity of Landon (tutoring), a sharp conversation with Jamie, then another 'punishment' (playing scenes for the coming musical), some more squabbles between Jamie and Landon. But he also learns that Jamie has a wish list of things she hopes to do in her life, such as getting a tattoo and being in two places at once - obviously a little surprising for Landon. He also asks what's the number one on her list. That appears to be something she could maybe tell hem, "but then I'll have to kill you..." (Landon laughs).
Landon then is together with one of his friends, trying to learn his lines for the musical. He soon finds out he needs help - and his friends are not good at it. He decides to asks Jamie for help. She agrees to help him, but he must first promise... not to fall in love with her. Landon laughs off the strange remark, believing Jamie to be the last person with whom he would fall in love. (Some critics find this passage strange and badly fitting, and in a way it is; yet, later on one will realize it is not). Landon and Jamie begin practicing together at her house after school and the two form a tentative friendship.
One day, Jamie approaches Landon at his locker, where he is hanging out with his friends. When Jamie reminds him about their planned practice that afternoon, Landon, who acts in different ways when he is with his friends, smirks: "In your dreams". His friends laugh, Jamie's face fills with betrayal and embarrassment. Landon clearly feels embarrassed too - although not showing it too much in front of his friends. (In fact, peer pressure is now playing against him. He also somehow seems to realize this, as he visits the guy who got injured, shortly after).
That afternoon Landon arrives at Jamie's house, but he quickly learns that honesty means a different thing to Jamie than to him. She closes the door before him. Landon knocks on the door again, and insists: "I was hoping we could run lines together?" Jamie nails down the issue crystal clear, with a smile and sarcasm: "Okay, but just not so anybody knows, right?" Landon tries a trick: "Well I just figured we could surprise everyone with how good I get." Jamie seemingly admits to his point of view: "Like we could be secret friends?" Landon seems to miss the sarcasm, replies in relief: "Exactly, exactly it's like you're reading my mind." Jamie, then: "Great umm ... maybe you could read mine..." - and she gives him a cold glare for a while (very nice play). Then she turns away.
Then there is the great event, this musical. Jamie astounds Landon and the entire audience with her beauty and voice. Landon is impressed all the time. He admits her beauty, in fact admits his love - but it is all still part of the play. At the end of the play, he kisses Jamie - this was not in the script.
From then on, Landon tries to get closer to Jamie. She repeatedly rejects him. He'd come close to her (the kiss), but she does not see real change in Landon.
Landon: Jamie, I'm trying here, OK? Maybe... maybe I miss spending time with you. Maybe you inspire me.
Jamie: Sounds like bull.
Landon: Which part?
Jamie: All of it.
Landon: Well it's not!
Jamie: Prove it! [Jamie leaves the room]
That will change when Landon's friends play a mean joke on Jamie. They took a photo of Jamie's face, put a half naked body under it, print and distribute it on college. Then, Belinda (Lauren German), the jealous ex-girlfriend of Landon, brings Jamie into the room where all are sitting and chuckling, and shows her the photo. Jamie, this time, is visibly shocked - but not exactly as you may have expected. She looks around like fearfully, but I would say more like yearning for someone not agreeing with this - and especially, as I interpret it, she is like looking if Landon would be among them - because that was her grief all the time: Landon did not break up with his friends, or at least did not openly reject their behavior - which is the reason why she does not believe him ("Prove it!"). When she has looked throughout the room, hard breathing, she suddenly turns around and runs into the arms of... Landon who just enters the room. Landon, who in the meantime saw the photo too, quickly tries to set her mind at rest - and Jamie accepts, I think because she needs his help but at the same time she expects him to choose now.
Landon openly breaks up with his 'friends' now and leaves the room with Jamie, who from now on agrees to get to know Landon. The two pursue a relationship. He takes her out to dinner and dances with her, something he never did for anyone else (Landon is not a good dancer). When he discovers that Jamie has a wish list, he sets out to help her accomplish them. One memorable date had Landon taking Jamie to the state line. He excitedly positions her on the line in just the right way, and when Jamie asks him what he's doing he tells her "You're in two places at once". Her face lights up with joy, as she realizes that Landon set out to make her impossible dreams come true.
At a certain moment, they kiss (subtly - enough to feel the magic of what's going on, mostly in the hearts and minds of the couple).
Landon: Jamie... I love you...
Jamie: [long pause, just staring at him, with love, and confusion too]
Landon: Now... would be the time to say something.
Jamie: I told you not to fall in love with me... [She knows she has to tell her sad secret - but still waits to do so]
Later on, during a walk (maybe this is "the" Walk To Remember?), Jamie finally tells Landon that she has terminal leukemia and has stopped responding to treatments. Landon first cannot believe this ("No. You're 18. You - you're perfect."); then starts to realize that it is true, and how Jamie tried to anticipate it somehow (the promise not to fall in love with her). He is upset too. Jamie looks down. Then she says: "You know, I was getting along with everything fine. I accepted it, and then you happened! I do not need a reason to be angry with God." Then she runs away. Landon does not run after her - he feels so confused. He then visits his own dad, who is a cardiologist and asks him for help. He asks Landon to calm down, tries to explain that he is not in a position where he can do a lot for Her... and Landon, upset, leaves. (In fact we get a glimpse on how people act when they are desperate - of course, his dad being a cardiologist did not put him in a position to do something about Jamie's cancer). It is not yet the time for reconciliation between those two. (Landon's troublesome relationship with his father, who divorced from them, is a sub-plot in the story, apparently contributing to the overall theme of relationships and the impact of it on people's lives).
Later on, Jamie expresses her regret for not having told him earlier. Landon does not leave her - he suffers from the situation but he really loves her.
About at this time, two of Landon's former friends comes to apologize in one way or another, for not having understood him, for having hurt Jamie all the time. It is as if they also admit that Jamie is the ultimate winner (she 'got away' with Landon, after all). We can assume that they also felt something about the power of a girl like Jamie - positive power, that is. The power of her forgiveness, her unfailing love, and her loveliness.
Not long after that, Jamie gets hospitalized. Some touching scenes with Landon, and with her father.
There is another, short but moving part then, when a third old friend comes to Landon to apologize - this time it is Belinda, his ex-girlfriend. She apologizes for the flyers that had upset Jamie (that was her idea - of course she didn't know that Jamie was sick, then). Landon ensures here that "it does not matter" - but even that hurts, visibly, as it emphasizes how untouchable Landon's new love is. Just a few words are exchanged here, but you feel the pain in every word from Belinda. She has seen the changes in Landon, how he became a better person, and while she loved him, she could not make such a change happen, it required a girl with much different standards to make that happen. Yet she loves Landon, but she also knows she lost him. This touchy conversation ends as follows:
Belinda: I guess you are with who you should be... It's like she chose you.
Landon: Yeah. I don't even know why.
Belinda [again, with pain in her eyes]: I do. [quickly says good bye with a kiss]
Lauren German is playing an excellent role here as a woman who is now struggling with guilt, jealousy, but also an understanding of where she went wrong, and what she has lost. Yet she also tries to find the courage to bear consequences as she should, and go on with her life. I found this a very touching part (maybe also because it reflects something of my own life).
In the hospital, Landon receives a book from Jamie - her mother's book ("Don't worry, it's not a Bible"). It is her mother's logbook, with quotes from her favorite books, from famous people, her thoughts. Some more beautiful thoughts here (I leave that to you, I cannot reveal all the nice secrets here).
But, thanks to an intervention of Landon's own father, she can exchange the hospital for home care - Landon's father pays for that, and they reconciles their quarrels.
Landon fulfills various wishes on Jamie's list, such as building her a telescope so she can see a comet. Through this process, Landon and Jamie learn more about the nature of love. It changes Landon profoundly - although there is no clear sign of 'making a decision for Christ' or so (as many Christians want to hear it in order to 'agree' with a movie like this - we will get back to this later on).
Landon had already asked repeatedly about the 'number one' on her wish list. She finally tells it to him: it is her wish to marry in the same chapel as was her deceased mother. (She does not 'kill him' for knowing it, as she suggested earlier on - trust is now established between the two, so there is no fear in trusting a secret, Landon will not chuckle at what's precious to her, as he used to do when he was with his old friends).
It is clear that the movie will end with Jamie's death, but we are not there yet. At a certain evening, when Landon gave her the new and bigger telescope he made for her, and they looked at the star she had wished to see, Landon has a new challenge for her:
Landon: Do you love me?
Jamie: [nods]
Landon: Will you do something for me, then?
Jamie: [smiles] Anything.
Landon: Will you marry me?
The couple marries in the same chapel where her parents married, the top event on Jamie's wish list. They then have a great summer together (not filmed, just mentioned).
It is then mentioned that Jamie dies after this great summer. The movie shows nothing about those most beautiful and most sad moments, which is why these events somehow settle in our minds, just to be remembered and play a role in our further thinking about the story. There is no over-emphasizing of either beauty or suffering - it is just brought to our attention in a perfectly clear manner.
Landon himself becomes a better person through Jamie's memory, achieving the goals that he set out to do, like she did.
Four years later, Landon visits Jamie's father. It is obvious that Jamie helped him to focus and become a better person. For example, he reveals he has finished college and been accepted to medical school; prior to meeting her he had no plans for life after high school. He tells Jamie's father that he is sorry he could not grant Jamie's wish to witness "a miracle" before she died. Her father says "She did. It was you".
Social aspects of the movie / Peer pressure
Here is an illuminating 'spoiler' about A Walk To Remember:
[Spoiler:] Half generic teen movie, half manipulative wanna-be tear-jerker, this piece of crap and fluff tries to showcase whitebread Mandy Moore's average singing abilities[!]. As recommended by her image consultant, Moore plays a dull goody-two-shoes character so puritanically over the top[!] that God Himself has to resist the persistent urge to just snatch her up to Heaven at any given time.
(And this goes on for a while...) In the context of a movie so much appreciated by so many, this is so clearly more revealing about his own problem to deal with the experience of such a magnificent picture. Already the pitiable remark about Mandy Moore's "average singing abilities" makes that clear of course (because she is obviously and arguably a good singer). But look further: this critic seems to agree with discriminating against people just because of the way they dress, not following fashion as usual - so he is in fact choosing the side of Landon's friends, even while he may not realize it.
This comment reveals one of the things that this movie intends to reveal: the social pressure against being a 'good role model'. More particularly the phenomenon of 'peer pressure' is an explicit theme in the movie.
Isolated environments where people are together 'with their ilks', magnify the weaknesses and errors that people of that age, or of that particular type, share. Therefore, 'all' students support the prank at the beginning of the movie. And 'all' students laugh at Jamie, behave meanly towards her. "A Walk to Remember", so noted a reviewer, "vividly recalls the unique cultural experience that is high school, particularly in the self-segregation of students into rigidly defined social groups." And Jamie is particularly exceptional in this domain. (Landon: "You don't care what people think about you?" Jamie: "No"). Roger Ebert in his review: "her self-esteem stands apart from the opinion of her peers".
Looking at it 'from the outside' through the frame of the bioscope has a debunking effect. Here, we know, we 'remember' (that is: we feel free to remember) who's wrong and who's right. So the movie also tells us something about what freedom really means. It has nothing to do with majorities, or with what is most fun. Freedom has something to do with what's right.
High ideals
At a certain point, Landon suggests to Jamie: "Maybe you inspire me".
Inspiration to reach out and approach an ideal: it requires courage - and dealing with the thought that fully grasping the ideal might not be possible. Jamie Sullivan may only look 'impossible' to those who have no hope, no aspiration, no imagination capable of reaching out beyond what our physical eyes see, our inner feelings fear. For most of us however, she is the kind of people that would make our world look better, life more interesting, hope becoming more real.
The fact that this particular story is founded upon a real character (Danielle Sparks Lewis) clearly reflected in the production of this movie. The best things always seem to come from real life experiences - because human beings are created in a grand way, as the Bible so clearly declares. This is in a way a matter of 'faith' - but not necessarily Christian faith to start with. When Landon wants to go out with Jamie next Saturday night - and he is not a Christian - he asks Jamie's father (who is a preacher) for the same thing he is preaching every week: to have some faith in him - that is: faith in Landon's honest intensions and goodwill. Later on in the movie, Landon says to his mother that Jamie "has faith in me", and that encourages him to change his life. It's that kind of faith, where good things may take off. Having faith in someone is not in itself a Christian concept, it is a human factor, a human capacity. Being a Christian requires faith, but the capacity to believe is already present.
That is why the 'social lessons' from this movie are so important too. Christians are often too quick to disconnect faith from social issues, focusing on more outspoken Christian aspects of life. There is nothing wrong with that if you can deal with it properly. For instance, Rebecca St James is on a Christian mission - but at the same time she is active for children in Africa, supports a massive campaign against malaria and so on. Many artists support 'social' activities, Christians as well as non-Christians.
Religious aspects of the movie
The setting of the film was very much Christian. Most songs for instance have a Christian origin and meaning - they include songs written or sung by Jars of Clay, Rachael Lampa, and several songs from Switchfoot.
The religious setting has no doubt been what motivated many of the initial harsh, negative reviews. Many professionals queued up in order to unleash their journalistic displeasure with the movie. But the movie did receive a warm reception in the Christian community, mostly due to the moral message contained in it. This movie has also been very well received by many kinds of non-religious people. Why is that?
One reviewer approvingly noted, that "The main character is portrayed as a Christian without being psychopathic or holier-than-thou". That is one key issue - the world is still open to a kind of Christian faith that does not behave arrogantly.
Shane West (playing Landon) has done an excellent Job in this film. It would be safe to suggest that he represents, in an interesting way, how a non-religious person can change by having an open mind and not seeing religion as an obstacle. Even though he never explicitly becomes a Christian, he definitely gets amazed by the same things as Jamie - the beauty she sees in everything for instance. His mind was getting exposed to a light he'd never seen, and he allows that to happen. He withdraws from his friends when he comes to realize that they are nothing but a hindrance for him to find out what makes Jamie so special.
Jamie's father is yet another story. At a certain point he says to his daughter Jamie: "Your behavior is sinful!" - and that's because he can see how she is falling in love with Landon. This remark is "over the top" but it is also related to the fact that he knows that Jamie is going to die soon because she has leukemia.
However, there is also beauty in the fact that his sometimes harsh words illustrate that Jamie's being the daughter of a Baptist minister is not what defines her faith. Jamie also loves her father so much, she understands exactly why he is saying such things. And she can alter her fathers worries through the straightforwardness and simplicity of her faith in God. That's a lot of life's lessons at once.
Rev. Sullivan himself is also a fascinating person because, clearly being a conservative, the audience quickly changes that opinion at least partially during the movie. One can be harsh for good reasons. One can also be harsh yet still have an open mind in many ways. Both are true here. When Landon asks the Rev. Sullivan to have faith in him, he accepts. Even while he is worried because Jamie is being and Landon doesn't know it. He has of course asked his daughter multiple times to tell the truth to Landon - that is her responsibility.
Jamie however 'disarms' her father's worries for a while. This is of course the her 'hearts logic' taking the lead.
Jamie can, of course, make errors, and she is probably making one in this case.
However, when Landon tries to come closer to Jamie, be a part of her life, she repeatedly rejects him. That is after Landon had betrayed her before all his friends.
Superficial Christian Characters?
The conservative Christian side has claimed that Jamie isn't truly acting as a Christian. (To them, Ref. Sullivan is usually more popular). Is this true?
Here is one typical criticism from the conservative side:
Even to begin dating him [Landon], knowing that he is an unbeliever, puts Jamie in a precarious position. And if her actions are emulated, they will place young Christians in potentially compromising relationships.
Such remarks do somehow ignore the broad context of the movie, not to say the broad context of (Christian) life itself. It becomes particularly precarious when we start to decide for others, what they should do or not do, when they are perfectly capable to decide for themselves. You could think of it as another example of peer pressure. There exist 'closed communities' in Christianity too of course. Isolated islands of Christian self-segregation.
Jamie's character is key here. She is obviously touched by the living God. She lives for Him, He is her life. That idea is ubiquitous throughout the movie. In fact, she rarely argues about things - but she does argue about people. She is very exclusive towards things, and totally inclusive when it comes to people. She sees value in people, not in things. All of this is very different from what conservative Christians often do.
Jamie sees everyone as God's creation. It is the magnificent side of religion we see here, Christianism as we know it from the greatest Christian figures throughout history and in our own days.
Nevertheless we see her depicted as very human as well. We 'catch' her on several occasions when she's looking at Landon (and sometimes, he catches her on it - which is probably why he deduces, later on, that Jamie likes him too).
These romantic feelings however are not the criterion for Jamie's decisions. We see a longing in Jamie, but also the firmness of her faith. She does not depend on her father, on traditions, but on faith. It is her love for God that decides. She does not 'let go' Landon just like that, neither does she fall into his arms just like that. What the author wanted to let shine through, obviously, is a Jamie who acts as a Christian because she, and she alone, decides to do so. And in spite of what critics say, there is no compromise with Landon at that point: he must change, or he will be ignored by Jamie (at least as a lover).
Don't worry, it's not a Bible
When Jamie is hospitalized, she gives Landon a book, and speaks the words that have of course been quoted by Christian critics: "Don't worry, it's not a Bible"
One critic expressed his fears at this point as follows: "The audience around me laughed. It seemed to give the wrong message of giving a Bible as a gift and even a compromise on the value of the Word."
Why are Christians so easily interpreting a public laughing this way? Are Christians really ignorant about the reasons why people laugh with us? It's not always because they are stupid you know. In many cases, it is because they recognize it so well. They see Christians who behave like caged birds. That is a justified reason for concern. As if Christian life is never fun - always worry about every step we take.
In the novel, the book that Jamie gave to Landon was indeed a Bible - her mother's Bible, with her remarks in it. In the movie, which has a modern time setting, this Bible is replaced by a book and this remark about it not being a bible. We also notice that one of the quotes from that book (Landon reads some of these quotes aloud) is from Dolly Parton - again clearly a remark that seems to be designed to upset all the conservatives on planet earth. But I think this is rather well placed.
It puts Jamie (and her mother) at a different place, a place of freedom, where you can be a solid Christian, and clearly be so even while you are not handing over bibles to the people around you. This is all related to changed since the 1950s (the setting of the novel): in 2002 (the setting of the movie), armchair orthodoxy really has become a thing of the past for millions of Christians - and for good reasons. Treating your Bible as "the waging finger of God" is a debunked kind of dogmatic Christianism. Today, it should be clear that "living words" also look like living. People want to see the "Life" we talk about.
Also, many conservative Christians still think that the Bible itself - the book, the verses - changes lives. However, while Gods words do not return void, as the well-known bible verse says, there is something terribly wrong with the idea that vivid, Christian life can be replaced with words, with Bible verses. Not the concept of "living words" is wrong, but our false concept that words can live even though we don't live them.
Let us summarize this. If we cannot be role models for our neighbors, we will be nothing at all. If you don't know what's right, you'd better be silent (that would at least make you a better role model in a way, compared to the know-it-alls who have God in their pocket). That is what the 'culture change' was about, as it started decades ago - and that was a change for the good.
Dreaming of a Truer Reality
A beautiful moment during the movie is when Mandy performs the song Only Hope (a beautiful Switchfoot song). The picture on the left is while Mandy performs this song. On the right, Rebecca, from the video where she performs her famous song Wait For Me. Both songs are about hope. By the way, aren't they beautiful? Jamie and Rebecca, both wearing their hair loosen this time:
PS. The link on the photos opens the videos from which these 2 pictures were taken.
In both songs (and the movie), there is a romantic side to it too, but that exceeds into a higher reality, invisible but discoverable, in God. Christian faith has room for hopes within and beyond the visible world.
Hope is a strong theme towards the end of the movie. The last words spoken by Landon - after the death of Jamy - are touching:
[Voiceover] Jamie saved my life. She taught me everything. About life, hope and the long journey ahead. I'll always miss her. But our love is like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it.
This love is of course a core theme. There is a poem quoted twice in the movie (read by Landon from the journal of Jamie's mother, and also spoken at the wedding). The words originate from the New Testament (I Cor.13):
Love is always patient and kind.
It is never jealous.
Love is never boastful nor conceited.
It is never rude or selfish.
It does not take offense and is not resentful.
love takes no pleasure in other peoples sins
but delights in the truth.
It always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure
whatever comes.
Beautiful. Thank you, Nicholas Sparks. That was a story to remember.
