So I just finished watching “Next Gen” on Netflix. Overall, it was a decent movie. It had some good qualities to it, but it’s somewhere around the average/slightly above-average category. It’s just never really surprising in any particular way.
It also doesn’t help that we live in a world where the definitely more charming and superior “Big Hero 6” is out there.
Nevertheless, I am all for giving certain shows and movies a shot. If there is one message I did like about this movie was the motif about memories (though it could have developed it a bit more in a more fleshed-out manner — again, the movie is average/above average for a reason).
Without spoiling the movie, there is a lot of emphasis on MEMORIES. You will hear the word a lot during the movie, especially from the robot who isn’t named Baymax.
The movie doesn’t even bother giving him a name. He is just a number. Heck, I’ll just call him Raymax to make this easier.
Anyway, MEMORIES its this movie’s buzzword.
It will not go a few scenes without reminding you why memories are important. Certainly not a terrible theme to stress.
A Lesson to Remember
Again, without spoiling anything, there is a universally appealing message to the film.
“Our memories make us who we are. Don’t let the bad ones stop you from making good ones,” — Raymax, the robot they didn’t bother maming in this film.
I actually liked this simple quote a lot so much that I paused the movie and wrote out the quote to put on a Sticky Note to put by my wall (as I can never have enough Sticky Notes lying around).
It’s not the most poignant quote out there. Heck, it’s fortune cookie-worthy level, but it gets the message across well enough.
I am my own problem when it comes to the notion of my recent memories in the past few years.
I let too many awful ones bog me down. They hinder me. They block me from where I need to go to such a degree that I find it hard to move on with my damn life.
I want to get out of this rut. I want to get my life going. I want to make as many good memories while I still can.
However, this can’t be done if I just keep being weighed down by my own bad memories of the past. It’s the curse. It’s the double-edged sword aspect of having an excellent memory.
I wish I could be like Raymax in the film and just delete selective memories out of my mind. Poof. Gone. No more.
Then again, this is the real caveat to it all — all of the bad memories also contribute to who I am right now and who I am becoming.
They shape me just as much as the good, positive memories I relish. All of them are pieces to this complicated puzzle. Collectively, their significance comes together in creating the final image in the end.
For me, like this movie is trying to teach people, I need to move forward with my life.
Good or bad, memories are supposed to shape me for the future.
“Progress is perseverance.” — Nhan Pham
Originally published at The 54th Deadline.
