Jean Valjean Welcome to Part 2 of my Les Miserables series of blogs. Today I want to focus on the character of Jean Valjean (played by Hugh Jackman in the 2012 film). Jean has the clearest character arch of all the characters in the film. It's one of redemption and compassion and one I think we can really learn a lot from.The beginning of the film starts with Jean as a prisoner but is quickly let out to be on parole as his sentence was complete. Unfortunately he goes right back to his days of thievery and steals some pretty high priced items from a priest that was gracious enough to feed and house him. What happens next will take you by surprise! (#sorrynotsorry). He gets caught, but the priest shows him mercy and gives him even more than he had originally taken. This changes Jean Valjean's life forever. Jean decides to live a life of kindness and to show mercy to those who may not deserve it, even when it is inconvenient to him. He takes in the child of a dying mother, even while he's hiding from Javier. He saves the life of the young man who wants to marry this girl, even though he's afraid of losing her, and oh yeah, he's still running from Javier. And finally, he spares Javier's life, even when he had the chance to kill him. In all these instances, Jean Valjean showed kindness and mercy to those around him, even when it was extremely inconvenient for him. I mean the man dragged another man through the sewers of France to save his life! What does this look like to you? To me? The whole message of this film can come down to one of it's closing lines, "To love another person is to see the face of God." When we show love and kindness to those around us, we show off a little glimpse of God's Kingdom, we show God's love to them. Even when it may be inconvenient to us, we could be the only splash of God's love to them that day. So let's not shy away from showing love and kindness to people. Even if it's hard to show love to someone who wronged you, even if it's hard to show love to someone suffering really hard, we are called to love those around us even when it's inconvenient, just like Jean Valjean in Les Mis. There may or may not be one more installment in this Les Mis series in the future, but if you want to be the first to hear about any of my blogs, then please subscribe for blog updates through your email! Have a wonderful day!
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Austin VincentJust a guy with a passion for film and Jesus who's trying to show that He can be found in our creative endeavors. Archives
November 2018
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