Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
July 26, 2015
Spiritual Ponderings
Faith & Film: Big Hero Six

T he last movie I would like to review with you is Disney’s Big Hero 6. The movie begins with Tadashi trying to keep his younger brother Hiro from making some pretty bad choices. Hiro, who is a fourteen year old computer genius, has been using his talents to hustle money from some pretty bad people in illegal robot fights. In an effort to convince Hiro to stop squandering his talents, Tadashi introduces Hiro to his friends. Each of Tadashi’s friends goes by a weird nickname so there is GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred. I am not sure if Fred is his actual name or his nickname but I think that is part of the joke. Tadashi’s friends quickly make Hiro feel a part of the group as they show him each of their science projects. Tadashi demonstrates to Hiro the science project that he has been working on. Tadashi has been building a healthcare companion robot that Tadashi named Baymax. It is Tadashi’s hope that his robot will be able to help people live healthy lives and assist them in times of medical crisis. Baymax can scan a person (which is like receiving a MRI, EKG, Blood Pressure Test, etc. all at once. Baymax’s hands can also become defibulators. Even Baymax’s marshmallow shape is meant to help people feel comfortable and heal - the most awesome part maybe that he also dispenses lollipops.

Tadashi though is killed when he tries to save his teacher Mr. Callaghan from a fire and this sends Hiro into a deep depression. Hiro spends the next few weeks in his room doing nothing until he accidently turns Baymax on. Baymax concern for Hiro’s mood starts them on a great adventure which eventually includes Tadashi’s friends. The crew eventually learns that Tadashi’s death was not an accident and in order to stop the “super villain” Hiro makes robotic armor and weapons for each of them.

There are many different spiritual insights sprinkled throughout the movie. The one that surprised me the most was that this movie was extremely pro-life. After Tadashi’s death Hiro wants nothing more than to kill the man who was responsible for his brother’s death. He goes so far as to reprogram Baymax to be a killing machine instead of a healthcare companion. Hiro though is stopped by the others who refuse to be a part of taking another human life even if the guy is a bad guy. They eventually help Hiro realize that killing the villain will not bring his brother back or make him feel any better. Baymax reinforces this lesson for Hiro as he rescues an unconscious test pilot.

The second insight or theme in the movie that stand out is that our gifts and talents are not meant just for you. At the beginning of the movie Hiro used his gifts for his own selfish pleasure and it is easy to see that he is miserable and unhappy. Hiro begins to find happiness and joy when he begins using his talents to help others. St. Irenaeus of Lyon said “the glory of God is a person fully alive.” We can see the more Hiro uses his talents, the more alive he becomes. At the beginning of the movie he is dragging everyone down and at the movie he is lifting up everyone’s spirit.

A third insight and challenge from the movie is how to deal with the lost of a love one. The movie demonstrates the importance of not closing in on yourself and to surround you with prayer. It also shows that even though it may be difficult true friends spend time with each other after a lost in order to console and comfort one another.

Finally, when I was growing up, the first cartoon character that I saw die was Optimus Prime in an animated transformer movie. It was quite shocking because before that no one ever died in cartoons. Now it seems that almost every movie has a death of some sort in it for example in Up we saw Ellie die, in Frozen Elsa and Anna’s parents die. Death is definitely a part of life. I think the message that Big Hero 6 gives young people about death is good. The movie encourages people to examen their love ones’ lives and choose the good qualities from their life and make them a part of their own lives. Hiro learns to appreciate his brother’s desire to help other people and throughout the movie he begins to imitate his brother’s concern for others and thus allows his brother’s legacy continue.