Finding Neverland

Sometimes a movie (or book, or other creative work) expresses the truth better than the truth itself. It expresses it so well that people no longer remember the real facts and the movie’s truth becomes the only truth.

I just finished watching Finding Neverland. It is the poignant tale of James Barrie’s love affair with a family and how they inspired his greatest work, Peter Pan. Now, I am aware that the Barrie family has problems with the story and thinks it glosses over the realities as they know them.

What they feared, I’m certain, is that the movie would replace their history. And, with as beautifully made as the film is, I am sure they are right. Because, for me, it has. I now do not care about the circumstances of Barrie’s first wife leaving. I do not care about the circumstances wherein Barrie created Peter Pan.

What I do care about is that they got my vision on the screen. As a somewhat creative person, I have a hard time explaining to people how I see what I see. This movie shows what the reality for many creative people is: the way our world can fade away and we can literally see another world, other people, and different events.

I care about the relationship Barrie had with young Peter, who did not believe and who grew up way too fast.

I do feel for the Barrie family, though. History has been rewritten by the film industry a few times. It does not matter how accurate Saving Private Ryan is or is not, that is now an entire generation’s idea of that war. The wild west is now somewhere between Unforgiven and Dances With Wolves. Jaws made an entire country afraid to swim and ruined many resort town’s economies for years afterward. It is hard to separate the fact from the fiction in Titanic.

In the end, does it matter? If the story impresses us enough, we will seek out further information on it and research the reality. But, while those who make these types of films have an obligation to be accurate, they have a stronger imperative to tell a good story. For they are doing just what Barrie does in Finding Neverland… taking the realities of life and making something beautiful and lasting from them.