Demonstrates the importance of traditional values

And not in the ideological sense, but more in the practical sense. Brooklyn was hardly a socio-political statement, but viewing it made me realize just how important these values were and still are.

First, Eilis doesn't make it to America on her own. Her sister arranges for it with a Catholic priest in the U.S. On the boat ride over, an Irish emigre helps her cope with the treacherous journey across the Atlantic and entry into the country. Upon her arrival, she already has a home and a job set up for her. And by whom? Other Irish folks and the church. Later, the priest even enrolls her into school and pays for the first year's tuition.

So far, what is the trend? The trend is that it wasn't the "kindness of strangers" or people from "all over," or nameless government bureaucrats who helped her get to America and build a life for herself. It was her blood, along with people who shared a common ethnic identity and language, along with an institution many today view as a societal impediment than an enabler - a religious faith.

One of the scenes that struck me down deep was the Christmas dinner for the homeless Irishmen. Like the priest says, these men have spent decades in America and built the bridges, tunnels, etc. Yet once their bodies began to fail them or they weren't needed, they were cast aside by society. It was fellow Irishmen and women who came to their aid and offered, at least for a moment, a sense of family and community that they've lost since coming to the U.S. People today may lament the idea that society can just cast and ostracize people like that, but lets face it, this is the way the real world works. You look after your own.

Even Tony represents a continuity of sorts. Despite being of Italian descent, he, too, comes from a close-knit family and is also, presumably, of the Catholic faith. They share quite a bit in common and this helps bridge a lot of differences between them.

The film also emphasizes the importance of identity, particularly of the national variety. Eilis very much wants to be an American, but she also understands where she came from and still harbors a longing for her past. She adjusts rather quickly to life back in Ireland before realizing why she wanted to leave in the first place. But its clear she's never quite shed that Irish identity and, going back to the beginning of this post, it is other Irish, both in Ireland and in America, that made her into what she is.

Finally, the film stresses the importance of family. Again, nobody makes it on their own in this world, as much as we'd like to think we can. Human beings are simply not built to handle difficult tasks on their own. Without the help of others, we either find it too easy to fail or give up. But its not just anybody else we need. We specifically require others we share something in common with, whether a mindset, an experience, a job, or, yes, blood, ethnic background or language. Without having anything in common, it is very difficult to be a rock to someone else or have a shoulder to lean on. Throughout the film, Eilis is never lacking family. While she's far from home and her mother and sister, she has an informal family in the boarding house run by a compassionate old woman and filled with other young Irish women looking to make it in America. She has the church and a priest who looks after her. Then she finds a family of her own in Tony.

The progressive cynic may say, "Oh well, that was the 1950s. Times have changed." They sure have. And have they changed for the better? Have the changed times shown traditional values to be truly outdated or have they only emphasized their importance? For all the changes that we've undergone, I don't sense that we've become any better of a society. We certainly haven't gotten worse, but it definitely throws cold water, in my opinion, on the idea that moving away from or re-defining traditional values has created a kinder, gentler, more inclusive society. We've become more isolated, in part because we've over-asserted our individualism. We talk about how great diversity is, all the while watching the ties that bind become stretched and frayed as a result. We denigrate religion and preach secularism, all the while pissing on the many positive contributions religion has brought to us. But most importantly, we've denigrated the family. We've outsourced all of our responsibilities to the state and the whole of society in the name of equality, justice, or some other broad and largely meaningless concept. We've convinced ourselves that "It takes a village," all the while forgetting that it doesn't waive your responsibilities as parents.

I can't say I long for the 1950s, but I certainly long for the day we can give up on the foolishness of unbridled "progressiveness" and understand family, identity, religion and other traditional values aren't necessarily about division. They're ways of coping with the trials and tribulations that are guaranteed in life. Instead of engaging in cynicism and loathing, we should appreciate their contributions and acknowledge that they have a role to play, even today. Human beings aren't perfect and we're limited and this is why we need it.