Educator at Heart

Simon Birch Movie Review

When someone you love dies, you don't lose them all at once. You lose them in pieces over time, like how the mail stops coming. What I remember most to this day was my mother's scent and how I hated it when it began to disappear. First from her closets, then from her dresses she had sewn herself and then finally from her bedsheets and pillow cases. Simon and I never talked much about that day on the baseball field. It was too painful for both of us. For as much as I loved my mother, I knew that Simon loved her just as much. She was the only real mother he ever had.

- Joe Wenteworth

It has been a long time since I watched a tearjerker movie because I hate weeping while watching. Simon Birch is one of the genuinely good movies I have seen. “Simon Birch” is based on John Irving's book “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” Here are some information about the two main characters: Simon and Joe.

Simon Birch was born with birth defect so he did not grow tall. He was not supposed to live long, and he was called a living miracle. His parents did not care much for him. Despite that situation, he was extremely optimistic and hopeful and he believed that God has a plan for him.

Joe Wenteworth was the best friend of Simon Birch. He was picked on for not having a father. Unlike Simon, he doubted his faith and was not as spiritual as Simon was. Joe was desperate to know who his father was.

Undoubtedly, the movie “Simon Birch” is a story about faith and friendship.

The movie took place in New Hampshire, 1964. It's about a friendship between two boys, one named Joe, the other a dwarf named Simon who believed that God has chosen him for a mission in life.

Simon Birch was played by Ian Michael Smith. He was the smartest person in Sunday school and possibly in town. He was very short and cute, and knowledgeable about the fact of his dwarfism. When Joe told him a local girl finds him cute, he sniffed, "She means cute like a baby turtle is cute. Girls don't kiss baby turtles.'' “How do you know?” asks Joe. "I just know. If you were me, you'd know, too.'' Joe and Simon are drawn together because they were both misfits. Joe was a boy without a father; his mother, Rebecca, steadfastly refused to name who his father was.
Simon and Joe occupied a world of their own, swimming and boating and slipping invisibly around town. Simon's dwarfism did not prevent him from going everywhere and doing everything, and even taking his turn at bat in a Little League game; when he finally did get a hit, tragic consequences happened. Simon used his size as a license to say exactly what he thought about on all occasions, loudly and clearly, as when the Rev. Russell is asking God's help for a fund-raiser, and Simon stood up on his pew to announce, "I doubt if God is interested in our church activities. If God has made the bake sale a priority, we're all in a lot of trouble.'' All of this is a scene-raiser for the melodramatic climax, in which it appears that God has perhaps indeed made Simon a priority.

"I don't understand why she doesn't just tell you,'' Simon said, "You're already a bastard, might as well be an enlightened one.'' Rebecca is a sunny, loving mother, and loved Simon like he was her own.

The other characters include Simon's parents, who did not like him; the Rev. Russell, the local minister; Grandma Wenteworth, Rebecca's mother; Miss Leavey, the Sunday school teacher who endured Simon's theological insights, and Ben, a man Rebecca met

After watching the movie, I was amazed with Simon’s attitude being good and kind-hearted. He always had good intentions and respected others because he followed the rule “treat others as you would want to be treated.” I was really astounded with Simon’s nobility saving the children from the sinking bus despite of his physical defect, he carried out God’s plan for him as a hero.

Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to.

Just like what Simon Birch said from the movie, we do not need proof for our faith. Faith is not a floor plan where there is a designated place when you think about God. Think of us as God’s instruments—that He is going to use us to carry out His plan.