The long awaited first Peter Pan movie has come out, and with mystical magic, whimsical dreams, and I little tipsy drop of fairy dust it is a beautiful combination of wishing on a star, believing in yourself, and knowing that dreams do come true.
Pan is fantastic for kids and although it has gotten mixed reviews from the adults who long awaited this prequel to the childhood story Peter Pan, there are still a number of lessons that can be picked from it.
Pan | official trailer #3 Adventure!
1. Pan teaches that it is okay to feel lost once in a while. As an orphan, Peter Pan didn’t know where he fit in. This is something almost everyone goes through, child or orphan or not. At some point in our lives we feel like a lost boy/girl, and that’s normal.
2. Pan teaches a child-like faith. Even though she had left him on the doorstep of an orphanage with nothing more than a letter, Pan never once doubted his mother. He believed she loved him, and knew she would come back for him if she could. One of my favorite lines was when Pan got one chance to see her and he said with tears streaming down his face, “I don’t know if you can miss someone you have never met, but I’ve missed you every day.”
3. Pan teaches the importance of believing in yourself. Even though he was meant to fulfill a prophesy, Peter Pan felt small and insignificant. He didn’t believe he could be the one that the prophesy talked about. My other favorite line in the movie is when Hook called him out on his self-doubt and said, “Born to a warrior, heir to a prince, I don’t know if you are the chosen one, I don’t know if there even is a chosen one but I do know that if you aren’t him, and you are just you maybe that is enough.”
4. Pan teaches that a story or person at first glance isn’t always what they seem. From what we know of Peter Pan, Captain Hook has always just been the bad guy, but this movie shows you how they started out as friends. It gives you a bit of Hook’s history and shows you that he isn’t a bad person just an adult with complicated adult feelings and emotions. It goes with the saying don’t judge a book by its cover. In this case we are so quick to judge people because of how they act, or something they’ve done but it is crucial to being a decent human to checking the backstory first. Don’t assume without finding out what makes them who they are, and why they do the things they do.
5. Pan teaches that we don’t all play the same role. We each have a destiny to fulfill that is greater than we think. Our childish fantasies can become reality with a pinch of bravery, some heart, and a whole lot of hard work. This may be a little cliché but it doesn’t make it any less true. I think that is why they made Peter Pan an orphan, because according to the way of the world an orphan would never amount to much. He never did in the way the world would think, but he still became bigger than life itself. Never doubt that your dreams can be your destiny which goes hand in hand with reality.
Comment below if you’ve watched this movie and have any thoughts, or opinions on it.