This is how much I was listened to – few to no one knows what my favorite movie or book is.  Or even color. I listened and observed.  Unlike the self-absorbed people I’ve been generally surrounded with. Try listening for once – it gives you great power.  And if you’re curious it’s the Godfather and probably Les Miserables.  Up there is also the Great Gatsby, the Catcher in the Rye, Science, Strategy, and War, the Tao Te Ching, and the Godfather novel (one of the most insightful commentaries on human nature).

A recent movie that I found thought profound is Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog.  Many critics identify the main theme as toxic masculinity and while that is certainly present, it’s more than that.  To me, it is way more layered, deep, and complex.  I think it is about hiddenness, longing, true power, development, and learning to break free of what holds us back.  Some compare it to Brokeback Mountain but that’s not accurate – that’s a love story.  The Power of the Dog is something else.

I won’t spoil the plot but this one is worth watching multiple times because the scenes and dialogue are profound and well thought out.  It’s even biblical in nature – the title itself coming from one of David’s Psalms.  I will mention one key scene where two characters are looking at a mountain and they can see something that everyone else misses.  It’s a powerful moment of connection and realization.

The key is to not only be seen but to be seen correctly.  I’m not sure how many of us actually receive that.  I sure didn’t.  I found that the ones who really did weren’t the assclowns in the community and family I grew up in but more, unsurprisingly, within my law enforcement and educator family – and even this was rare.  They had the soft eyes – a  concept I often refer to that reflects the ability to see what’s really going on – depth, breadth, layers.  It’s often linked to age and life experience, but it’s also inherent and intuitive.  

The Power of the Dog also explores the issue of vulnerability and reality.  The former requires real strength and defines, reflects the latter.  The ability to make peace and embrace both is the path to salvation.  I’ve met a good array of people through my travels and found this sorely lacking in many.  Unsurprisingly, I found it in the ones who have suffered considerably and reflected well, making some peace with all of it.  The others just seemed to ignore, distract, and minimize.  I don’t think that’s the way to go.  It’s about confirming, accepting, even making love to the darkness to really live fully and authentically.  I haven’t figured it out yet but this I think leads to freedom.  

There are two main characters in the Power of the Dog.  Unlike what some critics say, both are extremely powerful.  It’s just one knows himself better and embraces it more fully and the other doesn’t, with devastating consequences for himself and others.  This is more than just simple self love – it’s about understanding of how one is created in the image of God while still being flawed.  Beautiful and broken.  The evidence of power and grace.

The true seeing.  That is priceless.  When you can do it.  When you can receive it.

It is both the power of the dog and what also frees you from it.