Regis Cebu Leadership
Leader Dovie M. Sainz
Movie Synopsis, Analysis of JCampbell's Monomyth and My Life Story
Movie Title: Independence Day
Movie Synopsis:
The Movie is about aliens trying to invade earth. It begins with about a dozen massive spaceships positioning themselves over some of earth's major cities. Some people welcomed their arrival hoping to be the first to meet aliens. However, the aliens did not come in peace but rather to annihilate the earth on the fourth of July.
After being informed about the aliens, US President Thomas J. Whitmore ordered a large-scale evacuation of targeted cities. The vice president and several cabinet members were killed. One pilot was able to survive the attack in Los Angeles by luring an alien aircraft towards the Grand Canon where it crashed. He brought the injured alien to Area 51 with the help of several refugees travelling across the desert.
Inside Area 51, some scientists tried to autopsy the alien but were killed when the alien regained consciousness. The alien attempted to attack the president using psychic means. President Whitmore told his men that while he was attacked, he saw the plans of the aliens: to invade planets, destroy all life and harvest all natural resources.
He planned an attack but their missiles could not penetrate the alien's force field. One MIT engineer suggested they use an alien aircraft they just repaired to enter the enemy's mother ship and plant a virus inside their computer system to eradicate the force field. Once the field is down, they will attack using nuclear weapons. They were successful in planting the virus. Although the human aircrafts could now destroy the alien's smaller aircraft, the massive spaceships hovering above the USA were still impenetrable. With all their ammunition used up, one pilot with the last missile decided to offer his life by going up one of the massive ships and destroying it with his aircraft.
The US then informs the other nations how to find the weak point of the massive ships. Meanwhile, the nuclear device planted inside the mother ship destroyed it. The movie ended with people watching the debris from the mother ship fall like shooting stars.
Hero of the Movie
The movie actually had many characters that can be considered heroes. There is the pilot who went up one of the massive ships kamikaze style and successfully destroying it. Another is the MIT engineer who enlisted when he saw the troops lacked men. But my hero in this movie was the US President.
President Whitmore could have gone into hiding like the vice president and cabinet members while the military defended the earth. But he opted to go to Area 51 and launch a counter attack against the enemies. He led his people by enlisting himself and fighting alongside them. Anybody who sees their leader doing this would be so willing to give up his or her life for whatever cause the leader is fighting for. I admired his quick decision making skills and heroic act to save not only the USA but also the entire world.
1. The Hero was introduced in the ordinary world
Although President Thomas J. Whitmore is the president of a strong nation, he was just an ordinary president of the USA who had a wife and daughter. He was a former military man with previous combat flight experience.
2. The call to adventure
On July 2, massive spaceships positioned themselves over key cities around the world. An MIT engineer, David Levinson, informed President Whitmore about his discovery of the planned coordinated attacks by aliens. The president ordered his people to evacuate targeted cities but the aliens were able to launch their attacks before the people could leave the cities. The president and some staff members barely escaped the attack in Washington DC.
Archetype: David Levinson - Herald
3. Refusal of the call
When they reached Area 51, the president was shown inside the top-secret facility where scientists where trying to autopsy the alien creature. When the alien regained consciousness, it attacked first the doctor and his examining crew. President Whitmore was reluctant at first to show antagonism. He attempted to make peace with the creature by asking if there is a chance that the people of earth and the invaders can live in peace. The creature said "No". Then he asked what the creature wanted from the humans and it said, "Die".
Archetype: Alien - Shadow
4. Meeting the Mentor
Captain Steven Hiller was the only pilot who survived the LA attack. He forced an alien aircraft to crash in the Grand Canyon. After he subdued the injured alien, he brought it to Area 51. He was responsible in bringing a live alien that allowed President Whitmore to see their evil mission. Captain Hiller was the one who helped President Whitmore devise a plan to plant a virus in the computer system of the mother ship to destroy its force field.
Russel Casse, another pilot who rescued Captain Hiller, helped President Whitmore be more decisive with his counter attack plans against the aliens. He is a crop-duster pilot who brought along his children and a group of refugees across the desert to seek shelter in Area 51.
A silent mentor here was president Whitmore's wife, First Lady Marilyn Whitmore. Although she did not play a major role, she provided strength to her husband and daughter even as she lay dying. There is a part of the movie that really touched me: A doctor comes in and tells President Whitmore that because of internal bleeding, his wife will die. The president goes to her and says, "The doctors say you're gonna be just fine." She smiled and replied softly, "Liar". She died after.
Archetype: Russel Casse – Threshold Guardian
5. Crossing the threshold
After his encounter with the alien inside area 51, President Whitmore saw that there is no chance for peace between the human race and the aliens. He saw that the alien's plan was to travel to different planets, attack all life forms and use all the resources then move on. He realized that if they were to save the earth, he needed to mobilize his troops and come up with a counter attack soon. There was no one else who can do it but him being the President.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
President Whitmore's first plan was to deploy B-2 spirit bombers to attack an alien destroyer aircraft over Houston, Texas. The weapon was unsuccessful in penetrating the force field and exploded in Houston instead, destroying parts of the city. He ordered all the B-2 bombers back to base. This was a failed attempt.
His wife was hit during the attack in LA and suffered internal bleeding. She died shortly after they were reunited in Area 51.
During the early hours of July 4, President Whitmore and his Secretary of Defense, Nimzicki, had an argument. Nimzicki criticized the president's decision and actions. President Whitmore fired him right there and then.
Archetype: Nimzicki – shapeshifter
7. Approach
When there were not enough military pilots to fly the available aircrafts, President Whitmore asked for volunteers. Anybody who had even a small experience flying could enlist. President Whitmore himself enlisted as he had previous combat flight experience.
Levinson comes up with a plan to use the refurbished alien aircraft to enter the mother ship and plant a virus. Captain Hiller volunteered to pilot the attacker and accompany Levinson to upload the virus. While they were doing this, President Whitmore led other pilots in distracting the aliens.
8. The Supreme Ordeal
When most of the weapons were used up, there was only one missile left and it was stuck in Russell Casse's aircraft. He asked the president permission to use his aircraft as a missile to destroy the alien's ship kamikaze style. There was a poignant moment in this movie when he told the president to tell his children that he loves them after he is gone.
9. The Reward
The impact of Russell Casse's aircraft inside the alien's ship caused a series of explosions that resulted in the annihilation of the ship. With the knowledge of how to attack the other aliens' ships, the American forces informed the other nations immediately. Other nations took their cue from America and were also able to destroy the other alien ships above their cities.
10. The Road Back
After the encounter with the aliens, President Whitmore had the task of telling Russel Casse's children about their father and his heroic deed. He made them understand what a great sacrifice their father gave to save the world.
11. The Resurrection
America was able to defeat the aliens on July 4. President Whitmore declared this day not only the Independence Day of the USA but of the whole world.
12. Return With The Elixir
President Whitmore knew that America was key in defeating the aliens and stopping the destruction of earth. His followers were exhausted but completely elated because of their victory.
Reflection Paper
I chose this movie because, to be honest, I rarely watch movies so I do not have many choices. I would rather read books and imagine the characters and situations as the story unfolds when I turn the pages. I also thought that the main characters here were heroes but one stood out from among them. President Whitmore gave so much of himself, which made the others follow his lead.
My own life is nowhere as heroic as President Whitmore's. I rarely step up and take on higher positions. I don't think I have ever been president of my class or organizations. There were many opportunities to take the lead but I would rather give full support to whoever is on top instead of accepting top positions. In high school, I was asked to run for student council president. Instead of running, I campaigned for the other candidate. In college, I would always go for the vice-president positions. When I joined the Jaycees, I only reached up to VP because when I was about to be next in line for president, I left the organization.
I do not have any regret with my choices because I only take on responsibilities where I know I will not get stressed. I choose my activities carefully because I do not want to disappoint anybody. I like to weigh the pros and cons before accepting any challenge. My approach has always been to accept a challenge only if it is necessary and will benefit many good people. This is why I think I am doing what I am doing now – going back to school to learn, reflect on my past experiences and eventually share these to others. Maybe I will discover that there is a hero in me after all.
1. The hero was introduced in the ordinary world
I was born in 1971 to an ordinary family. My parents had 5 daughters and I was second from the eldest. As far as I can recall, we lived a normal family life. My parents were deeply religious so we had to wake up early to attend the 6am mass at the Carmelites Monastery near our home. We were sent to a good Catholic school for girls. My father would bring us to school everyday and sometimes my mother would come along. My mother worked in their family business and my father took over my grandparents native delicacy business after he retired from the military in 1976.
My world consisted of home, church and school. We would always go out for lunch after Sunday mass. My parents also brought us to other places for vacations. Since there were no computers and many gadgets then, I would always go out and play with our neighbors. I was the one among my siblings who had the most number of friends in school and at home.
2. The call for adventure
During my fourth year in college in Manila, I went with my friends to apply in various multinational companies. I remembered taking the exams and being called for several interviews per company. After graduation, I had several offers but all were based in Manila.
My parents were very proud of me and they wanted me to try working in a large company there. However, I did not feel comfortable living on my own in an apartment. My reluctance to stay and work in Manila was because of loneliness and being away from home.
3. Refusal of the call
So I went back to Cebu and landed a teaching job at my alma mater. I was so happy teaching computer class because at that time, the concept was so new. There were no windows and internet yet. I was teaching basic programming. I wanted to be a teacher and not join the corporate world. I was afraid that I will not like my boss, my schedule and my work. I knew I was not fit to be in a corporate world.
4. Meeting the mentor
Since I could not continue teaching, I got married and became a fulltime housewife and mother. My husband's work is financing and their main clients are public school teachers. I got to meet most of their clients and I would ask why they were applying for loans. I learned so many things from talking to teachers who came to his office.
One of the problems I learned was that when they were hired, they worked for several months without pay while their papers were being processed. During those unpaid months, they still had to go to school, pay the bills and eat. Thus they had to borrow from loan sharks. When they are finally paid on a monthly basis, their loan has ballooned already. They go to financing companies so they can redeem their loans from the loan sharks and get better interest rates. But by then, the teachers already have debts.
5. Crossing the threshold
This discovery made me decide to help public school teachers. I would talk to them to find out why they needed the loan and how they can become debt free in a few years or months. I also researched on how to put up a financing company and how to offer the best rates. I started volunteering to do the paperwork for licenses and business permits of my husband's company.
6. Test, allies and enemies
While I was discovering many anomalies in the system, the teachers were very fortunate that the DepEd secretary then was trying to revamp the department. Sen Roco, whose parents were also public school teachers, knew what was wrong and tried to fix the problems. Unfortunately, he passed away.
The new secretary tried to continue his reforms. He tried to abolish lending companies that were charging excessive interest and finance charges. But he was not so successful because there were only a few financing companies and so there was no need to bring down interest rates.
When we went back to Cebu, we asked a few close friends if they wanted to invest in a financing company that would help public school teachers by offering low interest rates. We were able to put up our company in 2010.
7. Approach
When we started operations, the other financing companies tried to discredit us by telling the teachers that we had hidden charges. But we were so transparent that many teachers found out that it was the other companies who had those hidden charges. We also lowered the interest by 5%, which made so many teachers transfer their loans to us. As of this year, there are already more than thirty clients who have paid off their loans with us. I just hope they continue to be debt-free.
8. The Ordeal
It is very difficult to be a small player when you have giants competing against you. In our case, we are just a small financing company. In 2013, DepEd allowed banks to offer loans to public school teachers. Since they had more cash and manpower, they were able to lower the rate by 10%. Many of our clients left. But as the saying goes, "When God closes a door, he opens a window."
There was a fire in a very populated area in Cebu a few years ago. We found out that many of those affected were professionals. Some of them were teachers. We realized that the ones taking care of our children 8 hours a day did not have decent places to stay or were living in rooms that were not so safe at all. My husband and I decided to use our savings to build decent rooms for professionals most especially the teachers.
9. The Reward
I do not count the material blessings that we are having now as the reward for what we did. There is more that we have received in terms of relationships, friends, opportunities to give and serve, provide for the needy and love. My children are doing well in school because they have seen their parents work and care for their future.
We have several tenants who have stayed with us for almost 7 years already. We have the privilege of giving them good service and a safe and decent place that they can call home.
10. The road back
Almost everyday, I ask myself if what I'm doing is right. I want to know if this is what God planned for me. But whenever I get too contented with my situation, another challenge presents itself and I do the usual cycle of assessing, weighing pros and cons and accepting the challenge.
11. Resurrection
I realized that part of the reason I did not work in Manila after graduation was because I heeded the call of the Jesuits to give back to society first. So I taught in school. I did not apply for a job because I wanted to put up my own company that can provide jobs instead.
12. Return with Elixir
My experience with family, friends, teachers and clients have made me realized that I can do many good deeds that can make other people's lives better. As what Mother Theresa said, "We cannot do great things, only small things with great love".
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