On Saturday, I took my girls to see the new Trolls movie. One of the previews was for Ordinary Angels, what appears to be a treacly, Christian-message film about ordinary citizens banding together during a snowstorm to get a young girl who needs a kidney transplant to the hospital. As the trailer music swelled while people in small-town-USA rushed out to clear the roads by hand with their snow shovels, I rolled my eyes--and simultaneously restrained myself from bursting into tears.
Last night, I watched Dawn Wall, a documentary about two climbers' attempt to be the first to free climb a multi-pitch ascent on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgensen had been trading off climbing; neither would go ahead until the other had successfully completed the previous pitch. However, at one point, Kevin gets stuck for days on Pitch 15, and Tommy eventually climbs ahead, completing the most challenging pitches and giving himself just a few moderate climbs to go before reaching the top. He could easily have completed the climb, with headlines blaring "Tommy Caldwell only person to complete the Dawn Wall." Instead, he refuses to finish without Kevin, sticking with him for several more days until Kevin finally succeeds on Pitch 15 and can complete the rest of the climb.
The scene where Tommy chooses to wait has none of the over-the-top sentimentality of Ordinary Angels. Tommy makes the pronouncement mumbling over a camp stove, almost nonchalantly insisting he wants to summit together. There's no hug or soulful eye contact. Nonetheless, again, I had to restrain from bursting into tears.
I've long feared sentimentality, so much that I've reflected on my aversion on past occasions. On my review of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, I wrote, "Maybe it's not possible to write about deeply loving relationships without being a bit sentimental. I guess that's okay too. I've reached a point in my life where I know I value those more than anything else, so I suppose it's only to be expected that my tastes in literature would reflect it." I couldn't help but feel buoyed by the joy of Dawn Wall the rest of the evening. I even texted two friends I hadn't spoke to in awhile.
Of course, none of this means I'll watch Ordinary Angels. I'm not that sappy.
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