Several years ago I read the Newberry Award winning book The Giver, by Lois Lowry. My stepdaughter was reading it for her Catholic school class, and I wanted to know what she was reading. I found myself engrossed in the story, which centers on a futuristic society, post-“Ruin”, in which a group of Elders govern the passive “sheeple.”

Lowry published the book in the early 1990s, and twenty years later it finally has come to the big screen. When I heard recently that the story had been made into a movie, I was eager to see it. It opened this past Thursday in theaters, and I made my way to see it yesterday ( Saturday).

Let me start by immediately saying that this movie is a must-see for all Conservatives. But the same is true for Liberals. In fact, the movie is distributed by Harvey Weinstein, the notoriously über-liberal movie producer, and it stars Meryl Streep, who also shares a passion for liberal causes. The question for me in all of this is why liberals would contribute to a story that–in my mind–is so damning of the liberal-progressive way of life. The only answer that makes sense is that they do not see the story as I do. Rather, they must see it as an indictment of conservative values. Why else would they star in and distribute this movie?

I have tried to put myself into the mindset of liberals as I viewed this move, to see if I can ascertain what they draw from the story that would seemingly condemn Conservatives. Before my head exploded from this impossible task, I was able to come up with a few things in the movie that may be skewed in order to support the progressive position. Here are my top four.

(1) Conservatives oppose abortion. Therefore, they would endorse The Community since there are selected birth-mothers who perform this task such that other women do not have to suffer unwanted pregnancies.

(2) Conservatives oppose immigration of foreigners, so this closed Community where no one leaves and no one enters is just what they want.

(3) Conservatives are homophobic so they would approve of giving injections to people so they would not have sexual “stirrings” and the government could pair up one man with one woman to create an arranged household, wherein they assign children to them to raise.

(4) Conservatives want everyone to speak English and give up their ethnic heritage and country of origin to become “American.” So the sameness in all the Community’s houses and daily routines is what Conservatives desire.

Now, I do not need to point out to true Conservatives the fallacies in these assertions. Instead, I encourage and challenge my fellow Conservatives to see the move The Giver and then take the quiz that I have concocted below. Indeed, if you have read the book, you should do quite well on the quiz also. Add your own questions for others to ponder in the Comment section.

(1) We read all kinds of upsetting stories in the news these days. Consider these recent stories and pick out which one is true about The Community after The Ruin.

a. A curfew has been enacted in Ferguson, Missouri, this week because of the rioting. There would be no curfew in the Community because the elders do not believe in control of this type.

b. Drones spy on us and track our activities. Privacy is sacred in  The Community, so drones would not be used.

c. Governor Perry of Texas was indicted this week. His “crime” stems from his trying to get an Austin District Attorney to resign after she was caught drunk driving. In this video of 5:15 and 8:40 marks, D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg swats away the hand of a peace officer who tries to assist her to stop her from falling over. In The Community this would be understandable since it is impolite to touch Community members outside the family unit.

d. Students across the nation have protested the forced insertion of healthy foods onto their plates and into their vending machines.  First Lady Michelle Obama is credited with spearheading the drive toward healthy eating in the nation’s public schools. Students in The Community would not understand such restrictions since they can choose what they want to eat whenever they want it.

(2) Comedian Robin Williams died this past week, and his suicide has all but monopolized the attention Why would the media attention to the death of Robin Williams be impossible in the Community?

a. There is no knowledge of death.
b. Journalists are not allowed to write about actors.
c. Suicide is taboo in the community.
d. No one ever dies.

(3) Which liberal concept best fits the “Nurturing Center,” to which Fiona was assigned to work?

a. Survival of the fittest
b. Only the good die young
c. It takes a Village.
d. Both a and c.

(4) Which of these is not part of the “Plan for sameness”?

a. all eat same food.
b. all work at the same job.
c. all get a bike at age 9.
d. all take a daily injection.

(5) Which is not a privilege that Jonas gets when he becomes the Receiver?

a. He can lie.
b. He can skip his daily injection.
c. He can enter the Giver’s house.
d. He can ask any question he wants.

(6) Which of these “problems” is NOT nonexistent in The Community? (Yes, this is a double negative. Figure it out.)

a. War
b. Pain
c. Murder
d. Snow

(7) What is the significance of the place where Jonas, Fiona and Asher always meet?

a. Lights are knowledge and animals are friendship.
b. Triangle equals three as in Trinity, water symbolizes washing clean of sins in baptism.
c. Circle is for unending friendship.
d. They meet at many places so there is nothing symbolic.

(8) Which of these is NOT an event in the life of each member of The Community.

a. Ceremony where the child is awarded to its family.
b. Ceremony where the child is assigned to a job.
c. Ceremony where the young men choose their spouses.
d. Ceremony of a release to elsewhere.

(9) Only two people say “I love you” in the movie. What is the one thing that the speaker shares with the other party that prompts the sharing of these words?

a. Common parent
b. Memories
c. Childhood
d. Common ambition

 (10) Jonas’ parents ask him for “precision of language” when he asks his father what question?

a. Do you love me?
b. What’s for dinner?
c. Are you happy?
d. Where is Gabriel?

The answers to the quiz will be posted in a future blog post. Go see the movie if you have not yet done so. Please.