I was eight years old when I went to see "Finding Nemo" at the theater. My entire family went, including my older sister who was 15 at the time and only went because my parents gently forced the issue to appease me. I remember being terrified of the shark, Bruce and having the stuffed animal version of Pearl. She was the cute light purple octopus who exclaimed the unforgettable line “Hey! You guys made me ink…” as she felt embarrassed and down on herself. Also, who doesn't love clownfish? They are just positively adorable. I used to have a clown fish pool toy that I undeniably obsessed over as a toddler. Now we all know that "Finding Nemo" was incredibly popular and gave us the famous quote that showed optimistic advice to press on when times are hard- “just keep swimming…”.
Fast forward 13 years later, and after reflecting on the movie after I left the theater, I found incredible lessons in Finding Dory that maybe not all will see at first but are discernibly important.
The first being that others learn to accept Dory’s “disability,” which is short-term memory loss and instead actually strive to be like her towards the end. The others repeated to themselves, “What would Dory do?”. Because of her disability she goes above and beyond to believe in herself and get out of situations that are scary and always believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you “just keep swimming.” All she needed was to know that the people who love and care about her most believed in her and her capabilities.
Nemo exclaims to Marlin as to how he was in the wrong when he got frustrated and said things he didn’t mean: “Dad you made her feel like she couldn’t do it!” I loved this line because as a future educator it’s crucial to show children that you believe in them always and that they can do it. Along with this lesson was the second lesson that children can teach parents a few things on where they went wrong. It’s not just that only parents teach their children, each can learn something from the other.
The third and final lesson is that home is not a place, it’s the people you surround yourself with. It’s the people you share life with or the people that gave you life that make you feel at home. Just like the saying goes “there’s no place like home” and “life is a journey that is homeward bound.” The entire movie is Dory trying to make her way home to be reunited with her parents who she got lost from as an infant. When she’s little we see her parents very encouraging and positive, despite worrisome glances exchanged between the two of them. Or when in private, her mother, Jenny breaks down that she does not think she will be able to make it on her own when she grows up. However, they never lost faith that Dory would make it back to them.The reinforcing idea of home being her parents, and not a specific place, since they are not in the same location, shows that she may have gotten lost but she found them just the same despite her “disability” and those who did not believe in her. The ending shows Dory as somebody who is capable, confident and a blue tang to marvel at. She does not just find “home,” she finds faith in herself. And that's why no matter how old I get, I'll never stop loving these movies.
