Warning: may contain spoilers
I recently had the opportunity to go see “Finding Dory” (2016) with my best friend. I thought that we would be the only people there who were not parents dragged to see the film on a Friday night, but it turned out that the cinema was filled with viewers of all ages.
For those who are unfamiliar with the film, “Finding Dory” is the sequel to “Finding Nemo” (2003) brought to life by Pixar Animation Studios. In “Finding Nemo,” clownfish Marlin goes out on a journey to find his son Nemo, who was captured and taken to Sydney. He meets a forgetful blue tang named Dory along the way and together they travel great distances to search for Nemo. Thirteen years later, Pixar brings us “Finding Dory.” Its story begins with a flashback to Dory’s childhood, and she recalls that she has a family.
I was only 4 or 5 years old when “Finding Nemo” came out in theaters. As you can expect, “Finding Nemo” was nothing more than a good animation film with a bunch of cute sea animals to me. As a 17-year-old watching “Finding Dory,” however, I walked out of the cinema thinking more than just, “Oh wow, the sequel wasn’t half bad.” I have never imagined that a movie about an animated blue tang fish would teach me much about life, but to my surprise, it did.
Here are some of the lessons I have learned.
1. Love is powerful
Relevant line: “We will never forget you, Dory. And we know you will never forget us.” – Jenny (Dory’s mom)
I cannot stress the importance of family, whether you are bonded together by blood, Greek letters, or a strong friendship. Your family members are the people you can turn to at any time, in good times and in bad.
2. Believe in yourself
Relevant line: “You can do whatever you put your mind to.” – Jenny (Dory’s mom)
There is a saying that “believing in yourself is the first secret to success,” and it is right. Trust your instincts, work hard in the things you do, and know that everything will turn out okay one day.
3. Sometimes, you just need to slow down, step back, and think
Relevant line: “What would Dory do?” - Nemo
Chances are, you cannot think of ways to solve a problem when you are stressed out and half-asleep with a pot of coffee in your system. Sleep on your ideas, or at least take your mind off it for a while, and you will most likely come up with a much better solution.
4. Think outside of the box
Relevant line: “When something is too hard… there is always another way.” – Charlie (Dory’s dad)
Put down your own, likely biased, opinions, experiences, and lessons you have learned at school, and approach your task with a completely different viewpoint.
5. Keep holding on
Relevant line: “Just keep swimming.” – Dory
Just wait and see. You never know what is going to happen next.
