Cupidon, made by a group from ESMA in Montpellier, France is a short animation, which tells the story of what happens when Cupid accidently shoots two arrows into the same person.
Pierre (he needs a name, and Pierre will do!) proceeds to fall in love with himself.
While Cupid struggles to recover his misfired arrow, the poor girl who was destined to fall in love with Pierre is left to wander the streets of Paris.
http://vimeo.com/user13759023
A Deeper Look:
Pierre’s love for himself is a textbook example of vanity. His new look delights him and he is constantly looking in windows just to admire his reflection and prowess. Even though his actions don’t seem that significant, he is quickly becoming a danger to himself and smacks his head on something he doesn’t see. As he gradually loses interest in his surroundings he dances a tango, and his imaginary partner is not a girl he’s seen or hopes to meet, but himself! Pierre’s outlook becomes so narrow that soon his eyes, thoughts and actions are completely focused on himself, and nothing can distract him. He ends up almost dying due to the proud belief that he is invincible and can do nothing wrong.
The greatest danger of vanity, I believe, isn’t the fact that looking at ourselves is necessarily bad. Rather, it is in that we begin to loose sight of who is most important in our lives, the Lord Jesus. This, I believe is an enormous danger in our times. In all that we do, in our work, in our relationships, in our prayer, “Who is in the center of my life? Christ and His Plan for me? Or, am I simply living in my own world, absorbed by my own ideas, feelings and desires?” Christ is the one that teaches us how to see and love ourselves.
Apostolic Elements:
– How to understand a proper “self-love”: The story of Pierre ties in with Sunday’s gospel, in which Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The key is to understand what exactly Jesus means by this. In Pierre’s case, his “self-love” is extremely distorted, closing him off to others. Pierre’s type of self-centered self-love is no help to him in loving his neighbor: he is completely oblivious to the world around him!
– The video illustrates that we need others. Only Cupid sees what a disaster Pierre’s life is becoming, and manages to save him from a sticky end. (Of course, the more arrogant and self-centered we become, the harder it is for us to accept or even hear the things others say to us, and the harder we make it for them to help us.)
– We also see sin’s domino affect. When we make decisions we should keep in mind that one sin leads to another. Pierre starts off by admiring his own good looks, but soon becomes obsessed, vain, self-centered, selfish, and arrogant, among other things. And even Cupid, who started with an innocent mistake, later chooses a path which I suspect cannot end well…
Do you have any other reflections which could help us in our personal lives or apostolate? Have you used this video as a starting point for dialogue, or in another way? How did it go? Please share your comments and experiences below.
