Pollyanna

 There are few movies in my life that have made more of an impact on me than Disney's 'Pollyanna.'  And if you know me at all, you know that's quite a statement.  But, the over-arching theme of that film is the very essence of this blog title, as I sit and think about it.  I'm the first to admit that, as grumpy as I can get at times, my nature is one of - what I used to think of as naive, but what I guess others see as - an optimist.  One who, rather than being unaware of what is negative around them, chooses to pluck what is positive about what they see, and just go with that.  Maybe it's a self-preservation mechanism, I don't know.  But, looking at the "downers" one is surrounded by (and, believe me, I can do that to a fault) is a very tiring and agitating pursuit that only makes the observer unhappy and, consequently, those around them. It doesn't really change anything for the better. It's that simple.  On the other hand, if I, as the observer of the positive, can keep focused on that, and perhaps, share that attitude with others who are in a similar agitated state, maybe we can both be lifted (or is it merely distracted - who cares?) together.

There are so many scenes in Pollyanna that amuse me and illustrate this exact principle.  Though Pollyanna is the 'new girl in town' and spends the first several days of her life in Harrington Town learning the sad truth that everyone there lives under a raincloud of pessimism, resentment, and the dismal status quo that life will always be oppressed by her Aunt Polly Harrington's wealthy and controlling presence, she quickly shares her view that none of that needs to be so.  Surely her Aunt Polly must be the happiest woman in town (despite what her stern scowl and impatient manner would indicate) because, after all - she's "so very rich!"  Sundays, rather than being dreaded because of the preacher's stomach-turning, fire-and-brimstone sermons each week, could be happily anticipated because "it will be a whole week before it's Sunday again!"  The most classic example of her ultimate positive mental attitude comes when she explains to a very negative hypochondriac who is constantly planning her own funeral, that when she had thought she was getting a doll in the missionary barrels sent to her father (who had been a minister before his death), she ended up with a pair of crutches, but it wasn't all bad - rather than be 'gloomy,' she decided that she could actually find a reason to be glad.  "There's nothing 'glad' about a pair of crutches."  Pollyanna's reply - "we were glad that we didn't have to use them!"  

I admit that each time I watch this movie, I can see the perspective of Pollyanna appearing to be a bit naive or a little 'clueless' - for lack of a better word - but, in the end, it is part of the reason why she can weather certain negativities, and keep pressing forward, and actually enjoy her life in the midst of those who seem as though they can't.  There is no burden on her to constantly be nurturing the negative because she doesn't really see the point and, as the preacher in the story - at the end of the tale - points out with passion to Pollyanna's aunt, her joy in living, her uplifting nature, her positive outlook is "very contagious!"  

That's the JOY of this movie, not just the message.  The infectiousness, that contagion called 'happiness' spreads like wildfire through the fictional town and right out of the screen into every viewer themself.  The smile that starts to spread across MY face gets wider and more permanent as each curmudgeon and pessimist and grump in Harrington Town gradually changes, softens, and starts to move those around them to do the same.  The head maid, the house cook, the sour housekeeper, the gardener, the town council members, the town doctor, everyone gradually becomes infected with (though they fight it at first) Pollyanna's positivity. The wealthy but lonely hermit whom she refuses to be rebuffed by, even through his rantings and threats.  A less secure child would have been frightened away.  But, she blinks her big eyes at him, sees right through him, calls his "bluff"on not wanting friends and visitors, and proceeds to fill his home with "rainbows" that are made from hanging the crystals from his lamps up in the windows and observing the "refracted light" "painting" colors all over his walls.  The hermit becomes the salesman of "rainbow makers" and the adoptive father of Pollyanna's best friend.

Mrs. Snow, the "dying" woman who has regular visits from her mortician to pick out the lining of her coffin and decides she prefers the "brass coffin handles" as opposed to the silver, and tells Pollyanna in her first meeting that she thinks Pollyanna has a "stubby little nose" and she doesn't "like her at all. " That only prompts Pollyanna to avidly agree that her nose was stubby, she wishes she were pretty like Mrs. Snow, and, after hearing her making such a fuss over funeral arrangements, sharply reprimands her attitude by saying that she wasn't going to die, she doesn't want her to die, and teaches her how to play the "Glad Game" (to the moans and protestations of the undertaker). The Glad Game - where, no matter what you are going through in life that brings you down, you can always find something "to be glad about!" She reminds her that she should "forget about dying and be glad [she's] living" and perhaps join a community project to help orphans instead.  That conversation  transforms Mrs. Snow from a self-pitying pessimist who has given up on life, to an advocate for charitable causes, a quilt maker, and a secret helper at a carnival where she makes sure there is a doll at the end of a fishing booth line Pollyanna is holding.  It's Mrs. Snow who eventually tries to help the community play the "Glad Game" at the end of the film when Pollyanna has been injured and everyone is so worried for her.   

Pollyanna's influence on the Christian preacher is perhaps the most pivotal moment in the film.  Her realization that his fiery and stomach-turning "death comes unexpectedly!" sermons are not really coming from the heart or inspiration but from her Aunt Polly's iron-fisted control of the church through monetary contributions prompts her to gently share her deceased father's sermonizing tact with the Reverend Ford.  Her revelation to this minister that her own preacher-father's finding of 100's of "glad" passages in the scriptures could only mean one thing - He must want us to be happy.  And without any other further comment she left him to ponder.  His sermons changed, his heart changed, his congregation changed, his effect on the community changed.  He is the one who saw the town transform and finally pointed out to a very frustrated and negative Aunt Polly who wished Pollyanna "had never come to this town" that in actuality "we should get down on our knees and thank God for sending her to us!"  

There's a need for each of us to find the "Pollyanna" inside ourselves.  Or look to the Pollyannas that are around you if you are not that way yourself, and start finding the good - in others, in life, in any circumstance.  I often think about some of the horrendous trials people have gone through, really since the world began, and wonder how it is that they could go on living after such horrors.  And they must had done it by clinging to what was good.  What was NOT horrendous.  By not bemoaning the unchangeable past but looking to a raw and yet-to-be-determined future and enjoying whatever is positive in the here and now. We can learn so much from Pollyanna.  And be shameless in doing so.  

I gladly sign up to be a citizen of "Glad" Town - the new name given to Harrington in honor of the little girl who made it so.  Cheesy and darling.  And perfect.