Big Fish Meets Renaissance Theory

There is amazing power in storytelling and fable.  One can easily look at the oft references fables of Aesop to see the importance of moral lessons found in poetry.  One can also spend time at the deathbed of a loved one, listening to their stories, which sometimes don’t make sense until later, to realize that what is most important is what makes us who we are, our stories.

Big Fish does a beautiful job of highlighting exactly what Sidney was talking about in Defense of Poesy.  He deems poetry as a form far superior to philosophy and history.  He evidences this by showing the nobility of the poet by comparing him to his competitors.  Philosophers, he has found are all about definitions, and that only the learned can understand what they mean.  But their intent is good; a focus on what men should be.  They, together with the historians fall short of their goal.  Historians, he surmises, create their version of events based on hearsay and one groups’ version of the truth.  Historians focus on what man is, but neglect the whole by only focusing on the particulars.  And while this quest to understand what man should be and man’s true character is paramount, it is only the hero-poet who becomes the moderator of the two.  In the case of Big Fish, that man is Edward Bloom. He does precisely what Sidney asks him to.  He moves when others just teach.  He entices the audience (is some cases his son, in others a wedding party, a daughter-in-law, a friend or a spouse) to follow and powerfully moves them by creating a unique world following our mythical protagonist and narrator on his extraordinary journey.

Bloom agrees with Sidney that the story (or the poetry) is a better version of the truth.  In fact, it seems to be the only way to actually tell the story.  Although the Son complains throughout the piece that his father was never honest with him – and we are going to revisit this when we discuss the attacks on poetry – but the son himself finds that the only way to properly eulogize his father’s life, he must also tell his stories.  He simply states: “In telling the story of my father’s life, it’s impossible to separate the fact from the fiction, the man from the myth. The best I can do is tell it the way he told me.  It doesn’t always make sense and most of it never happened, but that’s what kind of story this is.”  Though he feels that his father and he are mere “strangers who know each other very well”, the two join forces to narrate this beautiful tale. 

If, as Sidney requests, part of the power of poetry is in its ability to move the audience and to teach a moral that can’t possibly be learned in a better way because of the entertainment factor, then Big Fish fulfills this poet’s tale in it’s focus on moral life lessons.  I think the term poet in this case can be applied to a number of people.  First, in the character of Edward Bloom who creates the most elaborate and fantastic stories to entertain his many audiences but also to teach his son, wife and daughter-in-law the moral principles of courage, self-determination, politeness, reason, work ethic, goals, etc.  He quite clearly outlines his life lessons right from the start in stating that he was intended for great things, not meant for an ordinary life.  He says that his hometown was “Too small for a man with my ambitions.”  His stories are the best versions of his life; he tells of his inventions, success in business, sports, heroic feats, etc.  It’s quite clear that his son is his intended audience and his moral lessons of his extraordinary life are meant to make him understand that his father, who wasn’t around a lot when he was young, loved him and wanted the best for both of their lives. 

The term of poet could also be given to Tim Burton, the director, Daniel Wallace (book) and John August (screenplay) who use extraordinary imagery and morality in telling the story.  I believe that also did what Sidney begs the poet to do, to take pleasure in the art and to teach and move to the most high truth.  The moral lesson of a father-son reconciliation is the main focus of the film.  Both Burton and August had lost their fathers and perhaps this influenced their outlook and point of view on this project.  I’m certain it added to the passion for the piece (something Dryden would appreciate) in telling the right story the right way.  They chose to tell parts in shadow, while the world of the myth seemed to have an unnatural light, almost halo-like with soft hues and vibrant colors.  It made the vividness and brightness of the tale much more inviting than the stark and dull color of reality.   The halo-like lighting almost always present on Sandra Templeton makes the audience wonder if perhaps memory nature is better than actual nature.  Additionally when (in the son’s story this time) Edward gets mysteriously better and flees the hospital, the lighting and colorization again becomes more vibrant and bright.  Perhaps it could also be said that our filmmakers had a few statements about the criminality of Wall Street, the danger of giving into your fears with the imagery of the tree starting to swallow Edward or the determination to conquer those same fears as our protagonist presses on with out shoes, smartly commenting that “I expect it will hurt a lot.”

Sidney was quite concerned in the Renaissance time period with defending poetry against its many attackers.  He centers his argument on three basic statements dealing with objections raised against poetry, which are: that it is a waste of time, the mother of all lies, and the nurse of abuse.  He quite successfully counters those arguments, stating for the first that, good learning moves toward virtue.  This film is centered on moving the audience toward virtue.  Among the life lessons inherent in the film are that “The biggest fish in the river gets that way by never being caught.”  “The reasonable man swallows pride and admits mistake…but I’ve never been a reasonable man.”  “The long way is easier, but it’s longer.”  “No man can avoid reading the end of his life.”  It’s apparent that we are supposed to take something from this piece, just as Will (the son) is supposed to take something from his father’s sacrifice. 

In Sidney’s counterargument of the statement that poetry is the “Mother of lies”, he determines that the Poet never affirms, and therefore, never lies.  Poets are not liars because they make no claims.  They tell not what is.  But what should or should not be.  Though Will would like a version of the story of his father’s life with “all the facts, none of the flavor,” he most certainly won’t get it.  He complains that his father “never told me a single true thing” and that Edward’s tales are amusing lies, elaborate mythologies, impossible, charming but fake.  Edward, however never comes out and says that he is lying.  He simply tells the best version of his story. 

The third argument against poetry may admittedly have a tiny basis in truth.  Sidney claims that many think that poetry is the nurse of abuse, infecting us with desires and lusts.  It makes us weak because we are moved toward imagination instead of action.  But his defense of poetry is that it is really man who misinterprets and misreads things.  Instead, poetry teaches us how to act in the first place.  And that is the main objective of Bloom’s stories to his son.  He teaches him how to be brave, courageous, kind, determined, and a number of other qualities.  He is a man who did what Dryden advocates for every poet, he “explored every opportunity that presented itself.”  He paints himself to be a man of action and encourages Will to do the same.  He tries to point out their commonality and equal place as poets in this epic tale, believing that:  “We are storytellers, both of us.  You write yours down, I speak mine.”  So, in essence, they become the Poet and the orator. 

One can choose to believe the true version or the fanciful version.  The real story is not about fish and wedding rings, but elaborate story about morals and how the people in our lives make it worth living.  He is joined in the end of his life by all the people that became the fabric of his tale.  As he looks at the unbelievable story of his life, his son realizes that what Jenny told him was true, “I was make believe, and his other life, you were real.”  As he is surrounded by smiling faces, Edward becomes one with his myth.  He becomes what he always was, “a very big fish.”  And in true Dryden form, he is able to live on to immortality through his stories, now being passed on through his son and his grandson.

The Romans said that poets were akin to prophets and seers, the Greeks versioned them as the makers; their mimesis has the intent to both delight and teach.   They have the ability to show us through imagination a version of reality/nature that is better, that is ideal.  And the most poetic moments of all can happen at the end.  The end is always a surprise, but it’s also quite cathartic.  It’s clear that the Poet’s job is to move, show the way, and entice men to follow.  Poetry allows us to know the “why” of history.  And in so doing, allow us to connect with what is really going to stay with us in the long run.  As I held my grandfather’s hand this week, and shared memories with him, I know they were through rose-colored glasses, but neither of us seemed to mind.  Because that is the version I choose to remember.