So, I finally got to see Across the Universe a week or two ago.

It was delightful in all the right ways. The music was fantastic, the characters were perfectly portrayed, the acting superb. I recommend it with the highest level of DV-endorsement. I even endorse it more than I do Makarolmon's blog. It's that awesome.

More amazing, of course, are the numerous ideas presented within the film.

"All you need is love..."

The idea that love defeats all is, of course, universal, and speaks to a desire so deeply entrenched inside even the worst of men, that it pervades our cultures in innumerable ways. Arguably the most potent and important idea within the film, the idea of love is portrayed so fantastically. The film does not endorse a "and then they lived happily ever after," idealistic view of love. It shows a love that is tested, that falters, a love that seems to burn out, sputter, yet is ultimately too strong to overcome. And even in the end, as Lucy's in the sky with diamonds, a bridge has yet to be gulfed. The two lovers are still on different rooftops, so to speak. Yet even with the separation that exists between them, they are together, bound, one.

Because in the end, love isn't living in perfect harmony, it isn't living in perfect agreement with one another, it's living in spite of the lack of perfection that does, and will, exist.

Love conquers all things, if you let it.

"You say you want a revolution..."

This is especially important in the current times, both politically, and here on BZP where there have been several 'attacks' in the name of 'justice' by a group of 'revolutionaries'. The film takes place in the turbulent times embodied by the Vietnam War. As revolutionaries become more radical, do they make their cause greater? Or in the attempt to shock the 'man' into doing as you desire, is the revolution compromised? If you must compromise your beliefs to bring attention to your cause, is the gain worth the loss? Even in the deepest, most important moments, in the most important revolutions possible, for the greatest causes imaginable, is the potential gain worth the loss?

Let's be honest. Compromise must exist for two sides to reconcile. But when you compromise your very beliefs in an attempt to shock the other side into submission, using the very tactics you decry, using radical tactics for no other purpose than to gain attention, what cause are you serving?

As Jude tells Lucy, laying down in front of tanks is a nice picture, but you're not going to stop them from rolling over you. Laying in front of tanks isn't going to end the war. Blowing up buildings because the 'man' blew up an Asian village isn't going to spread the message of 'peace'. Your methods must not only be realistic, they must be fruitful, they must convey the message while using the message.

That isn't, of course, to decry activism. As the film is lived through the hippie movement, this is clearly not the message. The idea is brought to a head when Lucy walks into the revolutionary headquarters, and discovers the revolutionaries constructing an explosive. She states "I thought it was the other side that used bombs."

Be a revolutionary. Even be radical. But don't do it in a way that destroys those around you. Don't do it in a way that draws attention to yourself, yet compromises your message. Don't be radical in such a way that those you're trying to persuade instead see your actions, decry you as a hypocrite, and a dangerous one at that, and become set against you, and by proxy, the message you have betrayed, yet to which you are intrinsically linked. Be smart, be wise, and remember, "when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out."

(So dear BZP revolutionaries: Stop it. You're not winning anyone over. You're disgusting, vile, and by carrying your Chariman Mao (figuratively), you have alienated yourself from anyone who may ever have thought along the same lines as you do. You're done. And realistically, if you don't like this place, it's not like you have to chill here. This isn't a country you were born into. We're not fighting an unjust war on BZP that you need to decry. We're talking about LEGO Bricks. They're toys, man. Chill out, egg-men. You're not getting a little help from my friends. So let it be. Otherwise, it won't be long, and you'll be flying. Understand?)