Holes: Smelly Feet and Holy Ground

I was on a flight back to Los Angeles just after screening the movie Holes when I noticed a young teenaged girl reading the book on which the film is based. To tell you the truth, I had never heard of Holes before, although it is a multiple prize-winning novel by Louis Sachar that is supposedly more popular among kids than Harry Potter and is in print in thirty countries. I asked the young lady if she liked the book and she looked up at me with a big smile and said yes, because it was so adventurous. Her older sister jumped into the conversation and agreed. Just yesterday I saw a woman buy nine copies of the book Holes at Borders. Here we go again. Kids are going to start reading more because of a movie.

In The Power of Myth, the scholar and writer Joseph Campbell, says that myths are "literature of the spirit" and "clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life..about the experience of life and the rapture of being alive." He also says that writers of myth have to be "true to truth," therefore their stories must deal with the imperfections of life. Besides, perfect human beings are just so uninteresting and "it is the imperfections of life that are loveable."

Holes is a kind of myth - for kids and adults. At first I thought it might fit the fairy tale genre more - that kind of storytelling that combines reality and fantasy in order to entertain and teach - which it certainly does. But this is a movie about adults who are anything but boring and young adolescent boys whose awkward imperfections and unfortunate situations make them so very loveable.

Stanley Yelnats IV (Stanley spelled backwards, hence the origin of his name, played by Shia LaBeouf) is walking home one day, when a pair of tennis shoes drops from the highway overpass above. Stanley puts them on and continues on his way. But the police track him down and he is arrested for theft. Unfortunately, those smelly tennis shoes are famous and were stolen from a charity auction. To the dismay of his parents and grandfather, Stanley is sentenced to 18 months at a juvenile facility, Camp Green Lake, halfway between "hell and Houston."

The Yelnats Family is a strange one that reminded me of the Wormwood's of Roald Dahl's Matilda, with a major difference. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood are the parents from hell, whereas the Yelnats are a rather benign family (rather like that of Malcolm in the Middle), resigned to the consequences of a curse leveled on them generations ago. A fortune-teller in Latvia cursed the first Stanley Yelnats because he did not fulfill his promise to her in return for a marriage arrangement - which did not turn out well anyway. Even the adolescent Stanley accepts the status quo until he must use his good sense, innate kindness and intelligence to survive.

Stanley's father (Henry Winkler) supports his family in borderline poverty by trying to invent things to shake off the curse and make some money. His current project is a cure for tennis shoe odor. The long-suffering Mrs. Yelnats (Siobhan F. Hogan) and Grandpa Yelnats (Nathan Davis), round out this odd and imperfect family circle.

Speaking of circles, Stanley discovers that Camp Green Lake is not the fulfillment of his longing to go to summer camp like the other kids. It's a detention center for boys and their punishment is to dig round 5' deep and 5' wide holes in the dried lake bed in order to "build character." The holes have scary Yellow Spotted Lizards in them. The boys are a motley crew and each of them claims a nickname (X-Ray, Squid, ZigZag, Armpit, etc.) the only thing that is really theirs and over which they have some control in the loveless world of Camp Green Lake. Every boy has a story but it is the friendship between "Zero" (Khleo Thomas) and "Caveman" (Stanley's new name) that binds this funny, somewhat bizarre, and touching tale together.

There's hardly enough water to go around, and the eccentric, mean, sunflower seed -sucking guard "Mr. Sir" (Jon Voight , Mission Impossible) and the pseudo-psychologist Dr. Pedanski (Tim Blake Nelson, O Brother Where Art Thou?) use drinking water to control the boys. Worse yet, the one person the boys are not to annoy is the camp warden played in a most unpleasant, menacing and convincing manner by Sigourney Weaver (Alien.) If the boys find anything while digging, they are to report it. Why? Ah, I could tell you but then it would spoil the story.

Thus far we have the Yelnats curse, the tennis shoes, the inventions, the dry lake bed, the warden, the holes and obviously, a search for something. But are we going in circles? Are the sins of the fathers visited upon their children? Does what goes around have to keep going around forever? The Yelnats have been searching for generations for a way to escape the curse and the Warden is up to high jinx, too. Enter the legend of Kissin' Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette, Beyond Rangoon) and her love, Sam (Dule' Hill, The West Wing) of Wild West Texas days and we have a quirky, fun story that's almost too busy for its own good. This could be perceived as an imperfection in the film, but perhaps only adults would see it that way.

Author and screenwriter Sachar says, "I think it's a fun and uplifting story. It's an exciting adventure where the main character rises above his miserable situation, and not only survives but thrives. I never set out to teach a lesson. My goal is always to write a fun, entertaining, and thought provoking story. Any messages, and I think there are many in this book, come naturally out of the story."

The symbols of the circles, the holes, structure the film in both visually and through the story's narrative form. "Zero", the name of the boy who plays counterpoint to young Stanley, is called such because the guards think he is "nothing", empty inside. Actually, he is illiterate, not dumb, and he convinces Stanley to teach him to read. Zero is the unknown quantity that helps bring the story full circle. Water is another strong symbol in Holes that helps provide the spiritual dimension of the film and the resolution of the story. The (smelly) tennis shoes can be a metaphor for the journey everyone in the film has to take toward the film's "holy ground." There is holiness in Holes. It can be found in some of the characters, their relationships and the guidance of divine providence to an oasis of sorts at "God's Thumb."

To me, a good film is one that makes me ask questions and evokes conversation. As human persons, we communicate about what is important to us, even in casual moments. Talking about movies has this way of unearthing our values and comparing what's happening in the film to the values we believe in and live by. Holes has themes of human dignity, racism and tolerance, caring about others, poverty, relationships, loyalty, friendship, and reconciliation to name a few. As believers, these themes are consistent with the Beatitudes, and the thoughtful parent and catechist can "mine" Holes for everything its worth in the faith and values department.

Films that show adults being mean to kids make me uncomfortable, and I would say this about any movie (e.g. Matilda.) The actions and attitudes of the adults at Camp Green Lake (both in the present and in the days of Kissin' Kate Barlow) are caricatures but they epitomize the harm that adults can do to children by word, action and attitude. These limited and cruel characters make the story interesting, but they are not to be forgotten once the credits start to roll. They made me wonder what happened to them as children to make them so treat others so badly. There are many unhappy children in our society and Holes lets us see the beauty of each child's soul through their vulnerability and struggle to survive. Holes makes us care about children, not when they are cute babies, but when they are not-so-cute and just as needy, adolescents.

Holes is a cinematic story of the spirit about being alive, overcoming obstacles, however exaggerated, and fulfilling one's potential. It's a kind of myth with characters that are loveable and some that are not. To be sure, it is a little loopy - but that's a compliment.