I had the pleasure of reviewing Beyond the Lights movie at the Blogalicious conference in San Antonio. Beyond the Lights is a movie written by the same lady who wrote Love and Basketball and Secret Life of Bees, Mrs. Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Beyond the Lights is a movie about overcoming the hurdles of your past, hurdles of life today and also following your heart when your friends and family don’t agree with where your heart is leading you.
Now y’all know me and know I watch movies for the messages that we can apply to our life and marriages (read my review of Happy Feet). The movie has two main characters: Noni, played by Gugu MBatha Raw, and Kaz, played by Nate Parker. Noni is a woman that had what some would call a stressfree childhood due to a mother that had her own issues. Noni mom would remind you of Joe Jackson. She wanted more for her daughter and demanded her daughter to want more for herself. Noni was a singer (started early as a child) and grew into a superstar as an adult.
The thing that stuck with me about Noni mom was her desire to raise her child the way she thought Noni needed to be raised instead of raising Noni the way Noni wanted to be raised. As parents, we have lived our childhood and we know what we liked and didn’t like about the things that happened to us in our childhood so we are determined to “be better parents” to our children; however, in our desire to “fix” our parents wrongs sometimes you can be parenting your child “wrong.” I will not spoil the mom/daughter story line for you but I challenge you to take a look at how you are parenting your child and make sure its the parenting style that your child needs/wants and not the parenting style you wish your parent had given you!
The other man character is Kaz. Kaz Nicol is a policeman and comes from a long line of policemen because his dad, played by Danny Glover, is the police chief. Naz and his dad has a great relationship. So no problems there. Loved their interactions. Naz meet Nicol not under the best conditions but nonetheless they meet. Again as not to spoil the movie, I will just say that Naz is the best man to play this role.
Naz displayed the qualities many woman are looking for in a man/husband. He was very attentive, supportive and loved unconditionally. He wasn’t afford to tell the woman he loved that she needed help to deal with and let go of her “past.” He was dedicated to helping and supporting her even when she fought him off, he never wavered in his love and support for her.
The real work of marriage happens Beyond the Lights of the planning for the wedding and even the wedding day. The true lights of marriage is all about effective communication, support, unconditional love and dying to self in order to serve your spouse.
The movie shares the story of when a man loves a woman unconditionally, he will support her through thin and thickness. Don’t leave when your spouse needs you most. Yes, it will be hard because most times when a person is up against the wall they fight those closets to them and trying to help. Stay prayerful and reassure your spouse that you are there for them!
HaHa I know I went off on a rant about the messages I got from the movie, but overall this movie is a most see.
Movie Summary from Relativity Media: Beyond the Lights is the story of Noni, the music world’s latest superstar. But not all is what it seems, and the pressures of fame have Noni on the edge – until she meets Kaz Nicol, a young cop and aspiring politician who’s been assigned to her detail. Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard, despite the protests of those around them who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance. But it is ultimately Kaz’s love that gives Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be. (c) Relativity
Leave a Reply