I just recently watched the new-ish movie, The Grey, starring Liam Neeson and I can’t stop thinking about it. Cold, hard, unflinching. Beautiful, graceful, loving.
The movie is about a group of oil workers whose plane crash-lands in the frozen wilderness. For me, it worked as a standard adventure/thriller, but so much more as a personal survival story. Ultimately, it’s a showcase of the human spirit.
I don’t think another movie has resonated with me as much as The Grey did. I found it deeply personal, on many levels, but I don’t want to ruin any plot points if you haven’t seen it yet.
Now, if you have seen it, allow me to dig into why it affected me as much as it did:
Spoilers ahead… watch the movie first! Click to read more. ▼
The Wolves

Wolves in The Grey are not really wolves. They are a symbol for hardship, struggle, danger, fear, and the great unknown of death. The wolves are the film’s version of my cancer demon. They are the mythic beast you wish you could be rid of – that same beast that will never leave your side. Like cancer, they are not angry or sad. They simply are, and they exist to end you.
The Hard Wilderness

We all know life can be harsh. The Grey only helps to simplify that idea by setting the story in the middle of a giant frozen chunk of nature. The men trudge, scrape, and crunch their way through piles of ice and snow. Their bodies scarred, bloodied and chapped. This setting, this seemingly endless march through a snow storm, again reminded me of my own chemo post. Are these men symbols of cancer survivors? For me, there is no question.
The Beautiful Wilderness

There’s a scene where a character comes to terms with his own inescapable death. He realizes he has nothing left physically, so he chooses a spot by a river and sits. His fellow survivor asks why he is giving up and he replies, “Look at that (pointing at scenery). I feel like that’s all for me. How do I beat that? When will it ever be better?” He comes to his own graceful end, through appreciation. He is not giving up, he is choosing how to spend his final moments. As cruel as it can be, nature can be even more beautiful.
God The Scapegoat
The film only gets more intense as it continues, and at one point, we find our hero has lost all his survivor friends. He is alone, afraid, tired, and completely helpless. He looks to the sky and calls to God in a fit of desperate rage and frustration. As I watched the scene my fists instinctively clenched, feeling the raw power of this man’s words. Again, another deep, personal mirror of my God Complex and other post. He says (the following is not for the faint-of-heart or extremely devout):
“Do something. Do something. You phony prick, fraudulent motherfucker – Do something! Come on! Prove it!
Fuck faith, earn it! Show me something real! I need it now, not later, now!
Show me, and I’ll believe in you till the day I die! I swear. I’m calling on you! I’m calling on you!“
Then, after a painful silence from the heavens, he shakes his head and says in a whisper, “Fuck it. I’ll do it myself. I’ll do it myself.” To say that I saw myself in this guy is an understatement. The scene captures the despair of the inevitable against the wish of life. It’s like a piece of my pain is on film. I love it. Absolutely spot-on. Right, fuckin’ on.
To clarify, I’m not happy at the insults at God, I’m just happy feeling like at least one other person completely “gets it” – that helpless desperation and the lashing out that comes with it. It’s natural, and so welcome for me to see in motion.
Raging Against The Dying Of The Light

In the beginning of the film, our hero was prepared to kill himself. We knew he lost his love, but not why. In the final scene, while remembering his fallen companions, he finds himself trapped in the middle of the wolf den. There is no getting out of this situation alive. He remembers a final memory of his wife, and we realize then that she passed away from a terminal illness. Her final words to him are “Don’t be afraid.” And it is with this memory of her love that our hero straps on broken-bottle brass knuckles onto one fist and a knife in his other hand. He faces the wolf, grits his teeth, and in a final clash they leap into each other.
We don’t need to see the fight – it’s irrelevant. He will die like his companions. What matters is that he fights. He lives to the very end. This is not a tragic ending for me. It is a REAL ending, with grace, dignity, power, ferocity, and ultimately love. This is an example of a true survivor, demonstrating real strength of spirit. He rages against the dying of the light. He rages for his lost friends, for family, for love, and for life itself. That is victory.
It feels nice knowing there’s a film out there created just for me (of course it wasn’t, but I can dream). See it. Now.
Watch The Grey on Amazon
or iTunes

An amazing, thought provoking battle for life! DEEP stuff, so relevant to you Chris-pee, to all of us really. Want to see it again! ♥ you my brudda ♥
Gosh brudda…the movie sounds awesome…and I am happy to know that you could truly connect with it in such a deep and unique way, a way that only a survivor would truly know and understand…I gotta see the movie! I love you so much!
Love this movie! And sisters, too, of course!
I thought The Grey movie was about the human spirit fighting cancer.
Hi Chris
My name is Jenna, you are an inspiration and a hero.
I was born with a rare life threatening disease, and have 14 other medical conditions, and developmental delays.
I wrote this poem
Each of us are Special
Each of us different,
No one is the same
Each of are us are unique in our own way,
Those of us who have challenges, we smile through our day.
It doesen’t matter what other’s say
we are special anyway.
What is forty feet and sings? the school chior
http://www.miraclechamp.webs.com
Hi Jenna,
Thank you for your comment! I’ll check out your blog, also. Best wishes.