I wanted to see Sing since the previews began trickling into theaters during the summer. We’d been planning to see it for months. But what I hadn’t planned on was being so affected by the theme, and so inspired to live more authentically.
With news of the imminent closing of a well-known theater due to lackluster business, Buster Moon, its overly optimistic koala owner (voiced by Matthew McConaughy) decides to host a singing contest, à la American Idol, in a last-ditch attempt to save it. His well-meaning, yet slightly senile secretary helps create the flyers, and instead of advertising a $100 prize to the winner, they offer $100,000, and send the flyers out a window, which brings singers of all species out of the woodwork (literally) to audition.
I learned a lot from this movie (mostly that I am most definitely a Rosita, voiced by Reese Witherspoon!), but these are the lessons my family brought home:
1. Never Give Up
Despite a mountain of bad luck and bad breaks to each contestant, Buster, and his theater, it would have been quite simple to throw in the towel, can the show, and allow the theater be taken over by the bank. But the passion in each contestant to get up each day and make it work pulled them through.
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2. Follow Your Dreams
As a mom with small children myself, I know it’s hard to get back out there. It’s even harder to pursue a passion in which not everyone believes. But if Rosita did it, so can I, and so can you. If Johnny, the getaway car driver for his family, can break out of that life to follow his heart, so can we – and so can our kids.
3. Have Faith
I can assure you that at any point during that film, each contestant could have just walked away and moved on with their lives, but they believed. They had faith in what they were doing, and that somehow it would all work out. And it did.
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4. Believe in Yourself
Despite each contestant’s seemingly impossible struggles, they all showed up, rehearsed, performed, and eventually helped to give the theater new life. This would not have occurred if they stopped believing in themselves or each other.
5. Anything Can Happen
This one’s my favorite. And my favorite in life. Sometimes curveballs are thrown to knock you off your path. It’s so easy give up. How often do we throw up our hands and walk away? Who of the contestants would have imagined they’d be performing on a makeshift stage among rubble? There’s value in seeing commitments through to the end. It’s a lesson for all of us, because we never truly know what can happen.
This group simply would not give up. Despite fires, floods, cold, darkness, discouragement, and depression, each was encouraged by another member of the group to keep going.
Sing is a funny and heartwarming movie about perseverance, hope, and following your heart. Take your family to see it.
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