Striking Mums - What film characters inspire you?

This weeks striking mums post over at Kate on thin ice is all about which film characters inspire you. I've missed joining in with the Striking Mums prompts recently because life has been hectic to say the least but after Monday's appointment at Great Ormond Street for Miss T, I feel we have some answers to what's going on with her and can try to move on positively and proactively rather than living with the worry we've had over the past few months which has been leaving us emotionally drained and too tired to blog at the end of each day.

So I really didn't want to miss this weeks prompt because there are a couple of films that spring to mind immediately.

The first is Lorenzo's Oil which I watched a pretty long time ago. I think I was just a teenager at the time. From halfway through the film I started crying and I didn't stop until the end. I watched it again a year or two later and because I knew what was coming I just cried beginning to end. I haven't been able to watch it again since but it did really inspire me.

You can find out more about the film here but in a nutshell a young boy called Lorenzo begins to suffer from a rare neurological disease with a life expectancy of less that 2 years. As his condition deteriorates, his parents, played by Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon, take matters into their own hands and don't give up. Ultimately finding an 'oil' that prevents the disease progressing. The film in based on a real-life story and the oil has gone on to help many others.

What I found amazing and inspiring was the power of parents love for a child. A powerful love so strong that it doesn't give up. It persists and perseveres against all the odds. When everyone else has given up, when all hope has disappeared, these parents didn't give up and their perseverance paid off.

The second film that springs to mind is Patch Adams. I've only watched it the once and can't recall all the detail but the thing that stuck with me about it is how one person can make a difference. Again based on a real-life story. And once again a situation with the odds stacked against them. Yet tenacity, persistence, and passion pays off in the end despite some tragic circumstances.

I remember a quote from the film which really stuck with me. I've looked it up to find the wording and it goes like this:

'Now you have the ability to keep me from graduating. You can keep me from getting the title and the white coat. But you can't control my spirit, gentlemen. You can't keep me from learning, you can't keep me from studying. So you have a choice: you can have me as a professional colleague, passionate, or you can have me as an outspoken outsider, still adament. Either way I'll probably still be viewed as a thorn. But I promise you one thing: I am a thorn that will not go away.' Patch Adams from the film Patch Adams.

I think many organisations could do with recognising that quote and when they find themselves with parents / patients / customers that are questioning, 'difficult', demanding more. Perhaps they should find a way of harnessing the passion of these people and using it to make things better instead of going into defensive mode which puts up 'us and them' barriers and leaving those people as thorns on the outside.

So those are two films that have inspired me because of their key characters. Kate has also included which film star she looks like and this is a trickier one for me to answer as I think it's really hard to do that about yourself. But when I had my wedding make-up done for my wedding day (bearing in mind that was a long long time ago - 16 years ago in fact) I remember the beautician saying that she thought I looked like a film star even before she'd put the make up on and she said I was prettier that Catherine Zeta-jones. It might be she said that to every bride she did make up for but I thought it was a lovely thing of her to say.

I haven't got any wedding photos to hand but this is a pic from around that time...

Pic from around 2003?

A photo posted by Rebecca Beesley (@rebeccabeesley) on Apr 1, 2015 at 1:31pm PDT