MY REFLECTION: ACCEPTED

 MOVIE ANALYSIS: ACCEPTED

MY REFLECTION: ACCEPTED

        As far as the brain is concerned, a broken heart may not be so different from a broken arm. Big or small rejection affects us all. Sometimes a rejection is a harsh reality check. But if you approach it right, it could help nudge you in a direction that turns out to be the perfect fit for your talents, personality, and all the really great things that make you who you are. 

    Being rejected by a number of colleges, Bartleby decides to open his own “South Harmon Institute of Technology”, with the help of his fellow college-rejected friends, to deceive his parents. Everything is fake, from the school faculty, the students and the Dean. However, things go wrong when hundreds of young — ordinary people get accepted to this “nonexistent” college.

     “Accepted” was directed by Steve Pink in 2006. To be very honest, watching movies is totally not my thing, and I am not much into reading either. However, this movie caught my attention as I came across a scene of its praiseworthy speech on Tumblr which absolutely provoked my urge to check it out.

Believe me, it is more than just a mediocre, romantic-comedy, college movie.

    I think it has a lot of important lessons for youth. Firstly, this movie encourages everyone to embrace their individuality, differences and uniqueness. In the movie, you will notice every type of youth — a boy with attention deficit disorder (ADD), empty-headed youngsters, punk music group, etc.– who are rejected from universities because of different reasons including the fact that they do not conform. Why? Because they are not what are perceived to be “normal functioning members” of society.

    This sheds light on how we judge each other based on outside appearance. We are different. We all have a weird side in us — both good and bad, but we also have our own passions, goals and dreams that we all work hard to achieve. A boy with ADD could have other skills that will help him to succeed in a professional world. Don’t ever look down upon others and their dreams and hopes just because they are unlike yours.

       Also, this movie showcases the important message of unleashing your creativity. Young people should make use of their out-of-the-box ideas to make something meaningful for their own future. Give yourself a role in decision-making. Let’s say you are going to set your educational or career choice. Ask yourself: What do you want to study? Cooking? Cool, go for it. What do you want to be? A magician? Alright, go for it. Do not let the structured school curriculum and judgmental society strip away your creativity and block out your voice in decision-making.

      Last but not least, do not let rejection be a wall that hinders your path to reach a goal. The more you stare at the word “rejection”, the uglier it becomes. Whenever I hear or see this word, I feel totally demotivated, unwanted, and hopeless. For example, getting rejected after a dream job interview, getting a business proposal rejected, or even worse, getting rejected by a crush. Let’s be real. The only time the word “reject” does not hurt is when you click “reject” to remove a friend request from an account that is obviously fake.

        However, not all rejections are bad. Some rejections may even lead you to something new or a more successful path. Did you know that Walt Disney, the creator of your all-time favorite cartoon Mickey Mouse was rejected over 300 times before he became successful? Thus, don’t be discouraged by that “no”. I am not saying this to encourage you to love being rejected, but to feel that it is okay to be rejected.

    Are you somewhat inspired from this movie yet? Despite its strong language, I would recommend this to young people out there who are still struggling with rejection, insecurity and lack of self-acceptance.

A little reminder: it is okay to be different, and it is totally okay to be rejected. As long as you figure out what your dreams and goals are, or what you want to do in life, let out a big sigh of relief because all you have to do next is convert your dream into passion, then igniting your motivational fire and then act towards achieving your goals.