Born Free- The Majesty of Lions and the Essence of Freedom

Born Free was a movie I saw as a very young boy.  My first viewing I had no real understanding of the plot and theme, but was transfixed by my first movie that had the noble African plains as its setting.  The movie was craftily done for its day, giving you the feel that you were actually watching a documentary, but in truth watching a narrative film with actors rather than real people.  So convincing are the actors playing Joy and George Adamson that you feel disappointment when you pick up a copy of the book to see them not there.  Which is a tribute to the filmmakers and in no way an insult to the real Joy.

Virginia McKenna- Actress who played Joy Adamson

To give you a story synopsis:   Based on the classic non-fiction book, Joy and George Adamson find themselves in the rare situation of having to take care of an orphaned lion cub at their home in Africa.  (Elsa)  They raise the lioneess as a pet and slowly come to the realization that its existence is slowly consisting of being caged due to the fear of the local villagers and the lion's growing strength and curiosity.  George convinces Joy that Elsa needs to be trained to go back into the wild and live the life she was meant to live- Born Free.  George slowly teaches the lioness to hunt, but lion socialization proves the most difficult.  Despite bumps and bruises, Elsa finally becomes part of a wild pride.  I won't tell you the tear-jerking nuances of the story, but it is beautiful in all its splendor.  The soundtrack is from John Barry who later went on to score many Oscar Nominated films including Out of Africa, and Dances with Wolves.  This film has a slow pace but never lags or gets uninteresting.

As an elementary teacher, I would show this film to my students along with a science/ Mammals investigation, so most of our conversations and focus was on lions, mammals, and only a superficial discussion on the virtues of Joy and George Adamson as it relates to the focus of the film which is the lioness Elsa.  Upon reflecting on the film years later, it is indeed the virtue of freedom that is the true essence of the film.  Upon thinking of this theme, it makes the film so much more powerful and valuable for my children to watch. 

The real Joy Adamson

Strangely, I started thinking of this film recently after remembering the odd, but true story of a local legend known around town as "Deer Lady".   This Deer Lady became notorious in this suburban village for feeding deer in her backyard.  It turned out that there were several town ordinances against feeding wild animals, but that wouldn't deter Deer Lady.  She continued breaking the ordinance for years, being fined until finally after threats of serious jail time, Deer Lady ceased and desisted breaking the law.  Now many of you may be thinking that the town was in the wrong and Deer Lady was just a kind hearted soul trying to do right by these majestic visitors to her backyard.  But when you contrast her story with Joy Adamson's story of Elsa you see that Deer Lady was selfishly feeding the deer for her own personal enjoyment at the expense of making them dependent upon her backyard and food source.  Meanwhile Joy and George were unselfishly empowering Elsa to be free to pursue the essential lion gifts of speed, and cunning,as well as, being part of a freely chosen pride to partake in lion socialization and reproductive dynamics.

George teaching Elsa to hunt.

This is the powerful virtue highlighted by Born Free that I feel is essential for my children to understand deeply.  Creating dependency, especially in wild animals and more importantly humans, robs the individual of their natural gifts and leaves them with an unfulfilled life.  Both Deer Lady and the Adamson's were compassionate people, but the Adamson's compassion gave them the courage to think about Elsa's happiness.  When thinking about government policy, I want my children to recognize policies designed to make people dependent versus policies meant to empower and make independent.  Born Free exemplifies this idea with an incredible story of love, compassion, and beauty.