Watch and/or read below. Don’t forget - if you like it share it to continue the conversation!

“Up”(Pixar/2009) is that animated film that made everyone and their dog cry. I have seen it about two times, and I’m good for the rest of my life.

In case you need a refresher, here’s an IMDB synopsis: “Determined to save his home and keep the promise he made to his wife, widower Carl Fredricksen embarks on a journey to the mysterious Paradise Falls in an airship of his own invention. Along the way he meets his childhood hero, forms a bond with a boy who has an absent father, and realizes the preciousness of the life he lived as well as the one he now lives.” (David J. Rizzo)

From tearjerker to tearjerker…what jerks.

Up starts with a series of images showing us Carl and his deceased wife’s life. We get to see all the fun times they had together, see the dreams they had (many of which went unfulfilled), and then watch them get old together. Then, with Carl, we watch his wife die. Now Carl is old and a developer wants to tear down the last thing he has that he shared with his wife: his house. It is devastating, to put it lightly.

Ultimately Carl ties a bunch of balloons to his house and flies off toward adventure while also literally looking down at everyone who only sees a grumpy, stubborn old man who wants to thwart good times and profit.

Unless they’re the Joker, a person’s reactions always have a reason.

It is very easy for us to see a person act a certain way and decide that they are just being unreasonable or petty for the sake of it. Everyone looked at Carl holding onto his house and decided he just wanted to ruin a good time when in reality he was grieving. Sure, maybe he wasn’t dealing with his grief in the healthiest of ways, but the fact of the matter is that there was a legitimate reason why he was acting the way he acted.

He loved his wife.

His wife was dead.

All he had was the house.

The city developers didn’t care; they just wanted to tear down the house.

He dug his heels in.

It’s frustrating, but understandable once you understand.

Empathy v. Money

A major roadblock between good relationships with developers, preservationists, and community members is a lack of empathy. For instance, when a developer goes into a community and tears down older housing to build new housing, they don’t often ask (and keep to the forefront of their mind) how the people there are feeling, or how new construction and the price that goes along with it will affect the people already living there. They figure that housing - any housing - is not only a benefit but one that will line their pockets. They look at figures and statistics, and not what is happening in real time on the ground. The same goes for city officials who think they’re doing a good thing with policies that streamline new construction like ED1 in Los Angeles, but in reality, are displacing people who need affordable housing and at times disrupting the cultural fabric present in those neighborhoods.

The developers don’t ask questions, get upset when communities are upset, and often build the housing anyway while telling the community it’ll benefit them. They can only assume this because they pay the most attention to stats. They ignore any evidence in those stats that looks like their actions could cause negative gentrification, or while knowing that the new construction won’t take into account how much the existing community members can afford in rent.

Never assume that people are being stubborn or mean simply because they want to be.

We all have a past. We all have ties to places - whether emotionally, financially, or both. There is a reason why preservationists are so passionate. There’s a reason why they can be stubborn, get angry, or become very sad when a building is torn down. It’s not so much because they want to be, and far more because they are trying to protect a place that matters deeply to them. They believe in the places they’re trying to save. Unfortunately, we can’t all just move our special places - not by trucks, logs, or balloons. So when a place is threatened, the community feels threatened, and they get loud. Maybe they get a little grumpy.

It would be great if developers and city officials would take community members’ feelings, ties to places, and financial security into account when making their plans. We don’t need another urban renewal. We don’t need more gentrification. We don’t need even more reasons to be upset. And with more communication, none of us have to be.

You can watch Up on Disney+ or Apple TV

some other digital goodies to consider:

Featured