Is There A Lesson Here?

I’m certain that for many movie lovers like me, we all have seen Extraction 2 which came out just last week. It is an explosive sequel that did not disappoint after the high the first installment gave us back in 2020. From the action scenes to the cinematography itself, this movie is a masterpiece no doubt.

No worries though, this post is not a review of the movie. Instead, I simply want to share my opinion on something that caught my attention, just as I always do. By the time I was done seeing the movie, it left something deep ringing in my ears, and I felt I should just share it here. Don’t worry, I won’t be dropping spoilers.

For many people, one of the most annoying characters in the movie was Sandro, played by Andro Japaridze. He was a young teenage boy, who despite everything his father did to his mother, not just by abusing her, but also by forcing his entire family to live in prison with him, he didn’t see anything wrong with it. So when Tyler Drake, played by Christ Hemsworth came in guns blazing to save them, the guy made a lot of dumb decisions that made me just want to reach into my screen and give him a knock.

But then, that is what stories are all about right? They are meant to evoke some emotions from us, and this one didn’t disappoint. The writers wrote the character so well and Andro simply killed the role, so it was pretty easy to be pissed at the character.

But then, is the actions of that character really fictitious? Remember that all stories have their inspiration deeply rooted in real life. And when I considered this fact, I realized that indeed while all of us would condemn Sandro for not seeing the obvious truth in front of him and refusing to be saved, there are many of us who are just like him.

_{Sandro
Source: Screenshot from movie.}

Of course, none of us have any pressing needs to be broken out of prisons, however for some of us, we simply place ourselves in prisons of our own making and refuse to be rescued. We allow ourselves to be deceived and misled, no matter what people say to us, as long as it’s not what we want to hear, then it is definitely a lie. Until we realize just how foolish we are, but by then it may be too late.

We see this happen a lot with religion, some people get so involved that it becomes toxic and unhealthy. No matter how bad things get, they will never leave. The same happens to people in abusive marriages, it has always been a wonder how people can choose to live with someone who continually beats them even to the point of death, yet they feel comfortable sharing the same bed with them every night. When you as a good friend try to warn them to leave the abusive relationship, you are seen as the enemy of love, and they might even gang up against you. Hell, you might be the reason they make up, even if it’s for a short while. One of the reasons I swore to never be involved in couple’s quarrels, there’s nothing you’ll ever say to a person in love that they will ever hear, it’s always what’s on their mind that they’ll end up doing.

Also, we see such in peer groups, many of us have toxic friends who bully and try to put us down no matter how we try to measure up. There are those who stick to such friends like glue, refusing to let go. How people can remain friends with people who don’t care about them simply amazes me. Like, you know this guy doesn’t like you, yet you keep on allowing him to use you as a foot mat.

_{Tyler
Source: Screenshot from movie}

There are so many examples of things like this, many of us are in situations where simply by making up our minds that we deserve better, we would be free. We don’t need any Tyler Drake breaking into the highly fortified prison for us, we only need to decide that enough is enough, and so shall it be!

Yeah, I know that one can never really know the internal struggles of a person and if you’ve never been in their shoes then you can never really know what people are going through. I don’t know the science behind people choosing to stay in abusive relationships and being friends with terrible people, but I do know that such things can never breed something beautiful.

It’ll be a cesspool of hate that will accumulate over time and turn into something terrible if things are allowed to get out of hand. Because let’s face it, there are stories of women who tried to fight back against abusive husbands and ended up killing them. Yeah, it was self-defense, but they were imprisoned. It’s terrible, but crazier things have happened.

This is why we have to know our worth no matter where we find ourselves, we need to always remember that some things are beneath us, and if people are treating us in a bad way we call it out. Because if we choose to allow it, it will only get worse. So, the moment a savior comes and asks us to get the hell out of dodge, we won’t be like Sandro.

Let’s know our worth and be wise.