Beanstalk: The Real Story

Last October 3, 10 and 12, 2012 it was a hot afternoon when we watch a movie entitled Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, this movie was related to our last topic in management 5. Instead of having a formal meeting in our subject in Social Responsibility and Good Governance, we need to watch because after that we need to have a reaction paper regarding the movie. In the beginning, the story makes me feel bored of watching and listening because the audio and the cast of the movie speak very fast and I don’t understand what they saying.

And another reason is somebody caught my attention or maybe I’m not used to watch a movie at noon. However, the last day of the movie story, I had the opportunity to listen carefully to the thoughts and moral lessons of the movie I realized it was interesting. Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story is just one of the many versions, where the setting, time and place may be different, but they have one similar scope and ending. In this case, the giant dying, and Jack running away with the giant’s riches.

It was directed by Brian Henson, the cast includes Matthew Modine as the modern day inheritor of Jack, Mia Sara as a mysterious woman attempting to bring him to justice for the murder of a giant, Jon Voight as the descendant’s greedy manager and Vanessa Redgrave an elderly relative of the inheritor etc. The story begins in a wealthy businessman Jack Robinson with no time for anything but to work. His building a new casino on the site of the family castle in England. During the construction, the workers discover the skeleton of a giant.

A mysterious young woman called Ondine appears and accuses Jack of being “a thief and a murderer”. The man goes to the old Jack’s house and sees an old woman whom Jack recognizes as a great-aunt who he believed was dead. The old woman tells him the traditional version of the “Jack and the Beanstalk” in which the giant is portrayed as a selfish. Because of the doubt, Jack decides to go to another world where all is revealed to him along with the story of his ancestor, the original Jack and the Beanstalk. All the people in the magical world believe that he is the one who steal the goose and harp they want Jack to die.

In order to save his own life, Jack must right the wrongs of the past and return the magical harp and goose that lays the golden eggs to their rightful home. With the return of the Goose and Harp, the Giants’ world is restored. After returning to his world, Jack saves the company’s reputation and he decides to support the project of genetically-engineered plants that he previously rejected. At the end, Ondine returns to Jack, where she is allowed to spend one Giant week (seven years in our world) with him and they lived happily ever after.

The story has been changed from the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk. The giant has been transformed into a good giant, and Jack has been transformed into thief. I think this is the best part of this new version when Jack returned what his ancestors have stolen from the giant; he not only restored a world’s riches. He also earned for himself a new meaning of life. Jack Robinson corrected his ancestor’s faults after how many years. In our case as people, if we want our future to be better, we must right the wrong of the past.

Question, are you ready to face the truth and the consequences of your past actions and decisions? Of course, it takes time to even accept the truth but with acceptance comes joy and peace and with the two, comes the right decisions and actions. Yes, it takes time, but it will be worth it for sure. And lastly the movie or let say the beanstalk is trying to tell us that to reap life’s riches, we need to grow up, climb and do the work. Life is full of harmonious and fateful encounters. Dream it and embrace possibilities!