Bobby

Bobby recounts the last day of Robert F. Kennedy's life from the perspective of the guests and employees of the Ambassador Hotel, where he was shot. The film, written and directed by Emilio Estavez, has a gigantic cast (too many to mention, really). The film follows the now vogue mosaic template, telling many stories that interweave throughout the narrative. There are racial tensions in the kitchen, political ambitions among the youngsters, marital problems involving famous performers, and business decisions to be made. The storyline is interesting, and the plot follows many different perspectives/viewpoints. It culminates with a tragedy we all know is coming, but the weight of it hits us a little harder than we thought it would.

Ecclesiastes states that we should not say "remember the good old days." Whether its baseball or children respecting their elders, it seems that everyone has a nostalgic love of the past, back when things were the way they should be. Sometimes I found myself wondering if the film was falling into that category. It is hard to not see Bobby as propaganda. It is in effect saying "Bobby Kennedy could have made everything right." As one character states, since Dr. King was shot Bobby was everyone's last hope. We must be careful to not get overly sentimental, and idealize people or events of the past. That being said, Kennedy was doing a lot of great things. The film reminds us of what America was like in 1968 and how things were right at the edge of change. Everything seemed to be hanging in the balance, ready to break out. Bobby recreates history in a different way than we are used to, through the eyes of many on one day as opposed to through the eyes of a few over a great number of days.

Everyone had all their hopes and dreams tied up in Robert Kennedy, and when he died, so did those ideas. Bobby was the savior, the "last great man" of the time. What happens when we put our hope in a human being, no matter how great that human is? We are disappointed. No man or woman can ever be the savior of mankind. There is only one savior, and yes he was a man, but he was also fully God. We all have fallen into the trap of putting more stock in a person than we should. In fact, we do it frequently. But it is dangerous. We must be constantly reminded to put all our trust in the only one who will never fall short, never let us down.

Bobby died. Jesus died. I would imagine that after the crucifiction Jesus' followers felt a lot like Bobby's followers after the shooting. What happened to our leader? How could he die? Not now, not yet.