Rescued by Ruby: Using personal narrative to engage with popular culture
How do you watch a popular movie? What goes on in your mind as you follow the narrative structure of the movie? Do you have the tendency to bring up your own personal narrative as you seen the character’s narrative being unfolded on the screen?
I recently watched a film on Netflix entitled Rescued by Ruby starring Grant Gustin (from ‘The Flash’).
It’s based on a true story of a man who decides to train a rescue dog to enter a K9 rescue unit. The subplot is the man has learning difficulties including dyslexia and reading problems which makes learning a slower process for him. And the dog, named Ruby, also has learning difficulties, she cannot sit still long enough to pay attention calmly during training.
As I’m watching the story unfold, I’m drawn into the narrative largely because of the good acting by the lead characters including the dog but also because of my own personal narrative. I had learning difficulties growing up, albeit I was never diagnosed. Even now, with a doctoral qualification, I recognize my reading challenges and prefer to listen to a book being read rather than read it. Thank god for Read Aloud features incorporated into most applications today I am able to ‘read’ and digest texts faster than before.
There’s a scene in the movie when the character is having to read a book to help him prepare a personalized training for his dog and he wishes for an audio book instead. When his wife offers to read the book to him, I could empathize with the character’s relief. It’s truly a struggle when your reading ability hampers your progress in life. Just this scene alone left me feeling connected to my own story. You don’t feel as ashamed of your weakness when you see it reflected in a popular film, especially when you realize that these so called ‘weaknesses’ are challenges a lot of us experience and it doesn’t mean we are lacking value. Rather we just need a different way of approaching the task at hand.
The strength in our ability to engage with a story lies both in the writer’s ability to tell a good story, and, in our ability to tap into our personal narrative as we find a common ground between the character and ourselves.
Our personal narrative can allow us to get into a story a lot faster than if we choose to disconnect with the story. There is value in tapping into our story as we explore the films we watch, least of which is a better appreciation of our narrative and the struggles we have endured in life.
