Sacrifice and Love

Under the Same Moon

The movie, Under the Same Moon, is about a nine year old boy, Carlito, living in Mexico with his Grandmother, while his mother has been in Los Angeles for the last four years trying to become a US citizen and earn enough money to make a life for her and her son.  As the movie progresses, the Grandmother dies and the son decides to travel to find his mother.  The story is about his adventures along the way to get to his mother.

My favorite part of the movie is when Carlito is on the bus with Enrique, his traveling buddy, heading to Los Angeles and Enrique explains to Carlito that his mother still loves him and that is why she has been in Los Angeles for the last four years.  He explains that people do hard things for certain reasons and Carlito is that reason for her.

Why is Carlito that reason for her?  It is referring to that undying love that one person has for another.  In this case, the love of a mother for her son.  That is the reason why we sacrifice for others.  It is a matter of loving someone else more than we love ourselves.

In class, I liked how Dr. Mack explained that with attachment seeking behavior it is a way for someone to feel safe.  Once that person feels secure in that attachment to you, then that love grows and it no longer becomes about loving ourselves but a love for someone else, which makes it easier to sacrifice, like Carlito’s mother did.

However, I also see the connection of sacrifice and love for others with Enrique and Carlito as well.  Through the movie, Enrique only cared about his own survival.  His love was focused on himself and not others.  As the attachment and love grew between Enrique and Carlito, when it came time at a vital point in the movie, Enrique did not question the need to sacrifice his own freedom in exchange for Carlito’s freedom from the police officers. 

When we love others more than ourselves, we are more willing to make sacrifices for others.