Invictus

Last night we went to see the much-anticipated Invictus on its opening night. If you've missed the promotions, Invictus is the story of a partnership between former South African president Nelson Mandela and rugby superstar Francoise Pienaar.

In post-Apartheid South Africa the country was still broken following Mandela's election as the first black president. The separation between races had legally come to an end, but this was not seen in day-to-day life. The hostility and tension continued. Mandela recognized the need to bring the people together and in a brilliant move through support behind the Springboks, South Africa's rugby team, in a bid to give the people a common thread to rally behind. Formerly a symbol of Apartheid, the Boks became a team that belonged not just to the whites, but to all South Africans.

Morgan Freeman finally had the opportunity to take on the role that everyone has anticipated him playing for so long, and he truly did Mandela justice. Pienaar was played by Matt Damon, who approached his portrayal of Pienaar with incredible respect and honesty. Clint Eastwood directed and has once again given us a truly great film.

This movie was beautiful, and I'm so grateful for this to have been made. As adoptive parents, one of our challenges will be to help our child learn about his own personal history. We likely won't have much information about his family (sadly), but we owe it to him to give him whatever we can to help him understand where he came from and how he got to where he is now. We have been seeking out resources to help us teach about the history and culture of South Africa, and Invictus will be a great tool to demonstrate different facets of life in S.A.

You should go see this. It's awesome.