Lessons About Inheritance From The 2012 Oscars

I hear it’s a real challenge being a parent.

I’m not one, so I can’t say for sure. But the circumstantial evidence sure does seem to point in that direction.

One day I hope to be a parent. I hope to have children. To raise a family. There are so many aspects of that possibility that terrify me. At or near the top of that list has to be the following question:

What will their inheritance be?

2012 Oscar Contenders

Every spring, when they’re released to DVD, Ashley and I try our best to catch up on all the Academy Awards nominees and winners from the prior year.

Photo Credit: Ira Gelb

This year we’re making progress, though we still have several more to go.

Having seen so far (among Best Picture nominees) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Hugo, The Help, Moneyball, The Descendants, and The Tree of Life, we’ve yet to be disappointed.

It’s probably just me, but I can’t help noticing a common thread running through many of them.

Many of them seem to be movies about inheritance.

Inheritance Reconsidered

When thinking about the word ‘inheritance,’ what comes to mind?

Watching these movies over the last several months, my own answer has been challenged.

It was challenged, first of all, while watching The Descendants. On the surface, The Descendants is a movie about exactly what I believed inheritance to be- about estates and trust funds, and about the fighting that breaks out among siblings once their parents’ money is theirs to share.

But that’s not what the film is really about.

It’s really about how utterly insignificant and completely unsatisfying money is when you’re experiencing a life of broken relationships- about how we inherit far more than material possessions from our ancestors.

My answer was challenged further still while watching Hugo and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Their plots are remarkably similar:

A boy has lost his father, and is searching for meaning in the wake of his death. The search requires him to explore a mystery left to him by his father, a mystery which contains answers he’d never expected.

Much like in The Descendants, the characters in these stories learn that there’s more to inheritance than meets the eye.  And I have to admit…

I’m starting to agree.

My Children’s Inheritance

It can be overwhelming to recognize the immense value of that which we pass on to our children.

As great as my hope is that my children will inherit the good parts of who I am, my fear that they’ll inherit the bad parts is, at times, even greater.

Despite my apprehension, I take solace in remembering that it’s not all up to me. Whether they inherit the good or the bad, their choices will always, in the end, be theirs.

So here’s to hoping they choose wisely.

*Photo Credit: Ira Gelb (Creative Commons)

This week’s topic (also known as the Weekly Curiosity) is heredity. Check back each weekday at 12:34pm for a new post exploring this idea. In the meantime, here are three ways you can join the quest:

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