Betty Huang
The Change of Cocoon
What is love? Love is a giant mutual power which can connect people's hearts, lets them become closer and changes their personalities. No one wants to always be alone and always be the "different type" in others' eyes. Everyone yearns for someone who could give a little piece of love to them, care about them and never give up on them. This love will change them. In Me and You, Olivia trusts Lorenzo and shares her feelings with him, and gives Lorenzo a special experience of being needed, which lets Lorenzo know how to care about other people and actually do something to help others; In the film, Lilo&Stitch, Lilo teaches Stitch the meaning of love and family, and she shares hers with Stitch, making him feel warm and safe. Because of this, Stitch changes from an evil cold-blood monster to an important indispensable member of Lilo's little sweet family. Because of two Olivia and Lilo’s gentleness and patience, Lorenzo and Stitch open their minds and become to more caring people.
Me and You shows how Lorenzo, an isolated boy, opens his mind and becomes to a mature and reliable man because of the days which he spent with Olivia in the cellar. Lorenzo used to be a lonely boy who was lack of safety, and he does not trust anyone because when he was a little boy his father forced him to swim by suddenly throwing him into the sea, although he was very afraid of water. His sister Olivia saw: “You were down in the cockpit playing with your toys, they came up to you from behind, slipped your armbands off and you started wriggling, yelling like they were skinning you alive” (Ammaniti 139). This indicates how terrible Lorenzo’s father is. He does not care about Lorenzo’s feeling at all. The way he treats his own kid is kind of cruel. The actions which Lorenzo did show he was extremely scared because of this, and this is a horrible experience for him which left an unforgettable nightmare in his deep mind. This is reason why Lorenzo resists trusting people because he was betrayed by one of his dearest people. He lost the ability of trust and closed his mind when he wassuch a young boy. He cannot get involved with others, and he shows his tough and stubborn side in order to protect himself. He lies to his mother that he is going to the ski trip with his friends, but actually he is hiding in the cellar alone. This portrays that a lonely and pathetic boy locks himself in his own world which is like the dark cellar and refuses to feel the sunshine outside. He needs someone to open the door of the dark room inside his heart.
Olivia is the person who changes Lorenzo because she rushed into Lorenzo’s world accidentally and brought him a totally different experience which he has never had before. She is an addict, and she has bad relationship with others, specifically, her father. When she was suffering from withdrawal, she came to the cellar. At first, Lorenzo did not want Olivia to come in because he does not trust Olivia. He is vigilant against her because he was afraid that Olivia would reveal his secret. However, when he lets her in and sees that “she looked liked she’d been chewed up and spat out by a monster who had found her too bitter to eat” (Ammaniti 91), he feels pity for her. So Lorenzo takes care of her and finds medicinefor her. Because of this, he feels like he is a useful man, a hero. This portrays that the feeling of being needed is amazing, and it gains Lorenzothe sense of accomplishment by helping his half-sister, which holds two young person’s hearts closer little by little. Lorenzo is no longer as selfish as he was before, and he learns how to care about others because of this. Olivia feels better, for Lorenzo’s great efforts. She has a heart-to-heart talk with Lorenzo and dances with him: “But that evening I danced, and when Idanced I felt something I’d never felt before. I felt alive-it took my breath away” (Ammaniti 143). This shows that because of Olivia, Lorenzo overcomes the thing which he hates the most---dancing, and he feels alive when he is dancing with Olivia. This is a certainly new experience for him. Because of this, Lorenzo starts to experience new things, shares his feelings with others. It is a huge step for him. Lorenzo is thinking: “I knew that beyond that door the world was waiting for me, and that I would be able to talk to the others like I was one of them. I could leave. I could go to boarding school. I could change the furniture in my bedroom” (Ammaniti143). This shows that because of Olivia, Lorenzo starts to think about his own, think about his life and think about the world around him. He discovers the truly himself which is hopeful and positive. He starts to use his heart to feel, and everything suddenly becomes bright and meaningful. Lorenzo is changing little by little like a cocoon which is going to get outthe struggle and ready to become a butterfly.
At the beginning of Lilo & Stitch, when Stitch has not met Lilo yet, his another side which can feel the warm of love and human being has not been discovered, either. His exist is seemed as an unbearable evil thing among the whole universe because he is designed to destroy. Then he escaped from the spaceship and landed on the Earth accidentally. Because of this, his whole life has been changed, and he is given a chance to embrace his new life. He pretends that he is a normal dog but a little bit weird, and he is adopted by a little Hawaii girl names Lilo. He did not know how to restrain his instinct. He broke the shelf, tear down the pillow,bit the camera and hit people. This shows that he is tough and cannot fit in this new environment, and actually he cannot really fit in any kinds of environment because he is man-made, and he is not even a creature which can have emotions and feelings, that means he was more likely to be a computer program than a human. But he is smart, many things he can learn step by step on his own. When he finds out there is nothing can be destroyed, and he is the only different one, he feels lonely and helpless.
Family for a violent alien experiment is far out of reach, but it is also the thing which Stitch needs the most. Love is a magic power which is strong enough to change every people. Lilo’s appear is the most essential thing that changes Stitch because she continues trying her best to teach Stitch the meaning of love and family: “nobody will be left behind or forgotten" (Chris Sander) which Stitch has never touched before. She always treats him as her family member and lets him feel warm and safe. So that gives Stitch the sense of belonging. When Stitch lost in the woods, holding the story book and said, “I’m waiting. For family” (Chris Sander) to the scientist who built him. This clearly shows that how strongly Stitch yearns for a family which could accept him, care about him and never giveup on him. He is not an evil monster, and he does not want to lead a displaced life any more. He finds his new self and the meaning of life because of Lilo, who shares her own little sweet family with him. It’s like a butterfly bolts in Stitch’s heart and ignites the light inside his heart.
Both of the film and story tell the audiences how strong the power of love is, which can change people’s personalities. There actually are some of people who cannot get involved with others and they need someone to love them and let them experience the feelings of being cared and needed. They are like the cocoons, struggling in that little dark space, and they are isolated and lonely. However, they are changeable. If someone gives a little piece of love to them to melt the hard cold ice surround them. At that time, their hearts will be filled up by sunshine, and they will be able to face their lives with bright happy smile.
