Brokenness and Hope in Hugo

Robert Mckee says, "Every effective story sends a charged idea out to us, in effect compelling the idea into us, so that we must believe."

Hugo does this and more! I never see a movie twice, but this was worth it both times around.

The obvious theme of the movie is brokenness. Little orphan Hugo, who lives in a clock, desperately tries to repair his mechanical automaton against all odds... as a means of fixing himself (his loneliness, the pain of his father's death and his lack of purpose).

Then there's the blue jacketed train station inspector who finds sick pleasure in locking little orphan boys up in the orphanage. And finally, there's George: by appearances a toy shop owner, but really a famous film director in cognito who hides his identity because memories of the past hurt too deeply.

These 3 characters reveal 3 main ways people deal with their brokenness.

1) Accept and inflict: The inspector was orphaned himself as a child. His life of hardship led him to believe that the world is a cruel, cold place where you don't need family to survive. His world is reduced to functionality. "We're here to get on trains or off them. That's it," he says. With no hope for healing, he accepts life as it is and inflicts the same calamity he endured on others.

2) Ignore and keep moving: George lives in quiet resignation. Life dealt him a bad card, and so he resents anyone who reminds him of it. With no hope for healing, he bitterly shuts out the world and manages his toy shop.

3) Confront and hope for healing: All three characters acknowledge their broken condition, but Hugo is the only one who believes he can be fixed. In tearful desperation, he finally admits that if he fixes his automaton, maybe it will write for him a message from his father and "he won't feel so alone anymore." This hope makes him risk his reputation, his life, his health, everything. And it changes him. Halfway through the story, Hugo finds his purpose in fixing George, not just himself.

The beautiful felt idea of this movie is that healing only comes through hope. To me, the most moving part of the story was when Hugo was having awful night terrors, but every time he woke, he'd look at the automaton sitting there next to his bed: motionless, silent, "waiting." Earlier in the movie, Hugo's friend says, "Why does he look so sad?"

Hugo replies, "I think he's just waiting."

And I thought, wow, that's exactly what hope is like. While our fears (anchored in irrationality) are warring and tearing at our hopes, our hopes (anchored in reality) are unwavering, unchanging, and waiting to bring us healing. Not only for us, but for the other broken people in the world we're meant to encourage through the process. And this is life: one person's brokenness lends to another person's healing. When you admit that you are broken, you become more sensitive to the brokenness in others, and when they've lost all hope, the hope that carries you on carries them on.

Hugo was the reason why George came alive again, and if it wasn't for his brokenness--or his hope--George would have went on living a life of quiet resignation. At the opening of George's magic show, he thanks Hugo with the words:

"I am standing before you today because of one brave boy, who saw a broken machine, and against all odds, he fixed it. It was the kindest magic trick that ever I've seen."

Lets be that for each other.