This weekend, I was overly excited to see "Finding Dory", which was the sequel to "Finding Nemo" and took Pixar a while to release. I set a very high bar for this movie and still, this movie exceeded my expectations. It was cute, it was funny, but most importantly, it had several lessons that even 20-year-old girls like me could take away from the movie.
For most of the movie, you see Dory physically looking for her parents, but you also see Dory go on an emotional journey and find bits and pieces of herself. At the beginning of the movie, it was apparent to me that Dory simply defined herself as the quirky blue fish who forgot everything and it seemed as though she didn't have the best self-esteem. However, as the movie goes on, you see Dory begin to remember aspects of her childhood that help her remember her parents, which I think in return makes Dory feel more confident of who she is. By the end of the movie, Dory not only finds her parents, but erases this idea that the only thing she is good at is forgetting. Dory will probably still deal with memory problems in her life, but now she has the ability and strength to persevere and try and remember as much as she can. The "just keep swimming" mantra has been present in both movies, but in this movie, Dory taught us that even when things get really difficult in life, that if you stay strong and keep going, you will eventually conquer whatever challenges lie ahead of you.
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Although Dory does find new qualities about herself throughout the movie, there are qualities in her that have been present in both movie and that define her as Dory: Dory is quirky, Dory is kind, Dory sees the good in everyone, but most of all, Dory is fearless. In both movies, Dory is juxtaposed with Marlin, a fish who frankly lives in fear and is very cautious with every actions he makes due to the fact that he lost his wife in a very tragic accident. However, Dory teachers both Marlin and Nemo that you cannot live life overanalyzing things to the point that it stops you from doing them. Perhaps Dory's fearlessness gets her in trouble sometimes, but Dory's fearlessness allows her to experience exciting adventures. Dory's risk-taking pays off at the end of the story, allowing her to find her parents and save all the fish that were on the truck intended to go to an aquarium. Dory also teaches Hank to take a risk and not settle for a life that would keep him comfortable in a glass box. Dory teaches us all that taking risks and being adventurous is a much happier life style than living in fear.
Lastly, Dory teaches us that the family we are given isn't the only family we have in life. When Dory was parentless, Dory found Marlin and Nemo and those two became a part of her family. Dory teaches us that it is important to not only keep and cherish our blood relatives, but cherish those who have been added to your family because they have always been there for you.
Overall, "Finding Dory" was another incredible movie made by Pixar and was a peaceful ending to the "Finding Nemo" story.
