'Deadpool 2' suggests doing what's right for the right reasons
Instead of doing the right thing because we have to, we should focus on the fact that we get to.
***This article has some spoilers, so if you are waiting to see Deadpool 2, I would advise against reading through here.***
Deadpool isn't what I would consider a family film or a film I would suggest anyone see, especially under the age of maybe 21. As the star of the film puts it though, "this is a family film, because in every family film we see an important main character killed off." Simply understood, there is a main character that is killed off, and Wade Wilson (Deadpool) spends a substantial amount of the film attempting to move from this life to the next to be with his sweetheart.
In his failed attempts to reach his wife, she sends him back with a piece of information to help him navigate the challenges he is faced with. While this does resemble a model for reincarnation – "Go back until you get it right" – The bigger lesson to learn is what Wade's wife said after his first attempted suicide: "Your heart isn't in the right place."
After filtering through the language, violence, and the utilitarian villain, we understand that this lesson can also apply to us.
Rather than grit our teeth and say I help people because I have to, we should say I help people because I get to. We spend our time so focused on the mundane and negative that we take for granted the life we live and the beauty around us. Too often we bury ourselves in our busy lives and we don't focus on being relational.
Twice in the film, Wade's wife says, "Kids give us the chance to be better than we are." What this is eluding to is the devotion and sacrifice it takes to be a good parent. This eludes to how children, marriage, and even relationships in general force our heart to the right place.
Deadpool wanted to die so he could be with his woman, but there were people in this life that needed his help. Likewise, our motivation should be to do what is right, which sometimes isn't what we think we want or is the easiest. Sometimes doing the right thing is doing something that feels burdensome but we choose to do it because we know in our heart it is the right thing.
At one point in the film, the villain says that the boy with superpowers is too far gone, and there is no hope of turning him from the path of murder. He even proposes that Deadpool allow him to kill this one kid, so he can save hundreds more. Like every scripted film ever, Deadpool does fight to save the one kid and he does, and in turn, saves thousands of other people.
We also, as conscious individuals must make the decision to do what is right. Even when we are told there is no hope and it really doesn't make sense, we must choose to do what is right.
***Also, never walk into a cheap movie in anticipation of not finding some deep truth!***
