In the film Corrina, Corrina (1994),
a young girl tells her dad not to be jealous of the angels who are playing with
her recently deceased mother. Her father, a stout atheist, tells his 5 year old
daughter that heaven isn’t real; it’s just a place that people make up so that
they aren’t sad anymore. She looks at him intently and then asks sincerely, “What’s wrong with that?”
Corrina, Corrina (1994)
This idea is something that is
central to the plot of Big Fish. The
main struggle between Edward Bloom and his adult son is basically a debate
of Sydney’s assertion that poets are not liars, since they never claim to tell
the truth. The differences of opinions on this debate are presented clearly in
the film through the characters of Edward, his son Will, and the supporting
cast of Doctor Bennett, Sandra, and Josephine who all view Edwards’ stories
with differing levels of seriousness and consequence.
The film opens with Edward Bloom telling Will the story of the day he
caught the biggest fish in Alabama. A montage of scenes show the same story
being told multiple times over the course of 30-some-odd years, with Will’s
interest weaning and finally growing into resentment and aggression. Edward,
however, retorts that “everyone loves that story!” to which Will points out
that he doesn’t. Over and over again throughout the film, Will reminds Edward
that he’s already heard all of these stories. Edward, however, is not
discouraged by this. These stories are his life. At one point he tells
Josephine a story about a dream he had as a kid in which a raven would tell him
of his family members’ impending deaths. The story gets more intense and
Josephine is intrigued until Edward delivers the punch line and a quick
explanation, “you see, my mother was banging the milkman.” This shows that
Edward does make a distinction between his life’s stories and fictitious
stories or jokes. But to him, the real power behind the stories is not their
historical facts, but their emotional and (at times) entertaining significance.
At one point, Will accuses his father of never telling him a single fact.
Edward responds with, “I've told you a thousand facts, Will, that's what I do.
I tell stories.” To him, the actual events that occurred aren’t the facts, it’s
the feelings and morals that they portray that are the truth.
Will, on the other hand, doesn’t see his father’s stories that way. To
him they are lies, “entertaining lies.” He claims that he can’t know his father
because he’s never heard a single fact. Will is far more interested in the
historical actions that physically happened, the words that were literally
said. Without the truth, Will cannot know his father the way he wants to know
him. He is so desperate to get the facts straight that he drives out to Spectre
to confront the woman who lives in a house that his father owns. After exchanging
pleasantries with Jenny, he comes right out and asks if she was having an
affair with his father. Edward was gone a lot and Will just assumes that he had
another family somewhere that he would rather be with. Jenny doesn’t deny it.
Instead she tells him the story of her relationship with Edward. She starts
from the beginning and goes through all the details of buying the town, fixing
her house, and finally his rejection of her advances. The part that Will cares
about is the end: no, your father was not having an affair. But Jenny knows the
importance of story and that the answer needed so much more than a simple “no”
for it to begin to convey its real meaning. As Edward is in the hospital,
dying, Dr. Bennett tells Will the true, factual, historical story of the day he
was born. There was no fish, no lost wedding ring, no legend. Edward was simply
out of town on sales when Will was born. Will says that he “kinda likes” the
real version. At this point, Will gets the facts that he wanted and he begins
to understand why his father chooses to tell more exaggerated versions.
The supporting characters seem to have a more balanced opinion on the
merit of these “tall tales.” They use them as entertainment or and understand the underlying meaning they have. When Will first arrives at the house after
not speaking to his father for three years he asks his mom how much time he has
left. She responds, “We don’t talk about that.” Sandra knows that Edward
doesn’t have much time, it’s a reality she has no way of escaping, but she
chooses not to bring that particular fact to the forefront of conversations. Will
would argue that this escapism is like lying about it and pretending it’s not
happening. Edward might claim that the elephant in the room need never be
brought up. Sandra finds
the middle ground between these two extremes. She is dealing with the
unpleasantness on her own. She’s not pretending that it’s not happening nor is
she obsessing over it. Josephine enjoys the stories told by Edward, but
acknowledges that they are “tall tales.” She even joins in on finishing one of
his over-told stories. But she never condemns Ed nor Will for their opinions.
She tells Will that she likes his father’s stories because they are “romantic.”
The use of this word implies that she doesn’t care whether they’re true or not,
because they help her believe in a powerful force for good – love. Dr. Bennett,
the one who tells Will the real story of his birth, states the theme of the
film with the most conviction:
“And
that's the real story of how you were born. Not very exciting, is it? And I
suppose if I had to choose between the true version and an elaborate one
involving a fish and a wedding ring, I might choose the fancy version. But
that's just me.”
Knowing both versions, he is able to weigh the pros and cons
of choosing which one to put stock in. He understands that Edward was
disappointed that he wasn’t there for Will’s birth so he compensates with a
story that attempts to meet the importance of the birth of his son.
Through these characters, we see Sydney’s declaration being
pulled and prodded, tried and tested. In the conclusion of the film, Will tells
his dad a wild story that ends with Edward turning into a giant fish. Obviously
not a true story, it still has elements of truth in it. All of the crazy characters from Edward’s lifetime of stories are there to send him off, and in
the end Will tells him, “you become what you always were: a very big fish.”
This prophetic statement is realized at Edward’s funeral when his friends are
gathered around sharing their own stories of Edward, undoubtedly exaggerated.
The film concludes in favor of stories. Will accepts that his father wasn’t
always telling him facts, but he was telling him about himself through the
expression of stories. It also affirms another of Sydney’s points: that poetry
is dignified. Using these tall tales to teach his son about himself is using
the best of both entertainment and history. This combination, as argued by the
supporting characters and, I believe, the filmmakers themselves, is the perfect
balance that Sydney assigns to poetry.
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