Deserve's got nothin' to do with it
Reflection by Stephen Shulze
Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.
— from “Unforgiven,” Clint Eastwood, dir.
When younger, I was an ardent lover of movies, of cinema. From Cocteau to Kurosawa, Keaton to Kubrick, watching a great film was a near religious experience. Images and words — of all the marvelous lines to be found in films, the one that still touches me as most true, summarizing best our existential condition, occurs when William Mundy sights down the barrel of his Springfield and tells Little Bill, “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”
Others might hear this pronouncement as cynical or despairing, but I hear it as an echo of Ecclesiastes.
We have passed already the threshold toward a future in which much of the planet’s environment is hostile to humankind. No otherworldly power is coming to save our species from its reckoning of desiccated earth, rising seas, cyclones and extinctions. I believe it will be ugly for many forms of life for a good long while. The great challenge for us, sapiens, will be to preserve and nurture a sense of the sacred, faced with the drawback that an authentic sense of the sacred can be maintained only through a healthy relationship with the natural world.
If life has meaning, it is known by a feeling of connectedness, of merger with something beyond individuation — friendship, family, a cause, the cosmos. In its most saturating and sustaining forms this sense of connectedness engenders the sacred. Strangely then, when it comes to love, “deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”
Be kind. Nurture the natural world.
Stephen Shulze
Retired Zoo Keeper. Married 39 years. Helped to raise a son and daughter, About to become a grandparent. Right now, tethered to a puppy on and off every day. I like to design and build with wood and stone and am (slowly) working on a website to feature a few plays and other writing.
What’s Your Story?
Lines from movies often speak to us. Sometimes, someone else’s interpretation may be different than yours or even from what the writer had intended. Each version can add to the line’s meaning and importance. Stephen Shulze's reflection about the line, "Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it." is an excellent example of this. My guess is that his interpretation will not only be new to you but will also make you think about it in a different way. At least that’s what happened to me!
What lines from a movie have spoken to you? How have they altered how you see the world? Consider sending in a short reflection (up to 250 words) on these lines and how they have shown up in your world.
How to get started? For inspiration, read the reflections on our Home page or wander around the full collection of stories on the Building Bridges Word by Word website and see which ones catch your eye. Then, when you’re ready, click on the button below for story guidelines, prompts, and the steps for submitting your reflection. Questions? Email us at buildingbridgeswbw@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!