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[o.o] Joe has arrived on Waponi Woo and is learning the customs of the islanders who intend to sacrifice him to the volcano. He’s baffled, frightened, and quietly judging the situation the way a modern outsider would: this is irrational, this is cruel, this makes no sense.

The Chief responds calmly, without defensiveness or menace. He explains that their way of life isn’t about logic or cruelty — it’s inheritance. They do what they do because it’s what was handed to them. No grand justification. No theology lesson. Just continuity.

That’s when he delivers the line.

The movie is sneaky-smart here. On the surface, it sounds like a line about tradition — we follow what we’re taught. But thematically, it’s one of the core ideas of the whole film:

• People accept miserable jobs, loveless routines, fear-based lives
  not because they choose them,
  but because that’s what was modeled for them.
  
• Joe’s life before the journey is just as ritualized and unquestioned as the Waponi sacrifice — only dressed up in fluorescent lights and medical pamphlets.
  
• The Chief isn’t saying this is right. He’s saying this is how patterns persist.
  

It’s not an endorsement of the sacrifice — it’s a mirror held up to Joe (and us).

That’s why the line lands so hard. It quietly suggests:

You don’t escape death by fearing change, and holding on to “That’s just how things are done” thinking.
You escape it by choosing differently than you were shown.

Which, of course, is exactly what Joe finally does.

^-.-^  Joe Versus the Volcano …  lol ….you just jumped in with all that *seemingly out of nowhere* (or selective copy-paste) [this line will be super ironic later. once you remember who’s driving.]

>>First of all…the soundtrack!

Just hits that road trip vibe for my young life.

This one line,  “We are the children of children and we live as we are shown.”

Just stuck in a way much deeper than the comedy delivered.

We didn’t have Adults.

WE had children playing dress-up, without the mental/emotional strength/maturity to carry out the responsibilities of parenting.

I became a parent in 1995 (at conception.) It was planned, discussed, the point of our union “family-life.” (I believed, until I was shown otherwise.) The pitch did not match practice.

Once pregnant, I knew every choice I made directly affected someone else’s life. 

Not a lump of cells. 

My son – who would have a future that I had No Right to decrease in any way. 

No stunting his growth, No twisting his mind. No sabotaging. No treating him like a pawn or puppet. No treating him like he is incapable, insufficient, inadequate, when he is nowhere close to being done growing.

Parenting…. As though he mattered.

Birthplace of self love… being parented as though you are loved and you matter, your future matters, your hopes and dreams matter. 

I knew, If I wanted a future with this infant/boy/adult/man later in life… 

>>where there would be love and trust and healthy communication,, … 

(things I didn’t have with my parents as an adult)

If I want THIS future, 

I’m required to act accordingly from day one. 

No excuses later… no hoping this kid buys my lame-ass bs cop outs or compensations. 

Straight – from the start. 

This also helps re-parented my “inner wounded child”….  Disproving every lie my parents told me, every lie they told themselves, every lie they told my siblings about me. Every lie my siblings copied and modelled for neighbors to copy and model.  

Every lie that made it “okay” to de-humanize me as a sport.

I know… huge idea!!! 

Earth-shattering!!

                >It is not okay to de-humanize any human.<

My children are not birthed from a childish adult. 

Adult Level Emotional Maturity. 

Adult Level (Radical) Accountability/Responsibility

I HAD the unfortunate habits of believing the pitch, being patient, and forgiving.

Broke those habits. Been at it for decades.

Choosing differently.

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