Analysis of Hero Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) in the Film A Little Movie Review

Analysis of Hero Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) in the Film A Little Princess - Movie Review Example   The official hero â€Å"represented the American belief in collective action and the objective legal process that superseded private notions of right and wrong† (Ray 1). At first sight, Sara Crewe appears to embody the qualities of the official hero – a smart, pretty, young lady who possesses a strong moral and ethical grounding. Growing up to a rich family, she speaks French and has lived most of her childhood years in India. In the film, she constantly speaks about how much she loves her father, and how badly she misses her mother who passed away during childbirth. Sara is a picture of an honest, beautiful, and loving daughter who seemed to have everything. Ray also talks about how the official hero embodies â€Å"the best attributes of adulthood: sound reasoning and judgment [and] wisdom and sympathy based on experience† (2). Sara, as young as she was, maybe childish at times but she often comes across as an adult trapped in an adolescent body. In a letter to her father, she writes about the strict rules in the school that she reluctantly follows but, nevertheless, believes that those rules are there for a reason. Although the rebelling heart is there, the young mind of Sara is willing to understand and accept rules displaying a certain degree of maturity and sound judgment. â€Å"The official heroes were predominantly worldly, comfortable in society, and willing to undertake even those public duties demanding personal sacrifice† (Ray 3). Sara knows very well the class segment she belongs to – an heiress to a British father who mined precious stones for business. Her father constantly tells her in the film that she is a princess. Possessing these worldly qualities, however, Sara keeps her feet on the ground and treats everyone as her equal. Upon learning that the black servant girl, Becky (Vanessa Lee Chester), was not allowed to speak with the students, Sara went out of her way to give Becky a pair of new shoes. That s mall gesture started the relationship that eventually blossomed into a lifelong friendship between the two. 3. The Outlaw Hero Qualities of Sara Crewe While some qualities of Sara make her an official hero, she is predominantly driven by outlaw hero qualities. First, Sara is driven by â€Å"whims, tantrums, and emotional decisions† that characterize an outlaw hero (Ray 1). In one scene in the film, Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron) tells Sara that jewelries are not allowed in the class. Sara pleads to be allowed to wear the necklace in her room instead, and gets instant approval from Miss Minchin. Sara’s little whims and tantrums are somehow an indicator of her rebellious heart. In a reading class, after seeing her classmates doze on and off while listening to the reader, Sara changes the plot of the story and inserts make-believe characters. This wakes up her sleepy classmates and at the same time irritates Miss Minchin.