Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections


How do you know when you might be making a mistake? One way is when the lights begin to fade and you look around a packed theater and realize that there are only three other guys in the entire theater. A closer inspection also reveals that more than half of the females filling the theater are under the age of 18. For those that don’t take hints very well, these are good clues that you are about to watch a chick-flick. As it turns out, my wife and teenage daughter had read the book Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares, and couldn’t stop talking about how great it was. So, as a family we ended up sitting in a theater on Friday night waiting for the movie adaptation of the book to begin. But, to my surprise, and delight, it turns out that I had not made a mistake.

If your movie taste lend towards the thrill of watching things getting blown up, or fists flying in every direction, or even an underdog sports team overcoming enormous odds, this is probably not the movie for you. But I also wouldn’t write this movie off as just another chick-flick and recommend it to most everyone. Yes, it is a coming-of-age, feel good movie; and while the movie will definitely appeal to most girls in high school and younger, along with many women who will reminisce about their past friendships; I think it will also appeal to a lot of guys. The movie is well directed, the acting is convincing, and the storyline is just captivating enough to attract more than just teenage girls.

From the beginning of the film, a major theme came through loud and clear – Sisterhood, or Fellowship. This is exemplified in the love of the characters for one another and how they sustain their faith in the face of turbulent experiences. A faith bolstered by a pair of pants that magically appear in a thrift shop. The plot is based upon the story of four girls that make up the Sisterhood: Bridget, Carmen, Lena, and Tibby. They have known each other since they were babies and have been there for each other through every trial and tribulation including divorce and death of a parent. On the eve of separating for the first time, each going their own way for the Summer, they are found by a pair of supernatural jeans – that magically fits all four of them perfectly (though they are all different sizes and shapes). Apprehensive about being separated for the first time, they decide to share the pants, mailing them to each other after one week of ownership. The idea being that even though they are apart, the pants will “travel� between them as a reminder of their bond and fellowship.

The shy Lena (Alexis Bledel of Gilmore Girls fame) takes off for Greece to spend time with her grandparents. The level-headed one of the group, she finds that a life of comfortable routine and an uneventful existence is not necessarily a recipe for happiness. Bridget (played by Blake Lively, a relative new-comer) is off to soccer camp in Mexico leaving her emotionally detached father behind. The wild one, she grasps for the love she can’t find at home, but must also deal with the fear of repeating her mother’s past mistakes. Carmen (America Ferrera who played Ana Garcia in Real Women have Curves) travels out of state to visit her estranged father only to run into a situation that drives a wedge farther between her and her dad. She must deal with years of pent up anger and her own feelings about her father. Tibby (Amber Tamblyn the star of Joan of Arcadia – which I am still angry about being cancelled) stays behind to work on a documentary about the pointlessness of life; which she calls a "suckumentary". As the rebel of the group, and comes across as removed from the ordinariness of the world, Tibby is confronted with the fact that real life is not about our individual actions, but is about the relationships that connect us all together. Not part of the Sisterhood, but connected nonetheless is Bailey, a pre-teen who befriends Tibby. Jenna Boyd, who portrays Bailey, at 12 years of age has already compiled a fairly extensive list of past performances including The Missing, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, and The Hunted, along with a number of TV appearances (Six Feet Under, CSI, and Just Shoot Me!). Jenna is an excellent young actress and some of the scenes between her and Amber Tamblyn are just plain heart-wrenching, with most of the audience in tears, but simultaneously an inspiration to the viewer. Jenna’s character, and the on-screen relationship between her and Amber’s character, provide a striking contrast to the sucumentary and the assertion that life is pointlessness.

I really enjoyed this movie, even though at times it felt a little claustrophobic in the midst of the estrogen-ridden room. Regardless, the movie lived up to its hype as did all the young actresses. Bringing together some of the best young actresses of our times reminded me a little of when other films brought together the best young talent of their times, such as the 1988 film Young Guns with Emilio Estevez (Mighty Ducks series), Kiefer Sutherland (star of the TV series 24), Lou Diamond Phillips (with recent appearances on Jack & Bobby and Numbers), and Charlie Sheen (star of TV’s Two and Half Men).

As the characters come of age and discover much about themselves, and each other, they are transformed; they’re journey of spiritual grow and into maturity is stylishly captured on film. I have to admit I am somewhat the sentimental type, enjoying a good romantic comedy (e.g. Wimbleton), but gagging at The Bridges of Madison County. So one might say my appreciation for the film could be suspect, but I think that I am objective enough to say most men would find this film enjoyable. It also wouldn’t hurt your relationship to provide an empathetic shoulder to lean against during the more heartrending scenes.

This spiritual growth and maturity is a natural part of our lives. In Corinthians it says “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man [woman], I put childish ways behind me. . . And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.�

This love theme is prevalent throughout the movie in the form of their sisterhood. The characters are linked in a fellowship that bonds them through the good and bad times of their lives. Though they need to exist in the world as individuals, they also love each other and are bound to each other in a way only those who have experienced this closeness can understand.

If you read the book and enjoyed it, then you should enjoy the movie as my wife tells me the movie is true to the book. And even if you haven’t read the book, I think you will still enjoy the movie. You will come away with a sense of well being. Of having shared in the character’s intimate experiences. And beyond all else, feeling as if you too are part of something bigger than yourself, as Bailey and Tibby discover when lying on a blanket looking up at the stars. . . there must be something more, something greater than just this life. And they are so right! As Jesus says Himself, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…’

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections