In Passion For Life: Psychology and the Human Spirit, John James and Muriel James state: "A universal hunger pervades the world. It is the hunger to get more out of life, to give more back, to be more involved, and to find more meaning." This hunger of the soul is vividly and imaginatively expressed in Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991).

Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the film deals with the serendipitous interactions of six people whose days are put on edge by the fear and uncertainty brought on by urban violence, racial hatred, and the constant frustrations of modern life. Yet despite the palpable tensions all around them, these individuals ask themselves the right questions: Am I loving enough? Am I giving enough? Are my eyes open? How do I say thank you? Can I make a difference in the lives of others who are in need?

Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the screenplay with his wife Meg, sees the film as related to his earlier work The Big Chill about a group of baby boomers. Both dramas revolve around the question, Am I doing the right thing? The questions and exercises that follow are designed to probe that subject from different angles.

Grand Canyon runs 134 minutes and is rated R for adult situations. For our review of the film and a plot synopsis, click here.


1. NOTHING CAN BE CONTROLLED

"We are frightened and angered by signs of disorder, but even more by the recognition that what order may or may not exist seems beyond our control or design," Willard Gaylin writes in The Rage Within: Anger in Modern Life. "Beyond real misery — and surely that exists for too many — are the ever-present existential frustrations of modern life; the constant, mundane humiliations; the minor indignities that corrode our self-worth."

  • In the opening scene of Grand Canyon, Davis, a film producer, asks Mack: "When are you going to realize that nothing can be controlled?" In what ways are the lives of Davis, Mack, Claire, Simon, Dee, and Simon's sister out of control? What are some of the humiliations and indignities of modern life depicted in this film?
  • What signs do you see in your everyday existence of the increasing disorder and disintegration of modern life? What feelings does this awareness arouse in you?

2. YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON THE TERRIBLE

In the film, Simon says to Mack: "The world's a hard place but sometimes you get lucky. Then, of course, sometimes you don't. One thing is for sure. If you're alive some terrible shit's going to happen to you. Maybe some good things too. But you can always count on the terrible. If it doesn't kill you, you're gonna be around to see it come down some other way."

  • What feelings come to the fore as you watch a group of youths threaten Mack when his car breaks down on a deserted ghetto street? What impact does this close encounter with danger and death have upon Mack? Later, his friend Davis is shot by a man who steals his watch. What effect does this incident have upon the film producer?
  • What coping strategies have helped you handle the increased danger and violence in today's society? Do you think the next generation should be trained to deal with the world as a hard place where you can always count on the terrible? Explain.

3. OUR LIVES NO LONGER BELONG TO US ALONE

"We know that every moment is a moment of grace, every hour an offering; not to share them would be to betray them. Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all who need us desperately," Elie Wiesel stated in his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

  • Why does Claire feel so strongly about adopting the abandoned baby she finds? What does she mean when she says, "Sometimes a connection is made, and it has to be played out"? Do you empathize with Mack's need to repay Simon for his kindness?
  • What spiritual values lie behind the view that "our lives no longer belong to us alone"? How do you share who you are and what you have with those who need you desperately?

4. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

Co-writer and director Lawrence Kasdan sees one theme of the film as the fact that "people are living wildly different lifestyles, in different levels of comfort and safety and yet they're very much connected. You can't keep the worlds apart. . . . Enormous despair exists just within a few miles of enormous prosperity and hope."

  • Do you think Mack's helping Simon's sister find a new apartment will improve the quality of her family's life? How do you feel when you hear Simon's nephew say that he doesn't expect to see 25 years of age?
  • Do you sense an ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor in your community? What will it take for affluent individuals to recognize that all of our lives are diminished by those who live without hope?

5. ACCEPTING WHAT WAS ONCE UNACCEPTABLE

"There are people ready to shoot you if you look at them," Claire says to Mack, "and we're getting used to it. The world is so nuts it makes me wonder about all the choices that we've made."

  • What community choices are reflected by such harsh realities of modern urban life as violence in the streets, babies being abandoned, and homeless people living in boxes?
  • Meg Kasdan, co-writer of the screenplay for Grand Canyon, has noted: "It was very important to us that the film show how we've gotten used to it. What was once unacceptable, we now accept as a given." If someone told you that there is nothing we can do about the decline in the quality of life today, what would you say?

6. MODERN DAY MIRACLES

Talking about finding the baby and Mack's new friendship with Simon, Claire says, "Maybe these are miracles. Maybe we don't have any experience with miracles so we're slow to recognize them."

  • What is miraculous about Mack's curbside rescue when he just missed being hit by a bus? Claire's happening upon the abandoned baby? Simon's arrival when Mack's car had stalled? Mack and Simon's friendship? Simon and Jane's love?
  • Believing in modern day miracles is one thing: discerning, accepting, and rejoicing in them is even more important. What miracles can you point to in your life? How have they affected your daily life, faith, and belief in God?

7. PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE AT THE GRAND CANYON

Early in the film, Simon tells Mack about what seeing the Grand Canyon taught him: "Those rocks, those cliffs . . . they're so old . . . It ain't done either. It happens right while you're sitting there watching it . . . while we're sitting here in this ugly town. When you sit on the edge of that thing you just realize what a joke we people are, the big heads we got thinking that what we do is gonna matter all that much. . . . Me and my worries. It's real humorous to the Grand Canyon."

  • React to this conversation and to the ending of the film. Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? What feelings did it evoke in you?
  • Unravel the different strands of meaning in the title of Lawrence Kasdan's film.


This guide is one in a series of more than 200 Values & Visions Guides written by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Text copyright 2001 by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox. This guide is posted as a service to visitors to www.SpiritualityandPractice.com. It may not be photocopied, reprinted, or distributed electronically without permission from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. For a list of guides in the Values & Visions series and ordering information, email your name and mailing address to: brussat@spiritualrx.com.