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August (Queen Latifah) teaches Lily about bees, and life

This odd spirituality may turn off some Christians. Instead of being based on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this belief system revolves around a mystical mother-love. Make no mistake, this isn't a Christian movie. (Book author Sue Monk Kidd, whose website says she's into "contemplative spirituality" and "feminist theology," is the Writer in Residence for the Sophia Institute, whose mission is to "foster Wisdom, Wholeness, Oneness, Sustainability, Peace and the Integration of the Sacred Feminine and Masculine for the transformation of Self and Society.") Still, Christians will resonate with many themes throughout the film: healing community, redeeming love, and transforming forgiveness.

The movie compellingly illustrates the universal needs for love and belonging—desires that drove many of us to the Cross. Those who can appreciate the movie as literature and folklore will no doubt find Bees to be a lovely piece of storytelling. Christians who want their religious beliefs clearly mirrored on the big screen might be disappointed and/or frustrated.

Still, I think all can agree on the compelling community evidenced in the Boatwright sisters. For example, August painted the house the garish pink because the color brought May such joy. She wisely instructs Lily that some things matter in this world—like lifting someone's spirits—and some things simply don't—like the embarrassment of living in a house you can practically see from across town. In the Boatwrights' relationships with each other and in their various ways of reaching out to the two young lost and hurting strangers, we see a winning example of sacrificial, Samaritan-like love.

Lily and Rosaleen with the Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys)

Bees also explores the tenuous relationship between blacks and whites in the 1960s South. While we see the expected hatred from narrow-minded bigots, what's more intriguing is the delicate journey for whites who want to love their African-American friends. They will never truly understand the black experience, even though some desire to—and even though they unwittingly create danger in their black friends' lives in the process. For example, when Lily attends a movie with her black friend (and slowly budding boyfriend) Zach, he gets beat up when some white men find her sitting with him in the "Coloreds Only" balcony. It's the nuanced characters and relationships on both sides of the color line that offer the most interesting peeks into this troubled part of American history.

With these meaty themes and compelling characters, Bees is a rich, emotional exploration of the redeeming power of love and the transforming comfort of home.

>Talk About It

1. Which character do you most relate to and why?
2. What does Lily go searching for in Tiburon? Do you think she eventually finds it?
3. What do you think of May's Wailing Wall? What do you do to handle life's hurts and disappointments?
4. August tells Lily there are four rules of bee-yard etiquette: Don't be afraid, don't be an idiot, don't swat, and send the bees love. Do you think there are any life lessons hidden in these rules?
5. In one scene, May says, "Sometimes not feeling is the only way you can survive." Have you ever felt that way?
6. In another scene, Lily's friend Zach tells her, "Finding out the truth is only half of it—it's what you do with it that matters." When have you had to face a difficult truth? What did you do with this truth?

The Family Corner

The Secret Life of Bees is rated PG-13 for thematic material and some violence. We see four-year-old Lily accidentally shoot her mother, though it's in flashback and there's no blood or gore. We also see Lily's father make her kneel in a pile of grits for an hour, an act that leaves her with shredded knees. Rosaleen gets beat up by racists for trying to register to vote. And later in the film, Lily's black guy friend also gets beat up by racists. The abuse and racism at the hands of grown men who should know better would need some explaining for younger children, and could inspire good conversation with older teens. We also see June make out with her boyfriend in several scenes.

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