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Mary-Katherine Sweeney

Mr. Olszyk

Religion IV

15 March 2017

Dead is Dead

The movie Coconut Hero begins in the middle of Nowheresville where 16-year-

old Mike Tyson, wants an out to his currently boring and uneventful life. To do this, Mike

tries hundreds of different ways to commit suicide; only to find out he has a very serious

brain tumor. Due to the excessive amounts of an attempt at suicide Mike is sent to

therapy. Mike decides to continue his life knowing that he has only a few months to live,

unless he gets surgery to remove the tumor. He begins to accept his death until he meets

Miranda, a girl who works at the therapy center and ends up falling in love with her.

Through Mirandas untimely death Mike finally accepts the surgery and how meaningful

life can be. Due to this relationship, Miranda symbolizes Jesus Christ because she spent

her life trying to help others and showing Mike, how precious and what a gift life.

Throughout the movie, the filmmakers seems to want you to focus on Mikes

transition out of his depression and into a happier life. The creator also centers on the

thought that some may have a meaningless life, but one can still get through the worst of

it and come out stronger than before. With time, Miranda helps Mike realize that having

certain people in your life can make it bearable and give you a reason to live. By entering

Mikes life Miranda was able to give him hope and the friendship that he needed to

understand that life is precious. Another major theme within the movie is love, and how it

can be invisible to the eye.


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Love can be difficult, confusing, and invisible, but in time it will sort itself out,

which is overall a major theme throughout the film. Throughout the growth of Miranda

and Mikes relationship, love begins to blossom between the two. Since, neither has been

in love before, they are unable to comprehend the feelings between each other and are

never really together even though Miranda and Mike feel the same towards each other.

Never having been in love, or even tried to talk to any girl for that matter, Mike doesnt

realize how he feels until its too late.

You may ask, is Coconut Hero really religious? Technically no. This movie only

has a few slight affiliations with God: a scene where Mike prays to God to end his life,

and more. Other than that, there is no direct affiliation. If you pay close attention to the

movie, however, you can interpret Miranda, one of the main characters; how she is a

good representation of Jesus Christ. Miranda enters Mikes life at the most unexpected

time, when he is enrolled into therapy, and yet it seemed to be the best time. At first Mike

rejects the idea of Miranda and the thought of friendship, since he was destined to die

with a brain tumor in a few months. After time, Mike realizes that Miranda is different

from all the other girls, and they begin a lasting friendship. Similar to the followers of

Jesus, many people rejected his teachings but eventually came back and pursued Jesuss

teachings. Although Miranda is a good representation of Jesus Christ she never rises from

the dead, as he did, for Dead is dead in the eyes of Mike Tyson.

Like Jesus, Miranda displays guidance and helps Mike realize the beauty and

goodness in the world through their meetings. Miranda is also a symbol for Jesus when

she, like Him, leaves in an abrupt way after helping the main character get through the

toughest parts of his life. With the abrupt death of Miranda, Mike is indeed devastated but
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slowly learns how to live a positive life, see the beauty in everything, and forever end his

state of depression.

The work is quite compelling, which is one of the reasons why I choose to use

this film. Almost everything about the film is fascinating, the cinematography especially.

The color scheme throughout the movie is beautiful, and the sound editing that matched

the song to the words in the beginning was something that I love seeing in films but never

get enough of. Speaking of music, it was very intriguing and really went with the indie

persona the film was taking on, most of the songs were from unknown indie bands and

helped support the films genre. One plot of the film I felt indifferent about was the

dialogue with mike and the funeral director. Once Mike realizes he is destined to die, he

begins preparations for his funeral. Although it does seem out of place in the movie, if

paid close attention you could see how Mike tries to prepare for his death, but only ends

up preparing for Mirandas.

Another aspect that was creative in the film was the editing. The transitions

flowed together, and during some of the most emotional scenes the editor decides to slow

down whats going on in the background, to focus on the characters emotion and express

how they feel like time slows down. The editor uses this technique when Miranda dies,

and Mike contemplates, whether or not to continue with surgery and has the utter

realization that she died.

Coconut Hero has three main plots, Mikes development of his tumor and

preparation for his death, his relationship with his family, and his overall relationship

with Miranda. All plots are successful in getting across Mikes message and bettering his

life, but there could have been more development on the relationship with his family.
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Overall it was good, in my opinion how the developers decided to tie in the family

troubles with his relationship with Miranda and how each character developed throughout

the film. You can see Mikes character development throughout the story as he travels

with Miranda. In one scene she explains the difference between Heaven and hell by

seeing hell, or hello written in the clouds and tells Mike what he must do to go to heaven,

similar to what Jesus did in his parables.

During Mike and Mirandas adventure there is a hint of foreshadowing within the

movie. When Mike asks what Miranda would think of him if he died she did reply, but

immediately asked what would he do if she died. Mike never thought about it again until

Miranda did die, and gave all his funeral preparations to Miranda instead of himself.

Even during the funeral the priest says that Miranda helped people and led them on the

correct path, which is what she did for Mike in the end. This is shown in the last scene of

the movie after Mike realizes hes fallen in love with Miranda. Mike watches the clouds

and sees the words hell painted in the sky, but after a few moments the letters read

hello. This symbolizes Mikes growth as an individual and how hes begun to believe in

life.

The realization that Mike is going to die without the surgery motivates the

character to live more, even if he doesnt realize it. By running away with Miranda, Mike

begins to change and realizes that life is precious, and begins to open up to her, and his

family. In the beginning, Mike is forced to go to therapy, and obey his mother. Like most

Catholics at a young age, we are forced to go to mass. All throughout the movie Mike

slowly begins to realize that Earth is a good place to live and this world is worth it, by

falling in love and gaining friendships along the way. Similar to some during their
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confirmation years, thats the time when people begin to realize how important God is in

their lives and it changes them for the better. Mike also abolishes the idea of suicide; he

ends up getting the surgery and not only does he live for himself, but for Miranda. We

live for God, and his people. Overall, this movie has a positive belief about religion.

The film Coconut Hero does have a variety of religious symbols throughout its

contents. Miranda, one of the main characters, can be an interpreted as Jesus Christ, and

helps lead people in the correct direction away from sin and sorrow but like Christ, she

leaves in an abrupt way once her time is done. This movie also contributes the idea of

love that is something invisible to the eye, and how family relationships can rebuild

themselves after a tragedy. Coconut Hero shows how death can bring us all back

together, whether it is with family, or God.


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Works Cited

Coconut Hero. Dir. Florian Cossen. Majestic Filmverleih, 20th Century Fox Home

Entertainment, Search Engine Films, 2015. DVD.

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