Decalogue 7

One of the most famous court cases settled by King Solomon involved two women fighting over one child. I immediately thought of this Old Testament story as we watched the seventh Decalogue film, as the basic similarities are obvious.

In the Biblical court case, two prostitutes living in the same house give birth within days of each other, but during the night one of the women lays on her son and he dies. In the middle of the night she switches the two children and the other woman awakens to a dead son at her breast, although at a closer look she realizes it’s not her son. They take the case to the court, and King Solomon decrees that the child be cut in two, with each woman receiving a half. The mother of the dead child agrees with the decision, but the real mother cries out that the baby could be given to the other woman, just let him live! With that, Solomon knew she was the real mother and gave her the child.

In the seventh Decalogue film, there are obvious similarities to this tale of King Solomon, but it twists the story around. The film also involves two women fighting over one child, but the circumstances are very different. In the Decalogue film, Majka became pregnant in high school and rather than keep the child as her daughter, allowed her mother to in essence adopt the baby and raise her as her own child. Majka is treated as the child’s sister, and the deception is deep, as only a handful of people know the truth of their family.

There are many differences in the stories, but I think the biggest difference lies in the hearts of the real mothers. In the Biblical tale, the true mother loved her child selflessly, and only wanted the best for the baby. She was willing to give up her right to raise and love the child if it meant he would live.

In the film, Majka is originally portrayed as only wanting a chance to love her child and be her mother. She is grieved by her decision to give Ania up, and wants to experience motherhood. This is a valid feeling, and I originally felt sorry for her. I could only imagine how hard it would be to watch your own daughter being raised by another, unaware that is was you who gave her life. As more of the plot unfolds, however, one realizes Majka’s terrible relationship with her own mother and another thought occurs. Did she really want the child, or did she just want to get back at her mother? I wasn’t really sure what was the answer, but I think it became more clear as we continued to watch the film, and then through the discussions afterwards.

I realized, however, that it was irrelevant which motive was correct, because every possible motive Majka had for “stealing” Ania was selfish, which couldn’t be true love since love is not self-seeking. What Majka really wanted was not to love the child, but to be loved by her. She never felt loved by her own mother, and in some way I think she wanted to use the child to fill her need for love. She didn’t want to have a daughter as much as she wanted her daughter to call her mother. She didn’t have Ania’s best interest in her mind, which is a true sign of love. Ania had a good life with Majka’s parents and a stable and happy home. Fleeing with her to Canada and tearing apart the life she knew wasn’t a loving action. The child obviously loved the woman she believed to be her mother and didn’t have the same feelings for Majka.

Majka even treated Ania as an object by repeating calling her “the child” and using her as a leverage to hurt her mother! I didn’t realize how pervasive this I-It relationship was until I began to write this blog and originally wrote “the child” every time I mentioned Ania. Only when I realized this did I go back and fill in her name. Like the mother of the dead son in Solomon’s story, Majka didn’t treat the child as a human being but rather as an object.

I suppose it’s hard to fault Majka for not really loving Ania when you realize she never felt love from her own mother. I would think it’s difficult to learn how to love your daughter if your own mother didn’t love you well. Jesus and the Beatles were right. Love is all we need, and when we don’t receive and give it, the consequences are terrible.

eks