Ryan McNeil
BLOOD BROTHER offers a theory in its late-going: that no child ever grows out of their need for family. Fortunately in life, there are a few different types of family. There is, of course, the family you’re born into, and later there’s the family you choose if one decides to get married. For the truly fortunate, there’s a third type of family. It’s truly rare, and likewise truly rewarding: the family that chooses you.
BLOOD BROTHER is the story of Rock Braat, a mid-twenties American man like many others. Feeling restless at home, Rocky made a journey to India that begins the way many journeys of discovery do. When he got there though, he soon found a calling by way of a group of orphans afflicted with HIV/AIDS. He found himself drawn to them, feeling great fulfillment in looking out for their health, well-being, and happiness. Time eventually comes for his trip to end, but upon returning to America, he realizes that there is nothing there for him anymore.
His heart is in India, and he looks to return as soon as possible. This time though, he takes his best friend Steve with him in order to show him what has captured his heart and soul so completely.
What plays out during BLOOD BROTHER is beautiful, gut-wrenching, and life-affirming. What director Steve Hoover has captured is not just a document of Rocky’s relationship with India, but also a document of Steve’s relationship with Rocky. It’s a relationship that enters the film with doubts, but ultimately gets tempered as Rocky asks Steve to witness the world that has captured his heart. In that way it feels more like a diary…or a confession…an intimate expression of every wonderful experience – and every terrible one.
It comes with a level of raw emotion that many of us are uncomfortable exhibiting. Rocky knows full well that working with children affected with HIV/AIDS is going to come with harrowing experiences. One would think that in order to survive, one would have to steel themselves. Rocky does the opposite: he wears his emotions on his sleeve. Not only does that affect Steve and the story he chooses to tell, but it affects the audience too. We feel for the children, we feel for Rocky, we ask ourselves if we could ever do what Rocky is doing and feel ashamed when we realize that we couldn’t.
However, what Rocky shows us is that we owe it to each other to try. We need to give more of ourselves to one another, since it’s from that selflessness that so much strength is drawn. We see it in the way the children lean on Rocky, and the way Rocky leans on Steve – and later, his wife-to-be. These offerings of support aren’t easy – sometimes they can be downright terrible – but they have within them an ineffable quality that allows the person in need to carry on.
For the truly fortunate, there’s a family that chooses them. For the boys and girls of the orphanage, it was Rocky who chose them and came in to be their big brother and caregiver. He never paused at any cultural barriers, and didn’t hesitate in light of their affliction. These boys and girls were family to him from the moment he met them. Likewise, the children – and India itself – chose Rocky. They wrapped their arms around someone who was adrift, and gave him the feeling of home he’d been looking for.
They fulfilled that lingering need – the need for family.
BLOOD BROTHER is playing today, Wednesday May 1st, Hart House Theatre at 2pm, and once more, Friday May 3 – Isabel Bader Theatre at 4pm. (official website)