Tell me a story, a real one, please

            If you're on the Internet, you've probably seen those "pass-this-on-or-be-sorry" urban legends such as being careful when using hand sanitizer or your hands could catch on fire.

            True life is much better than anything people could make up. That's part of the reason I have a problem with the current summer blockbuster movies. This year's crop specializes in blowing things up and unnecessary violence.

            What they're missing is the backbone for any successful film – a decent script.

            It's been a while since we've watched a movie with an extraordinary story line. One of the best is the 1962 movie "To Kill a Mockingbird." We see Atticus Finch demonstrate true character by defending a man of color when prejudice was rampant.

            No explosives. No inter-galactic space villains. Just a man who lives true to his beliefs.

            The Harry Potter movies are often remembered for their spectacular special effects, but the true star is an outstanding script based on a creative story.

            The same goes for the "Lord of the Rings" movies. The CGI effects are astounding, but it's the story of Frodo's dedication that makes a long-lasting impression.

            Great stories are all around us. There are people who go above and beyond themselves every day as they battle cancer, accept foster children into their homes and persevere against the hard balls life throws at them.

            But writers miss so much when all they're worried about is how much stuff they can blow up or destroy.

            There's the true story of Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker, who saved over 3,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto from being exterminated during World War II. She risked her life by smuggling babies and children out of the concentration camps.

            She was eventually found out, arrested, beaten and jailed by the Nazis. Four Kansas high school students found out about Sendler and wrote a touching play, "Life in a Jar."

            But no movie.

Courage by Example

            There another person whose story of courage is well worth examining – 13-year-old Talia Joy Castellano.

            Talia was diagnosed with two types of rare cancer and lost all her hair during brutal chemo treatments. She decided she didn't want to wear a wig and experimented with colorful eye makeup. She had so much fun and felt so good about herself, she created a series of professional make-up tutorials on YouTube.

            The over 1 million YouTube viewers she's attracted forget that she's bald or that she's battling cancer. Instead they see a happy young girl with a message of hope.

            Ellen DeGeneres saw the same bright light and had Talia on her show where she was named an honorary Cover Girl star.

            Talia wanted to become a make-up artist in Hollywood, but her dreams were cut short. The cancers came back, and, this week, her mother announced that Talia had finally lost the fight.

            Producers will continue to make expensive, over-the-top movies. But finding a genuine story, an earnest one that will inspire people for years, is as easy as looking at the people around us.

            Maybe it's the story of a family who lost their toddler son to cancer but give out Christmas gifts to cancer patients year after year.

            Perhaps it's the story of a social worker who put her life on the line to save babies and children from extermination.

            Or maybe it's watching a make-up video by a smiling 13-year-old girl who knew true beauty and courage comes from within.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.