"Babe"

     Babe (1995) is a film about a small pig, named Babe, who leaves a massive pig farm ands ends up on the quaint Hoggett farm. Here, Babe is adopted and cared for by the Fly, the sheepherding dog. While on the farm, he learns a lot of valuable life lessons, as well as helping others learn similar lessons.

     One of the biggest morals of Babe is that against prejudice. The film begins with a narrator explicitly saying that: "This is a tale about an unprejudiced heart, and how it changed our valley forever." Because Babe has an "unprejudiced heart", he is able to help break down that prejudiced barriers that existed on the farm.

     Fly and her husband Rex have grown to think of the sheep as stupid and should be treated as such. The narrator even says that Fly thought that "it was a cold fact of nature that sheep were stupid, and there was nothing that could convince her otherwise." Similarly, the sheep thought the dogs were ignorant. And these prejudices had existed for a long time on the farm.

     When Babe finally gets the chance to try herding sheep, he gets laughed at. Fly tells him that "they're sheep, they're inferior" and "We are their masters, Babe. Let them doubt it for a second and they'll walk all over you." When Babe protest, saying they are not lesser beings, Fly responds again: "Be ruthless. Whatever it takes, bend them to your will."

     Even though Babe had previously met and befriend Maa, one of the older ewes, he has conflicting thoughts because Fly, his surrogate mother, is telling him that sheep are worthless. From is own experience, he has learned that sheep are nice and good creatures; but he is being taught conversely.

     Babe tries herding the sheep Fly's way but to no avail. He eventually talks to the sheep and asks them to go into the corral. They do what they are told with no fuss. When asked by Fly how he did it, Babe responds, "I asked them and they did it. I just asked them nicely."

     By the end of the film, Rex promises to treat the sheep civilly and not to bite them. Because of Babe's beliefs that the sheep were not dumb or inferior, he was able to break down the barrier that existed between the sheep dogs and the flock. These prejudices were abolished by an open heart.

     Another lesson, or moral, that is taught in Babe is that of seizing opportunities. Even though he is not a sheep dog, Babe takes the chance to be able to herd sheep. Rex is reluctant to give him this chance, thinking it an embarrassment. But Fly, on the other hand, sees potential in Babe and lets him try. If Babe did not take this opportunity and prove himself, he would have ended up as Christmas dinner.

     Farmer Hoggett likewise seized an opportunity many others probably would have passed up. When he notices that Babe separated the chickens by color, he begins imagining Babe herding sheep. This may seem like a crazy idea, but the farmer is a feeling and followed it. And because he took that opportunity, he won the sheepherding competition.

     Babe and Farmer Hoggett were able to prove themselves and win, even thought by taking every opportunity that presented itself, no matter how crazy it may seem. And even though no one else believed in them, they had faith in what they were doing.

     What at first may appear merely as a cute story about farm animals, is actually a powerful film teaching important lessons. Babe teaches its audiences that prejudices are wrong and warrant to place in their lives. It also teaches them to seize the day and take opportunities that others may pass up on.