TMBC - Why Feed the Birds?

So they won't starve! Nah jk, it's not like that. I mean the song.

When I talked about my fanfiction with some friends and I mentioned Seymour, they asked me why did I make Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins the lullaby his mom would sing to him. Well, I told them that, in my mind when I was coming up with the idea, I pictured Amelia Weever being voiced by Julie Andrews because, well, she can be a really sweet person to match Amelia herself. So the idea was to have Feed the Birds as a tribute. But today I watched Mary Poppins again, and... I didn't realize how deeper the song, or the movie, could go with the poor kid...

See, back then I had this feeling that it HAD to be Mary Poppins to make a deeper impact on Seymour. Literally NO other song, or movie context, would work. It had to be this one, despite the anachronism. But then I watched the movie today, and I remembered... One of the movie's most important morals is that childhood only lasts so long. That movie isn't simply part of a lot of people's childhoods. That movie IS a lot of people's childhoods. And then when you look back and see it, it brings back the inner child. The same child that watched that movie years ago, sung all the songs along with the characters.

Now think back to the movie, fellow fan. After Mr. Banks is fired and comes back home at the end of the Step in Time number, Bert is the only chimney sweep left to hear Mr. Banks lament his situation in song, pinning the blame for all the recent chaos in his life on Mary. Bert replies, also in song, that yes, Mr. Banks works hard and routinely to keep his family financially stable, but with time he forgot that work isn't everything to life. And then he points out the elephant in the room: his children are growing, and childhood isn't sticking around forever. Soon they'll be grown adults, dutiful as he is, and if he only keeps his attention on work, he'll miss out on their development. And then possibly regret, in the future, how little time he spent with them.

Just like a certain anime-haired Englishman and his younger brother, perhaps?

And is it any coincidence that Feed the Birds is the lullaby I chose for Seymour's mom, and while it doesn't really have much to do with that one moral in particular, this exact song plays, in reprise, as Mr. Banks is on his way to the Bank to get fired? A man who is about to finally realize, if he hasn't already, that childhood is ephemeral and that he's been missing out on his children time after time again. Doesn't the same apply to a man commandeering a nation, with a younger brother so depressed and alone at his home?

Now, if this makes you hate Ryan even more, I don't blame you. The circumstances would make anyone in the same position look like a major bleep to their loved ones. But this is an analysis of the song chosen. Anachronistic or not, it had to be this one. As a tribute to my childhood, a tribute to childhood itself, and a tribute to everyone who saw this movie when they were younger.

My childhood is like yours, and I miss it dearly. Good day, people