Writer's Attempt at Change

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2009)

The movie The Soloist depicts Van Jones' idea of solving the problem of poverty. Steve Lopez is struggling to find ideas for stories when he comes across a homeless man named Nathaniel Ayers. Steve Lopez decides to writes about Nathaniel Ayers and Steve soon becomes a huge, if not the entire, part of Nathaniel Ayers' life. Steve Lopez does not only help out Nathaniel Ayers, but he helps many people within a poverty stricken community in Los Angeles. Steve Lopez writes about Nathaniel Ayers, which soon becomes a huge topic around the city and gets many people's attention including the mayor. Steve Lopez helped out one person and that in turn helped an entire community. Steve Lopez knew that Nathaniel Ayers was a gifted musician and at first he sought out to figure out why this prodigy was on the streets, but later dedicated himself to helping Nathaniel Ayers obtain a better, happier life. Steve Lopez would force Nathaniel Ayers to make a decision he did not want to make to help him get the kind of help he needed to continue surviving. The scenes in the movie that were the most powerful were the scenes of the poor neighborhood. The street was not a street that anybody drove down. The only car that was ever on the street was Steve Lopez's car. The street was filled with homeless people. It was dirty and full of trash. It showed people picking up partly smoked cigarettes from the nasty ground. There were people beating each other up for whatever the reasons. This neighborhood was literally garbage. It showed how bad people were and are really living and it was sad and frightening. Steve Lopez began visiting this neighborhood and the L.A.M.P. Community in it at least every week and maybe everyday, mostly because that was the only place Nathanial Ayers could play his cello. Nathaniel Ayers loved to play the cello and would be at the community so he would be able to play it. Steve Lopez was determined to help Nathaniel Ayers and the neighborhood. The movie could have changed the protagonist to be Nathaniel, so that the audience could always get his point of view. As the perspective was from the writer, the audience misses out on a lot of important things that happened to Ayers. This suggestion would have brought a new light into the movie, as very few people understand the life of the homeless, and Ayers' personality would have added to that. There is not just one scene that puts the film in perspective and suggests its ultimate purpose. The first scene is when Nathaniel Ayers is in the terrible neighborhood and makes his bed in a certain spot. Nathaniel Ayers does not only make a bed for himself, but he makes a spot for Steve Lopez. Even though it is extremely dirty and unsanitary, Steve Lopez sits and talks with Nathaniel Ayers into the night. This shows how much Nathaniel loves Steve Lopez because he accepts him into his life and he allows Steve Lopez to be with him. The scene also shows that Steve Lopez wants to help Nathaniel Ayers so much and he likes Nathaniel so much that he is willing to sit and talk in a dirty, crime filled neighborhood with Nathaniel Ayers. The second scene is when Nathaniel Ayers tells Steve Lopez that he is his God. This shows how much Steve Lopez has helped Nathaniel Ayers. It also shows how much Nathaniel Ayers appreciates Steve Lopez helping him.