I believe that Victor Salva’s Powder is one of the most mesmerizing movies I have ever seen. I absolutely was captivated by the storyline and the characters, especially the main character, Jeremy Reed, who was also known as Jeremy. His mother, while in labor with Jeremy, was stricken by lightening on the way to the hospital. She died from the injuries, however Jeremy persevered. He was born with a so-called defect, called albinism, which caused him to not have any pigmentation in his skin giving him a white skin tone, hence his name Jeremy. He could not grow hair, either. The movie is about his life on this earth, his introduction to everyday normal life, the rejection of his peers and the power within him that set him above them. I was so spellbound by its beginning, won over by its characters, and ended up being touched by its true message.

The beginning of the movie left me awestricken. The first time that Jeremy was introduced, drew me in, like a moth to a light. After the opening scene of his mother getting struck by lightening, a doctor explains to the Jeremy’s father that his wife had died, and the baby was still alive. Jeremy’s father then asked to see the baby. The doctor told the father to remember that the baby experienced everything his mother had experienced before they walked through the door of the nursery. Jeremy was the only newborn in the nursery; his incubator sitting in the center of the nursery. He was crying hysterically, as his father cautiously approached the incubator. Jeremy calmed down when he had seen his father. The doctor explained the defect to Jeremy’s father and that they were running test on Jeremy, and pointed at an EEG machine, which was reading Jeremy’s brain waves. As Jeremy’s father stared in fear at his son, Powder seemed to sense his father’s rejection. The father started getting upset and screaming “This is not my son!” repeating it louder and louder. Powder’s crying screams started again and intensified with his father’s screams. The EEG machine’s readings went from normal to its upper limit as the screams intensified. The ceiling lights flickered, and there was drone hum, as if the power was being drained from all the electronic equipment in the room. I could not move, as I was paralyzed by this unnatural phenomenon. I wanted to see what would happen to this special baby. My entire attention was directed towards the movie.

The characters were very convincing. I could feel the loneliness that Powder felt, and the disappointment of rejection from others around him. He had been kept hidden by his grandparents, who had adopted him, in the cellar of the farmhouse where they lived. He had been shut off from the world with little to no contact with the outside world. The contact he received was strictly from his grandparents. No television or radios, just books, of which he had all read and could, recite any page in any book. He also held an electromagnetic power of which he could harness electricity, as all electricity was drawn to him. He was different from most everyone around him. I felt his loneliness. His grandparents had told him they would come take him away. Jessie Caldwell took Powder in to the boy’s home she directed and was always compassionate towards Powder. I could feel her empathy. I could feel the fear of the deputy and John Box, the bully, of the misunderstanding of this new boy that was so different then anyone they had ever encountered. Powder made the deputy feel the same pain as a deer he shot. He also read John Box’s mind and brought up a traumatic time in John’s life that no one knew about. He also saved John’s life by shocking his heart into beating with waves of electricity he produced with his hands after John was struck by lightening and knocked unconscious. He showed that he could forgive John even though John had stripped him down to nothing and poked him and teased him, along with I could feel the shared feeling of amazement as Lindsey Kelloway and Powder feel deeper in love, but with the same fear of being caught by others and being ridiculed. I felt as if I was a part of Powder’s world.

The ending left me with sense of the true meaning of Powder’s life and the lives he touched. He was running through a field with arms outstretched as dark gray clouds were forming over him and then was struck by a bolt of lightening through his chest. He seemed to absorb the lightening, until his power grew. It was then, he seemed to become as one with the bolt and exploded in thin air without a trace. I was very sad for Powder in the beginning, but now I felt his victory and rejoice in making those around him to understand him. Why do we take the simple misunderstandings of the unknown and make a mockery of them? Why ridicule and judge what we know nothing about. We have something unique about us all and we truly do not know one or the other until we recognize that which makes us unique. That uniqueness is in our power to weld that which sets apart as Powder’s did and provides positive influence in people’s lives we meet everyday. Powder is one of my favorite movies. I am always taken in by the excellent performance of its characters and get the same powerful message each time I watch it. I would have never believed that Powder would have touched me like it did when I picked the VHS tape up and read the description on the back of the tape. It was as if I was drawn to it. I would highly recommend to anyone to watch this movie and be ready to be captivated by it message.