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The Power of Stories
Sarah Polley’s film, “The Stories We Tell” is a powerful act that is not only appealing and interesting to watch, but also very educative. The power that stories carry is a major theme of discussion in the film. Sarah Polley is not particularly concerned with the judgment of people on her or rather how people consider her personality. Her main concern is telling of the troubled relationship of her parents.
By watching the film, the audience understands the manner in which Sarah Polley came into existence through the story she narrates in her movie. Her troubled mother was against the idea of keeping Sarah Polley’s pregnancy and had even decided to conduct an abortion, only to change her mind on her way to the clinic. This alone captures the impression of how careless, defiant, and inhuman her mother was. Even though her mother later passed away when she was just eleven, her memories would not easily be erased. The issue of resemblance with her father became a significant issue later that made Sarah Polley try her level best in inquiring from her fellow siblings and friends on whether her father was the real dad (Gerbner 10). Getting rumors that there was a possibility that her mother had gotten pregnant with her by another man did not deter Sarah from loving the dad she knew and upheld all respect for him. How else would this get to be identified were it not by the power of stories?
Additionally, Sarah Polley uses the reconstruction technique in telling her story, and this plays a significant role in helping the audience connect between the lines and easily understand the message being conveyed (Gerbner 12).

The inclusion of video recordings that appear like homemade movies and, old family photographs enable the viewer to get in touch with her family life. This is because it appears to us like flashbacks that take us back in time to when the situation was happening in her mother’s life. The fake home movies with actors that almost look similar to the real people being depicted also give the film a touch of reality. Additionally, the lighting in the film is so fresh and brings a relaxing feeling while watching it thus improving the concentration and easiness of understanding the message being conveyed. Lastly, Sarah Polley does a good job of ensuring that the story is not only a one-sided account but rather a multi-dimensional storytelling approach. It thus brings out the authenticity that a story should be based on. It would be a big lie to deny the fact that stories do not tell it all!
Work Cited
Gerbner, George. “The stories we tell.” Peace Review 11.1 (1999): 9-15.