Pixar released the movie 'Up' in mid-2009, so to write a review on a movie this old would be... well... a bit behind. However, this isn't quite a review, it is taking up the symbolic architecture of the movie and writing commentary about what it is saying. Commentaries, should the subject matter be timeless, can be written anew as often as someone likes. I mean, there's a reason ministries - whose sole purpose is to write commentary on the bible - still exist.
So, the symbolic architecture in relation to pop culture actually starts with Russell, the boy scout that is just trying to earn his last merit badge. The trope that the movie is playing off is the good deed that is "helping an elderly person across the road." We're all aware that this trope exists, and has been around for long enough that it is universally deemed good-natured to "help an elderly person across the road." However, we think about it far too literally, and the reason we think about it literally is that our society has become less and less attached to the elderly people living in the world. Frankly, there are a lot of people who are just waiting for their parents to die off so that the burden of caring for them can be lifted from their worries. Having taken trips to Thailand and seeing multi-generational homes in places like Switzerland and such has made me come to appreciate the love and the care that happens in homes where parents and grandparents are welcome to cohabitate with their sons and daughters. There is a lot of cultural responsibility in play as well, but I personally think it's a good way of "honoring your father and mother".
And I'm sure the spirit of this is along the same lines as "helping the elderly cross the street". Whether or not you have done it yourself is not of great concern. I'm sure there are a lot of us that have seen videos of it happening, and that can be quite heartwarming. I for one have never seen it happen before me, and to the best of my knowledge, I have never done such a thing myself. I applaud you if you are someone who has done such a thing. However, my conclusion is that what people are really supposed to be doing as their "good deed" is helping the elderly cross the street of their time of death and help them take the step into eternity. Our job as young scouts is not just to help the elderly person with making sure they make it across the street before the oncoming traffic light turns green but to calm the inner storm and anxieties of the impending feeling of doom, and the regret of dreams that have never been lived out and to allow them to make peace of their lives in whatever way they can. Crossing the street has never been about just crossing the street, it has been about passing on our legacy and preparing the next generation with what we have learned in order to best equip them to live their lives.
In regards to our responsibility as community living people that have the dying generation among us, I think we should really consider it a blessing and an "awe moment" where, like the narrator from Tuesdays With Morrie, we're able to glimpse the edge of eternity and see that it stares back at us in presence, love, and mystery. Everybody has a loved one who has passed or will pass soon or may be on the verge of it sometime in the future, even so, we can express the same thought about ourselves. We are all pieces of the eternal on our way back. The great everything and all in between. To assist the elderly across the street is really to remind us that our day-to-day activities may not matter all that much and that we all require reminders to tell us we are who we are because they have gone before us. To help someone cross the street is to help them realize that their lives are both infinitesimally small, whilst also belonging to something infinitely huge.