Bee Ona

So, I went to watch the Bob Marley Movie the other day and this is how I found it…

Bob Marley: One Love is a 2024 American biographical film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green with Brad Pitt as an executive director and Ziggy Marley as a producer.

The movie was slow-paced but a good cosy watch and it’s something I could watch again as light stimulation for sure. It showed Bob at a much lighter, healing and traumatised state which I’ve never really been privy to. I’ve watched the musical in the Westend which is obviously a musical so it is much more vibrant and enticing, but I think this was a decent slow watch. 

The main premise of Bob Marley’s movie was his healing. The trauma he kept on going back to was the time his dad left him but that was triggered by the time he was almost killed by someone from his neighbourhood in the recent days. 

During his healing stages, he visited his wife Rita at the hospital and then went to London as he couldn’t stay in Jamaica for any longer – it was too politically charged and rough at the time. So, he chose his healing first here.

I want to point out a part in the movie that for someone as radical as Bob was so important for me. It was the time he was in the park and two Jamaican men came to tell him his country needed him after the incident and the concert just he did to bring the two political parties together. He said no, but most importantly he walked away rapidly. 

Sometimes healing.

Bob spent his time in England making music, and he went through a healing “crisis” where he was uninspired, angry, frustrated and revolted in a good way when it came to speaking to his band about the aim of the album. He never really showed anger towards other people but he was always pretty honest and straight forward about what he wanted. When he did show real anger it was towards the manager that was taking money from him.

Sometimes human revolt and punching someone up.

Another interesting part in the movie was his conversation with Rita when she was addressing him about his jealous behaviour. She told him about himself here and woke him up a little bit because he actually has/had concubines left and right and she looked after the kids of these women. I gave a side eye here alongside the girls in the movie because… no. It’s Bob Marley, but no.

However, for them both, I think it would have been easy to not address these issues so the human reactions seemed like the way to go for sure. (She was all the way in the right by the way) 

Sometimes love might not have to be so deep.

I’m used to the intensity of everything, but I think the movie showed Bob Marley in a very natural and human state. I mean as a man that was searching, a man that felt feelings, a man that was good but he was hurt. He was honest, but most importantly he was beginning to help himself by staying true to the situation at hand.

When I use these words next, I want it to be read in a calm way…

It was giving passion, intention, pure love when Rita helped him wash his hair in the sink and came to see him in his London home. Though they had just had an argument it gave true love and friendship. It was just a genuine movie in line with the dramas you see in Hollywood. It kind of allowed them to be seen in their truest form. 

It showed that he can be human too without thinking about it either. All that inner work and consciousness but I can and will punch a man up because he’s betrayed me. Working from history and knowing a bit about Bob I have to add that of course. Sometimes rest. Sometime I go for a jog. Sometimes well-being instead of saving the world whilst dealing with trauma.

Reclaiming & reframing.

I want to circle back to the point before Bob Marley went back to Jamaica in the movie and that was the beautiful scene with Rita. He spoke about how he felt regarding everything and she gave him advice from the Bible. She then washed his hair. 

During this there was a ring Bob put out and the ring was given to him by someone. He said he doesn’t usually wear things like this. “You know me”. The crazy thing about not usually doing something, is that when you do it, it’s powerful. This ring became his symbol for hope and the journey continued. 

Another wonderful scene was when he replaced the image of his father chasing him with a horse through fire with someone he admired. I believe it was Haile Selassie the former Emperor of Ethiopia. 

A very strong thing to do, but I think he did it in his timing and let the processes of life lead him to his healing. 

It was really relevant, and through it all he remained peaceful, inquisitive and focused on his music.