"The Invention of Lying"

I watched the Ricky Gervais/Jennifer Garner movie called, "The Invention of Lying". The basic premise is that no one has ever told a lie (and everyone over-shares). Suddenly, one day, Ricky Gervais' character tells the first lie out of desperation. Since no one has ever lied before, everyone believes everything he says. The good news, even though he does lie for his own benefit sometimes, mostly, he has a conscience.

One of the lies that he tells is about what happens to us after we die. His mother is told she will die that evening and she is afraid of just entering the vast nothingness, so he tells her about "heaven" only he doesn't call it that.

I was moved by this movie unexpectedly. It made me think about all the parents who don't tell their kids about Santa or the Tooth Fairy because they don't want to "lie". This movie brings to light the idea that if we weren't able to talk about things that haven't happened or things we don't know about or to lie, we wouldn't have stories or hope or purpose or movies or love or churches or...or...or...

Great cast. Nice bit of hope and humanity. Funny in parts. Sweet.