In movies and books, I have often been fascinated with the characters that no one likes at the beginning of the story, but then by the end, you are cheering for them. You are as moved by their actions as the hero’s actions.
There are a couple of characters that come to mind. Given, both of these characters are on completely different levels and even classes. There is no correlation to them except their redemption.
First, I will briefly mention Jean Valjean in the famous book Les Miserables. His tale of a criminal meets a gracious priest, is one for the ages. If you know nothing of the story, please invest some time in it.
Second, is GabbyGabby from ToyStory 4. Like I said, there are very few commonalities among these two characters. But I want to focus on Gabby. She is my favourite character.
(SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen the movie and want to still, please do not read further.)
Gabby Gabby is introduced to Woody and Forky as seemingly harmless, but when she discovers that Woody has something she wants, she becomes manipulative and even controlling.
We watch as she tricks Forky into believing certain things, as he is new to the world. She baits Woody to come “rescue” the helpless Forky. And she orders her creepy, old ventriloquist doll “bouncers” to do her bidding, which includes kidnapping Woody.
Gabby reveals that she has been a broken toy from the factory and no one has wanted her, because her voice box doesn’t work. Knowing that she is an old toy and can likely never find her type of voice box replacement, she becomes despondent. She is forced to sit on a dusty shelf of an antique store, watching as other toys are taken to a home.
All the time she is watching from her shelf, she dreams of a perfect voice that will endear any little girl to take her home. In the meantime, she keeps her dress beautiful and pressed, practices drinking tea the way she would if she had a little girl, and making herself perfect in every way.
She tells all of this to Woody and explains, in a very manipulative way, that she wants his voice box. He is an old toy from around the same time as she is and would likely have a compatible voice box. While appealing to Woody’s good heart, she reminds him of all of the times that he was able to be there for a child. Not just be there for one child, but for two children. She confesses that she would give anything to be loved like Woody had been, even just for one moment with a child. Woody, in his kindness and slight admit to defeat, surrenders his voice box to Gabby Gabby.
With a new lease on life, she is thrilled to soon spend every waking minute with her new child. She places herself in position to be played with and waits. When she has been picked up, it seems as if her dreams are all coming true. Suddenly, the girl is disinterested and leaves Gabby Gabby abandoned, and not because she is defective anymore.
All that Gabby worked for, all that she fought for all that she manipulated for was gone in those two seconds of being abandoned. She had no hope. Her dreams were crushed. Her world had shattered. Woody watches in horror, but then gets an idea. He risks his ownership to Bonnie, in order to rescue Gabby again.
Coming to her side, he begins to speak life back into her broken heart. He talks of another little girl that could love her. She immediately asks what would happen if she was rejected again, and Woody wisely says that if she doesn’t try, then she’ll never know. With her hopes bolstered a bit, she follows Woody to meet his owner, Bonnie.
On the way there, Gabby Gabby sees a little girl crying and alone. Emboldened by the wisdom of Woody, she decides to take a risk and be there for this little girl. With the help of her new friends, she gets herself ready. But fear threatens to remind her of all the insecurities and rejections she experienced. Woody promptly uses her own words to remind her about her ambition in life to be loved by a child and to be there for it. Again, using her words, he says it is one of the most noble things a toy can do.
Gabby sacrifices herself to a child that has the potential to reject her. The lost child is made aware of her by a ball rolling to the doll’s feet. The little girl gingerly picks her up and asks if she is lost too. The girl pulls the pull string and the doll says, “I'm Gabby Gabby. Will you be my friend?” The girl suddenly says, “It’s okay. I’ll help you.” It’s as if the doll has given the girl courage to find her parents. Instantly, the girl and doll are bonded. They have found each other and helped each other.
Gabby was redeemed. She wasn’t redeemed by all of the things she did to try to earn an owner. She wasn’t even redeemed by securing a new voice box for herself. In the end, she was redeemed, because Woody sacrificed himself for her sake and also because he continued to rescue her when she had been rejected.
Woody was the perfect demonstration of being a well-loved toy. He showed her that underneath all of the bad choices that she made, all she really wanted was acceptance and love. This caused her to view herself differently. She saw herself as the toy that she was, not the toy that she tried to make herself into. Once she came to that point, she could willingly give herself to any child. She no longer lived for herself.
We are like Gabby Gabby. We vie for the attention of others, we strive to do our best, we try to earn “our salvation”, we even think we know what our salvation looks like. Woody is like Jesus. He comes along and teaches us that it’s not about ourselves. He accepts us as we are; even broken. He sacrifices Himself because we were “defective out of the box” and needed replacement parts. He came to earth to show us how to live. This includes how we live for others. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
I think I love Gabby Gabby’s story of redemption, because it is my story of redemption. I haven’t been loved and accepted the way that I thought I would be. I have tried to make myself better in every way. I have even manipulated and controlled others in order to get what I want. I’m extremely grateful that Jesus accepted me as I am, took me in, befriended me, fixed my broken parts and continues to do so and always points me in the right direction, just like Woody did for Gabby.
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