Steven Spielberg: Not an Ordinary Filmmaker

Steven Spielberg has received the Kennedy Center Honor for his works and contributions to our world as we know it. For those of my generation and maybe even a few before us Steven Spielberg has been a part of our lives since childhood. Jaws came out while I was in elementary school and I wanted to see it so very badly, yet my parents felt it was much too scary for a child. It would be many years later when I was actually able to see the movie but it still scared me right out of my seat.

E.T holds some very special memories for me as that was what I went to see on my very first date. While all the girls cried, the teenage boys tried to show how tough they were by sucking it all in. Many years later when the anniversary edition of E.T was offered I was in line with many others to buy it because I now have a child with whom I wanted to share the magic of that story with. I suspect my child will be standing in line for the anniversary of Jurassic Park to share the stories of her childhood with her own children some day.

The list of Steven Spielberg's work goes on and the memories associated with them are infinite yet I doubt too many were prepared for the turn his work would take in 1993 when he released Schindler's List and brought history to life. The man that had brought us E.T. and Indiana Jones brought the world to a new vision with this gut wrenching movie and made us look at the history of our world through new eyes. Instead of taking the money and running Steven Spielberg has formed the Righteous Persons Foundation and donates part of the proceeds from Schindlers List in order to promote interfaith understanding and tolerance. Recently Spielberg donated one million dollars for Israeli relief with an initial donation of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to help Israel recover and survive after its battles with Hezbollah. This is a man who not only made a movie but is making a difference.