There are only a few pieces of media — film, television, music — that really shape a person. They can change someone’s life permanently, unrecognizable from who they were before. For me, one such movie was “Mary Poppins.” I must have been two or three years old at the time, and my father wanted to show me a movie. When I was younger, I was scared of trying new things, and when I asked my dad what the film was about, he said, “Mary Poppins is a witch.” That royally freaked me out. I ran around the house trying to avoid watching the film. It took my dad holding me in his arms, so tightly I couldn’t squirm my way out, to get me to settle down. When Mary Poppins, with her umbrella and carpet bag, appeared on a cloud, my dad whispered in my ear, “Mary Poppins is magic.”
From there, there was no turning back. I watched the movie countless times and sang the songs even more. I was even in a summer camp production of the show. Through all this, there was one song in particular that really stood out to me as something special. It wasn’t the more popular “Spoonful of Sugar” or “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” It was “Feed the Birds.”
“Feed the Birds” occurs at the midpoint of the film, where the magical nanny Mary Poppins has already become ingratiated with her wards, Jane and Michael. However, their strict yet distant banker father, Mr. Banks, is not amused and feels threatened by the children’s love for Mary. But Mary is not here to tear apart a family; rather, she’s here to reunite one. She decides to trick Mr. Banks into accepting an outing with his children to the bank. Despite what one may think, the outing is not a teaching experience for the children, but for their father. In preparation, the night before, Mary sings “Feed the Birds.”
The song tells the tale of the bird woman, sitting in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, homeless, a beggar. There, she sells bird feed for a measly tuppence. The song says that, despite her meek appearance and low stature, the saints and apostles of the church smile upon her and anyone who gives her money, showing their compassion and charity. It is reminiscent of Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
With the message fresh in their minds, Michael tries to go to the bird woman, but his father refuses, telling Michael he has a better way for him to use his tuppence: the bank. In the bank, Mr. Banks and the other executives tell the children of all the ways the bank could use their money: to invest, to accumulate, to build infrastructure, to colonize, to exploit. But the children stand resolute. They want to feed the birds. They would rather be charitable and kind than selfishly gain immense wealth. It is notable that when they still refuse, the bankers forcibly take the money from their hands. There was never a choice.
The obvious takeaway is that charity and benevolence are paramount. Caring for others stands above self-interest, avarice and greed. However, it also teaches that there are forces, powerful forces, that will try to stop that kindness. They will convince you that greed is a form of caring. That by being greedy, the effects of that greed will help everyone. If this was evident in the 1910 setting of the story and in the 1964 release of the movie, it is all the more clear now.
Our world has become inundated by consumerist and selfish desires. Trends cycle what seems like every day, and if you can’t afford the latest Labubu or Erewhon smoothie, you are looked down on as lesser or not hardworking enough. Gift giving, not for the sake of exchange or leverage, but giving unconditionally, has fallen by the wayside. Many people my age agree not to give gifts at all. Suffering is no longer seen as tragic but is viewed with an apathetic eye, either ignored or bet on in prediction markets. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
“Feed the Birds” sends the message that a little act of kindness, a small moment of respect and care, can change someone’s life, and eventually the world. When Michael refuses to give his tuppence to the bank, that small act — one he was just was meaningless and unimportant by the bankers — creates a run on the bank. This shuts it down for the first time in over a century. How can such an act, which the bankers cared about so much about, be considered meaningless? If anything, it is the most meaningful.
So remember the bird woman. Hold the door, ask someone how their day is going, give a meal to the man on the street corner. You don’t realize how much your tuppence is worth. Pay it forward.