It takes a Penguin – Sometimes the silliest things inspire the strongest sentiments….

By Stephen Golub, Benicia resident and author, “Benicia and Beyond” column in the Benicia Herald, Mar 2, 2025

Perhaps like some of you, I’ve been despairing lately about what America’s current course means for the country and the world. That course includes the Trump Administration: siding with Russia regarding its mass-murdering war on Ukraine; backing a German Neo-Nazi party; letting the world’s richest man gut foreign aid, thus facilitating thousands of poor people’s deaths; and otherwise preaching and practicing cruelty as policy. Combined with other Far Right transgressions in other nations, it’s left me eager for something to recharge my faith in humanity.

And then I saw the penguin, or more specifically a penguin nicknamed Dindim, or even more specifically the movie “My Penguin Friend.” The dramatization is based on the true story of a small penguin that got separated from its colony and soaked by an oil spill during the colony’s annual 5,000-mile migration from southern Argentina to near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, only to be rescued on the verge of death by an elderly villager. The Brazilian, Joao Pereira de Souza, nursed the bird back to health, whereupon it stayed with him and his wife for months before undertaking the return trip south.

The element that converts a heartwarming tale into incredible inspiration, though, is the fact that Dindim returned annually to Joao’s seaside home for eight years, each time spending months in his fishing village before returning to Argentina. When a fellow villager refers to the bird as a pet, Joao says no, he’s his friend.

If you see the film, you see why. Years before Dindim’s arrival, a tragic death led to Joao living a life of grief. The penguin’s friendship filled a void, restoring Joao’s love for  life and community.

Which brings me back to America. I’m not hopeless by any means; I see sparks of pro-democracy resilience and resurgence. But when I also see so many developments here and abroad driven by lies, hate and retribution, I have flickers of doubt about not just where we are as a country, but where humanity is as a species.

In its small but heartwarming way,  “My Penguin Friend” counters all that. It portrays admirable qualities that we humans are capable  of, not least love for a stranded animal, considerable kindness and remarkable resilience. It testifies to the many wonderful, amazing things we don’t fully understand, including how a little creature decided each year to separate himself from the security of his colony’s migration to visit his friend.

The saga of Joao and Dindim reminds us that the best of humanity and the world is beautiful and that we can find that beauty in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

That being said, to call this film corny and sappy and a tearjerker would be a major understatement. It also takes some considerable (and unnecessary)  liberties in telling the tale of the penguin and his human friend. But the movie remains true to its remarkable core story.

As someone who could use tears of joy rather than tears of sorrow these days, I heartily recommend it. So many sayings highlight how overcoming tough times hinges on hope, heart, determination or a village. I’ll add one more variation: It takes a penguin.

I believe that “My Penguin Friend” is available via Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube TV and perhaps other streaming services, but since I saw it on a plane and am out of the country right now, I can’t vouch for that for sure. Regardless, it’s worth searching or waiting for. (Being out of the country, I regrettably won’t be preparing a column for the next two weeks.)

Another thing well worth doing is attending or zooming into the Tuesday, March 4 City Council meeting, starting at 6 pm, at which it will take the crucial vote that will help prevent toxic pollution (including the kind of oil spills that nearly killed Dindim), explosions and fires at the Valero refinery and other hazardous facilities in Benicia. If the Council passes the proposed Industrial Safety Ordinance, which Council Members Kari Birdseye and Terry Scott as well as Fire Chief Josh Chadwick and Management Analyst Della Ohm have labored over for well over a year, we’ll join all the other Bay Area refinery-hosting communities that already have such ordinances.