There are only few things in this world that are able to truly leave me speechless, astounded, and numb. I tend to believe I have seen a lot of things that have touched me right to the depths of my soul, making me feel like there is so much more life behind ordinary things. And those occassions are the reason we stay alive. May it be a soft breeze caressing your skin on a surprisingly warm March day that reminds you of the hidden wonders of nature, a sentimental gesture shared between a mother and a child that demonstrates the meaning of humanity and unconditional love or simply a flash of a moment in an ordinary day that keeps you sane and secured, knowing there is some magic hidden in these ordinary, seemingly unnoteworthy moments that we need to treasure and remember forever, and that even though we are aware of this magic, we could never reach it. And that is the beauty of it.
However, when I saw this movie it truly shook me, in a good way. I also recently watched Good Will Hunting and I thought nothing could surprise me anymore after seeing such wonderful work. How silly and naive of me. Because the trick of life is that we never cease to wonder at what it offers us which is, to quote the greatest Forrest Gump: "... like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." It may irritate you from time to time to think there is some sort of hidden agenda behind everything you do, as if you don't even get to control your own life. But I don't see it that way, though. The thing is, if it were down to us, we would have become extinct a long time ago. Why? Because we are intelligent, emotional beings made of flesh and blood and science itself is the proof that such combination tends to screw things up a little bit. We are not capable of taking care of ourselves because instead we do a lot of other things that might distract us from the goal of keeping ourselves generally healthy. We overthink, we worry about necessary things (most of the things we worry never even actually happen), and that way we eventually complicate our lives with redundant stress which we could have used to produce something more positive and more effective. By being the so-called intelectual beings we are, we are bound to cause additional strain and agony to our miserable lives, and we are even so conceited and arrogant enough to think the world had not existed before our birth. That is practically an insult to the biological field of science when in reality it occurs a lot more frequently than we think. I don't know if that is supposed to scare me or not, but I choose to not cause myself more strain that has already been burdening my life by continuously bother myself with these irrelevant theories.
But one can't help but wonder - is there more life behind these ordinary things and are we ever going to be a part of it? That is the beauty I mentioned before: the beauty of uncertainty and of the endless horizon of unknown possibilities that could be the answer to this question. The only thing we can do is, to quote the famous Lester Burnham: " ... remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it." And like Lester, you won't be able to feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of your stupid little life. Because that's what it is. Maybe insignificant, but to you - the only life you get (if you choose to believe so), but undoubtedly a part of a much bigger picture. It's like a miniature piece of a gigantic puzzle that is our universe. And just like with the universe we know in the scientific world, we simply have to trust its whims for there is always reason for everything.
What I loved about this movie is the blatant parody of the "American Dream", and what a perfect and exemplary American family should look like. We are presented with two families who on the outside seemed anything but normal and perfect as they strive to be. This is a great example that refers not only to American lifestyle, but general as well: that sometimes we care more about how should we present ourselves rather than how we function behind four walls, about our feelings, and about what truly makes us happy. Because in the world of tedious routine, we can quickly forget what is our definition of happiness.
The funniest and at the same time most irritating thing about the movie was in my opinion the display of Lester Burnham. He is a classic example of a brainwashed, suit-and-tie worker who has encountered an epiphany of his life. It took him several more incidents and lapses in his life before he reached the stage of becoming more self-aware and most importantly: setting his priorities straight once again. While there was period of time in the movie where he seemed simply indifferent and like high 97% of the time, it was the last stage where I believe he has truly found the meaning of his stupid little life. As it was beautifully shown (I must confess I may have shed a tear myself in that unexpectedly tender scene, followed by another shock of course), he even experienced that "stretch of a second" where his whole life flashed before his eyes. He remembered all the important details that had made him feel infinite, complete, and truly happy, and he was well aware these moments are worth remembering. He didn't even try to remember them, because they automatically imprinted in his soul like a special mark that said When I felt endlessly happy. It was one of the most beautiful moments in the movie, because it showed that deep down he still stayed the same in his heart. He loved every single second of his miserable life. And he loved them both.
Sometimes in life we are thrown on a peculiar and strange paths that make us doubt our previous decisions in life and question the sense of our current situation. Even though there is no doubt Lester was one big fat cynic and a man of many flaws, one cannot argue that he was not a man who valued authenticity, spontaneity (at least whenever he was able to come across one), and who held great admiration and appreciation for genuine emotion, so no wonder he got along with Ricky Fitts who is also a chapter of his own. In Ricky he not only found a very agreeable dealer, but a true friend as well which we could understand was quite a rarity in Lester's life. He found someone who had similar view on life around him and there is no mistake in saying Ricky might have had a slight impact on how Lester experienced his last moments.
It is also interesting the way Lester's feverish search for his lost self is influenced by the arrival of Angela Hayes. She managed to sprout that perhaps lost and forgotten passion, lust, and energy within him, although their relationship (that did even get to grow into a real one) can be viewed as a bit controversial. However, towards the very end of the movie Lester's nature truly began to show on the outside as well. He was finally presented as a caring, loving, feeling, and warm person that actually has feelings and isn't afraid of saying them out loud. It may have taken him a while to get to where he was, but reaching that stage was perhaps the ultimate goal in his life. His death probably did not shock me as it could have because it was foretold at the beginning of the movie (although it could have been totally misinterpreted), but still I believe it was somehow necessary for the movie to achieve its true purpose. I think we couldn't identify with him as much if he hadn't died (even though his death was also carried out in an almost banal way), because his transformation was in the end portrayed as something beautifully tragic - just as life is.
In the end, I believe the main goal of this movie was to bring us back to Earth a bit. Look around, breathe, relax. Life isn't as serious and complicated as it is a consequence of our own worry. Life is the most beautiful thing one could ever be a part of. Life is everything that surrounds us; everything we see, touch, and anything that disturbs or interrupts our world. And it is time we learn to appreciate it.
However, when I saw this movie it truly shook me, in a good way. I also recently watched Good Will Hunting and I thought nothing could surprise me anymore after seeing such wonderful work. How silly and naive of me. Because the trick of life is that we never cease to wonder at what it offers us which is, to quote the greatest Forrest Gump: "... like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." It may irritate you from time to time to think there is some sort of hidden agenda behind everything you do, as if you don't even get to control your own life. But I don't see it that way, though. The thing is, if it were down to us, we would have become extinct a long time ago. Why? Because we are intelligent, emotional beings made of flesh and blood and science itself is the proof that such combination tends to screw things up a little bit. We are not capable of taking care of ourselves because instead we do a lot of other things that might distract us from the goal of keeping ourselves generally healthy. We overthink, we worry about necessary things (most of the things we worry never even actually happen), and that way we eventually complicate our lives with redundant stress which we could have used to produce something more positive and more effective. By being the so-called intelectual beings we are, we are bound to cause additional strain and agony to our miserable lives, and we are even so conceited and arrogant enough to think the world had not existed before our birth. That is practically an insult to the biological field of science when in reality it occurs a lot more frequently than we think. I don't know if that is supposed to scare me or not, but I choose to not cause myself more strain that has already been burdening my life by continuously bother myself with these irrelevant theories.
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| via: http://www.raykarush.com |
What I loved about this movie is the blatant parody of the "American Dream", and what a perfect and exemplary American family should look like. We are presented with two families who on the outside seemed anything but normal and perfect as they strive to be. This is a great example that refers not only to American lifestyle, but general as well: that sometimes we care more about how should we present ourselves rather than how we function behind four walls, about our feelings, and about what truly makes us happy. Because in the world of tedious routine, we can quickly forget what is our definition of happiness.
The funniest and at the same time most irritating thing about the movie was in my opinion the display of Lester Burnham. He is a classic example of a brainwashed, suit-and-tie worker who has encountered an epiphany of his life. It took him several more incidents and lapses in his life before he reached the stage of becoming more self-aware and most importantly: setting his priorities straight once again. While there was period of time in the movie where he seemed simply indifferent and like high 97% of the time, it was the last stage where I believe he has truly found the meaning of his stupid little life. As it was beautifully shown (I must confess I may have shed a tear myself in that unexpectedly tender scene, followed by another shock of course), he even experienced that "stretch of a second" where his whole life flashed before his eyes. He remembered all the important details that had made him feel infinite, complete, and truly happy, and he was well aware these moments are worth remembering. He didn't even try to remember them, because they automatically imprinted in his soul like a special mark that said When I felt endlessly happy. It was one of the most beautiful moments in the movie, because it showed that deep down he still stayed the same in his heart. He loved every single second of his miserable life. And he loved them both.
Sometimes in life we are thrown on a peculiar and strange paths that make us doubt our previous decisions in life and question the sense of our current situation. Even though there is no doubt Lester was one big fat cynic and a man of many flaws, one cannot argue that he was not a man who valued authenticity, spontaneity (at least whenever he was able to come across one), and who held great admiration and appreciation for genuine emotion, so no wonder he got along with Ricky Fitts who is also a chapter of his own. In Ricky he not only found a very agreeable dealer, but a true friend as well which we could understand was quite a rarity in Lester's life. He found someone who had similar view on life around him and there is no mistake in saying Ricky might have had a slight impact on how Lester experienced his last moments.
It is also interesting the way Lester's feverish search for his lost self is influenced by the arrival of Angela Hayes. She managed to sprout that perhaps lost and forgotten passion, lust, and energy within him, although their relationship (that did even get to grow into a real one) can be viewed as a bit controversial. However, towards the very end of the movie Lester's nature truly began to show on the outside as well. He was finally presented as a caring, loving, feeling, and warm person that actually has feelings and isn't afraid of saying them out loud. It may have taken him a while to get to where he was, but reaching that stage was perhaps the ultimate goal in his life. His death probably did not shock me as it could have because it was foretold at the beginning of the movie (although it could have been totally misinterpreted), but still I believe it was somehow necessary for the movie to achieve its true purpose. I think we couldn't identify with him as much if he hadn't died (even though his death was also carried out in an almost banal way), because his transformation was in the end portrayed as something beautifully tragic - just as life is.
In the end, I believe the main goal of this movie was to bring us back to Earth a bit. Look around, breathe, relax. Life isn't as serious and complicated as it is a consequence of our own worry. Life is the most beautiful thing one could ever be a part of. Life is everything that surrounds us; everything we see, touch, and anything that disturbs or interrupts our world. And it is time we learn to appreciate it.
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