impressive poster
What is happiness? What is love? What is success? What do you live for? Who are you? What should you be like? You can provide various answers to these questions. But the simplest way to deal with them is to figure out what you need and what you want.
“I am an adult. I know what I want.” For an adult, what he wants usually equals what he needs. As a man grows up, he gradually get rid of his naivety, fantasies, but becomes more and more sensible and practical. He is down-to-earth. However, a kid knows little of himself, and less of the world. Sensibility but not sense dominates him. He wanders aimlessly in his world, just like a cloud up in the air.
Ryan is the kid, while Alex is the adult. Ryan led a life of hedonism. The only aim of his life was 10.000.000 miles, a symbol of success. Unexpectedly, the balance of his life was broken after a hearty conversation with his brother-in-law. When his brother-in-law began to doubt the meaning of marriage, of life, Ryan began to examine his own life. It suddenly occurred to him that not all the things could be explained as meaningful. You should not give up life simply because it tortures you. Nor should you refuse marriage because it fetters you. Life is hard; life is troublesome. But the essence of life is to experience, that is to live with whatever God gives you.
Ryan & Alex
What Ryan wanted is not what he needed. What he really needed was Alex, and a warm and cozy home. Thus, an instinct pulled him from the air to the earth. The instinct is called love, which always exists inside one’s heart but becomes dull and numb as time goes by. But the fact only proved his naivety. The instinct dropped to impetus.
The impetus of brother-in-law is the freedom in the air, and it in turn took him back to the earth. On the contrary, Ryan’s impetus is the true love on the earth and it sent him back to the air. Indeed, happiness is inertial, springing from repetition.
The ending reminded me of the Hurt Locker. Just like James, Ryan restarted his trip on plane without knowing the deadline. His happiness is only available in one place-up in the air.
Tags: Adaption, George Clooney, life, Oscar nomination, The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air
This post is a difficult one for me to comment on due to recent events in my life. When I saw this film a couple of months ago, I admit that I was a bit cynical about the possibility of someone like Ryan (or myself) finding something or someone that could change them, make them want to share their life. I thought people get set in their ways, and those patterns dictate future loneliness. Recently, I discovered (much to my great and happy surprise) that patterns CAN change. The future of even the most alone people CAN be altered if the right choices are made. When I saw this film, I honestly did not have much hope for a happy ending, but in hindsight, after my recent experience, I think we cannot know that Ryan’s ending will not be happy. He has experienced something thrilling, something full of possibilities. Perhaps he too will find the courage to try again!
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Iris Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 2:55 PM
@Keith, Wow, your comment made this post controversia. I always hope every one could find happiness in their life, especially my friends. I know nothing about your past, nor your current situation. But I am sure one can be changed. You just to be faithful and patient during the process. Wish you happy everyday!
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Super post, tienen que marcarlo en Digg
Ilias
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lmao nice stuff dude.
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i thought about this movie over last night but totally forgot its name. now i get it.
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