This morning I decided to start my own religion based on watching seriously insightful movies instead of going to church. "Before I Go" is the first for my cannon. This might be called an anti-romantic comedy for everyone who does not find true love and has slightly above average intelligence. The usual New York cliches are here. The cynical, sarcastic New Yorker who never quite made it, lives comfortably but never got enough hugs from her mom. She also sees things a little too clearly. Consequently is as suicide prone as Sylvia Plath even if similarly creative. But unlike those famous films--this movie has no fake resolution, no fake happy ending. But a dozen geniune insights and very funny moments that take us half way to enlightenment. In other words, this film is unusually real and insightful plus unusually funny in a special way.
Have you ever found yourself rambling on to someone who is not listening? Seldom happens in movies but often happens in life and it happens twice here. Have you ever felt like rescuing a bird or a bug? How about a worm? Once again this is a ground breaker. Pun not intended but nonetheless it is a good one. And how often do you outsmart a movie only to have the movie outsmart you? I kept saying, "If you want to save that worm get a bag of manure already and keep it in your room until spring." And not only does that happen--but this movie goes one step further in a way that i never would have imagined.
One thing is obviously missing. How do we prevent the Sylvia Plaths of the world from killing themselves? There is nothing in this movie to prevent this one from jumping the next time. Except another accidental reminder that her equally pathetic father would be utterly devastated. I am sure that something could be added which fits the high standard of this film because it does not depend on miracles or miraculous chance. Give me a year to think about it. And, albeit perhaps unintentionally, this is perhaps the message of this film. That we can all add our own ending and all had better do so.
Here is my take. What is the point of human existence? I do not know. Like the lady in this film, I can experience creativity and follow that thought farther than most people but still not very far. And unlike the lady in this film, I have little sympathy for New Yorkers. If you choose to live in a place where even a worm can hardly find space between the concrete and the tree--how can you expect ever to feel anything other than depressed?
All I can say for sure is this. In old TV shows and movies of pioneers going West, they would inevitably pause at a beautiful vista that felt as if an entire continent of green pastures and trees and hills were spread before you. And the Bible seems similarly speechless, in only being able to say, "When God saw this He said this is good."
But in many more movies today--as well as in everyday life--we instead have a "highway scene" with thousands of metal boxes on wheels going north, thousands going south, thousands more going east and west. And each of those boxes uses fuel and soon must be replaced by more metal from the earth.
This is not good. This is like finding the body of an animal that is almost hairless from the highly developed tracks of mange and fleas. But evidently--based on watching hundreds of movies and speaking with hundreds of people--I am extremely rare to feel this way. And that is why I wonder. What is the point of saving the human race even if it can be saved?
This movie does not answer my grand questions nor even ask my questions. Nonetheless it feels like a first step in a related direction on a personal level.
Have you ever found yourself rambling on to someone who is not listening? Seldom happens in movies but often happens in life and it happens twice here. Have you ever felt like rescuing a bird or a bug? How about a worm? Once again this is a ground breaker. Pun not intended but nonetheless it is a good one. And how often do you outsmart a movie only to have the movie outsmart you? I kept saying, "If you want to save that worm get a bag of manure already and keep it in your room until spring." And not only does that happen--but this movie goes one step further in a way that i never would have imagined.
One thing is obviously missing. How do we prevent the Sylvia Plaths of the world from killing themselves? There is nothing in this movie to prevent this one from jumping the next time. Except another accidental reminder that her equally pathetic father would be utterly devastated. I am sure that something could be added which fits the high standard of this film because it does not depend on miracles or miraculous chance. Give me a year to think about it. And, albeit perhaps unintentionally, this is perhaps the message of this film. That we can all add our own ending and all had better do so.
Here is my take. What is the point of human existence? I do not know. Like the lady in this film, I can experience creativity and follow that thought farther than most people but still not very far. And unlike the lady in this film, I have little sympathy for New Yorkers. If you choose to live in a place where even a worm can hardly find space between the concrete and the tree--how can you expect ever to feel anything other than depressed?
All I can say for sure is this. In old TV shows and movies of pioneers going West, they would inevitably pause at a beautiful vista that felt as if an entire continent of green pastures and trees and hills were spread before you. And the Bible seems similarly speechless, in only being able to say, "When God saw this He said this is good."
But in many more movies today--as well as in everyday life--we instead have a "highway scene" with thousands of metal boxes on wheels going north, thousands going south, thousands more going east and west. And each of those boxes uses fuel and soon must be replaced by more metal from the earth.
This is not good. This is like finding the body of an animal that is almost hairless from the highly developed tracks of mange and fleas. But evidently--based on watching hundreds of movies and speaking with hundreds of people--I am extremely rare to feel this way. And that is why I wonder. What is the point of saving the human race even if it can be saved?
This movie does not answer my grand questions nor even ask my questions. Nonetheless it feels like a first step in a related direction on a personal level.