the quintessence of LIFE

“TO SEE THE WORLD, THINGS DANGEROUS TO COME TO, TO SEE BEHIND THE WALLS, TO DRAW CLOSER, TO FIND EACH OTHER TO FEEL. THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE.”

This is the motto of Life Magazine in the movie “Secret life of Walter Mitty”, which I’ve watched recently. Absolutely these are thought-provoking sentences, especially when they are written on Walter’s wallet, encouraging him to go on an adventure to find the “missing negative”.

At the first time of watching, I have to say it’s a beautiful movie with its picturesque senery. However when I watched it again yesterday, I was also touched by the ordinary but warm soul of Walter.

Here’s the main storyline of the movie: An employee of “Life” magazine who dare not have a small chat with a colleague he admires to, found that for the first time during his occupation he lost the negative of the final cover. He went on a mysterious trip of discovery, where he finally found his true self. In the end, he was inevitably fired even though he finished his last task perfectly.

It sounds like a tragedy, but only from a secular perspective. During his trip, he tried to follow the free-spirited photographer Shawn’s filming route, which forced him to get out of his comfort zone; to chase the clues behind the photos, he experienced a crazy life of the passionate photographer: Jumping out of a helicopter without a parachute, fighting with sharks in ocean, skateboarding on highway, escaping from an erupting volcano, getting to the highest point of the Himalayas… The most touching moment is definitly this one: Rolling with a skateboard at such a high speed, breathing the freshing air of freedom, letting the hills take him to somewhere, even as risky as described. As a film, every shoot is risky and exciting at the same time. Maybe it’s the day-dreaming life at the bottom of everyone’s heart, and Walter takes it into reality. Most of the time we are constrained by our daily routines, doing tedious things to make a living, but at least we can give ourselves a choice to treat ourselves well, to do something we want even once. Just like Walter, he stopped daydreaming after his magic trip, for the reality itself is far more splendid than what’s in the dream.

Another interesting part of this movie is the difference between Walter before and after the adventure. As a manager, he works hard to satisfy every requirement of his fastidious boss without any complaint even if he dislikes him from top to bottom; as a supporter of his family, he tries his best to make sure every family member lives a comfortable life. He tries to make the world better except himself; He takes too much pressure on himself, and that’s why he lacks courage to say hi to his dreaming girl and always lost in his day dream. After the risky adventure, he realized he himself is worth to be treasured: he can do whatever he wants without considerations about others. He became masculine and rich in spirit, especially when he marches out from the “airport prison”, confident and as deep as a well. If he didn’t go on the trip, he would definitely lose his job; why not give himself a chance to try? Sometimes we are worrying about something bad will happen if we don’t follow the command, but “it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” We lose our energy and passion on predicting future rather than enjoying the moment right now, that’s why we always fear about everything. Most of the time we can’t go on a Walter-like trip, but we can at least take a little step out of the chores, to live a life we want.

In the end, Walter became poor because of his trip; he had to sell his mother’s favorite piano to defray his mortgage debt; he lost his job because of the “missing 25th negative”. Measured economically he ended up as a loser, but he becomes the winner of his own life. He found faith from himself, he got the courage to face whatever got into his way. After all, there’s nothing dreadful than his trip. Let’s imagine another scenario of his life: He stayed at his office trying to figure out a remedy for the losing picture. At best he kept his job in the company, and he still sealed his arrogation in his heart; he would only flirt the girl he admired in his day dream. I believe most of us will choose the former path without second thought. Sometimes we value what we own too much, never dared to trade them for something far more precious; we invest in alomst everything, but never invest on ourselves. Sometimes we can try on something new rather than worrying too much for in fact we don’t have many things to lose.

Another impressive line for me poped up at the end of the movie.

“Rizzo? I like this character.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s real.”

To get a considerable salary we hide ourselves behind the masks, and somehow lots of people are proud of their makeup. It’s a ridiculous thought and sometimes we take it for granted. We pretend ourselves to be something for too long, and forget the cost of it. In fact our own happiness is worth a lot, and we just ignore it for it is too easy to catch, just like the longboard of Walter. “Beautiful things never ask for attention. “ When we are “acting” as ourselves, there’s no doubt we are happy no matter others’ thoughts. I think that’s why Shawn put the negative in Walter’s wallet, and regard the picture of Walter himself as the “quintessence of LIFE”.

Another digression is the song played by Cheryl in Walter’s imagination called Space Oddity by David Bowie. Actually I am fond of this song for its melody and lyric, which fits so well to Walter’s crazy action. Getting into a drunk driver’s helicopter needs courage (so as to the driver, so he get a few cups before driving… that’s the touching and warming part of the movie), but you will never know where you might end up unless you try it. Sometimes when I am in a low mood, I choose to listen to it, feeling the courage from the song.