From 3a9e20a3b5ee0bb5e535f624101a917d326c7381 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?Nicol=C3=A1s=20Ortega=20Froysa?= Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 16:06:37 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Add "La La Land" review post. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Signed-off-by: Nicolás Ortega Froysa --- blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.cfg | 5 + blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.html | 165 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 170 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.cfg create mode 100644 blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.html diff --git a/blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.cfg b/blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.cfg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c541d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.cfg @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +filename = 2024-02-06-la-la-land-review.html +title = A Review of La La Land +description = After having watched the film (yes, some eight years after being released) I've found it enticing and thought it has a lot to teach us. +created = 2024-02-06 +updated = 2024-02-06 diff --git a/blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.html b/blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4bc4cc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/posts/0158-la-la-land-review.html @@ -0,0 +1,165 @@ +

Recently I watched the 2016 film "La La Land" with my wife, and it conjured +some interesting conversation afterwards. I therefore thought it would make for +a good blog post to talk about the movie.

+ +

Now generally I am not a musical kind of guy, but I must admit that this +musical changed my mind. It is also possible that my aversion to musicals was +more influenced by the cheesy teenage musicals I would watch as a kid with my +family, such as "Camp Rock" or "High School Musical." Yet this one really +engaged my intellect and I truly believe the music had an important role to +play throughout the film. That being said, it is not the cinematic style of the +film that I would like to discuss, since I am by no means an expert or even an +amateur of the topic. Instead, I would like to talk about the ending and the +lesson which I believe it gives. So if you are one of those people who cares +about spoilers and has not watched the movie, you can stop right here; although +I will say that I watched the movie knowing how it ended, and even so I was +quite impressed and entertained.

+ +

To give a very rudimentary look over the plot, the story follows a man +named Sebastian (or "Seb") and a woman named Mia, who move to Hollywood, each +with their own dream. Sebastian wants to revive jazz by ultimately opening up a +jazz bar in L.A. while Mia wants to become a famous actress. Evidently they both +fall in love in spite of their rocky start and that neither of them is really +doing all that well materially. Yet, neither has forgotten their respective +dream. One day one of Sebastian's old friends offers him a spot in his jazz +band, and even though it is not the kind of traditional jazz that Sebastian +likes he feels encouraged by Mia to join, as he feels it is what she wants him +to do, even though Mia only encourages him because she sees it as an opportunity +for Sebastian to live out his aforementioned dream, which we find out is +correct; though the cost, as we will see, may not have been worth it. Evidently +they both realize later that Sebastian joining this band means being away for +very long periods of time, and although he has been earning a lot of money, it +also meant he was unable to see Mia's first theatrical solo performance. Mia +then, after briefly losing hope, is then recalled to Hollywood because someone +wants to hire her to be the star actress in a film staged in Paris. This would +of course mean leaving to Paris for an extended period of time. Sebastian +ultimately encourages her as well to follow her dream of becoming an actress. +Then it cuts to five years later when both Sebastian and Mia have both attained +their respective dreams, but at the cost of their love, as Mia is now married to +another man and with a child, and Sebastian is the owner of this newly-created +jazz bar. Mia has a fantasy of how things could have possibly "worked out" (in +her imagination), but ultimately reality is what it is. They exchange a glance, +Sebastian gives her an half-hearted smile, and they both continue down their +ever-divergent paths.

+ +

The movie, in my opinion, is truly a tragedy. An heart wrenching tragedy. +Typically we are used to this sort of plot where in the end either they both +realize that love is more important than their dreams earlier (as I believe they +do notice this at the end when it is already too late) and then they abandon +their dreams for their newfound dream to be together, or (in the most naïve of +films) they manage to somehow both follow their dreams and be together against +all odds. Yet I think this movie was absolutely necessary, much more in an age +like our own (especially in 2024) when so many people are doing what we have all +been told as children, to "follow our dreams," but then they realize that their +dreams, or at least the dreams we have been encouraged to have (as opposed to +the more humble dreams of simple family life) are not compatible with that which +is truly fulfilling. Therefore, what "La La Land" shows us it actually the +reality that many (I would imagine especially those looking to make it big in +the arts) go through.

+ +

The first place to start is, of course, when they each respectively get the +opportunity to live out their dreams. In Sebastian's case, his reason for +pursuing the job in the jazz band is not actually all that problematic at first, +in that the motives are not completely wrong. Prior to this he is in a situation +where he is practically unemployed, such that even if he wanted to live a life +with Mia he cannot (at least not in any decent way). He is presented with this +opportunity to earn quite a lot of money all of the sudden and additionally has +Mia's encouragement to go forward on the offer. Sebastian therefore does +something very honorable for a man to do: he takes on this job which he does not +even like all that much in order to attain the greater goal of the jazz bar or +(more importantly) a lifetime with Mia. What both Sebastian and Mia forget, +however, in their calculations is that this will require that Sebastian spend +lots of time touring; something they both very quickly realize is not compatible +with their relationship. However noble his intentions (which he admits were +mostly for the sake of Mia) they cannot make up for the reality of the +situation.

+ +

Secondly, and as if to put the last nail in the coffin, Mia gets her chance to +become a star filming in Paris. In Mia's case, although also encouraged to take +the opportunity by Sebastian, it becomes clear that the intentions are not as +noble, nor is it of as great a sacrifice as Sebastian's case. Whereas Sebastian +was taking on a job he did not like for the purpose of ultimately sharing a +dream with Mia (albeit at an undetermined time in the future), Mia takes on a +job she has always wanted for the purpose of... well, simply living her dream. +This is not to say she did something bad for an evil intent, but simply that it +was not in any way noble or sacrificial as in the case of Sebastian. Ultimately, +however, just as how Mia had encouraged Sebastian, so too Sebastian encourages +Mia to pursue this opportunity. But at this point they both begin to realize +what this means for their relationship.

+ +

Finally, some five years later, we see that Mia has married and had a child with +another man. She stumbles upon Sebastian's jazz bar and they both tragically +realize what they had lost. Ultimately (and beautifully) they go their separate +ways knowing that what has been done cannot be undone: that we must live with +the consequences of our decisions. Perhaps some (with wicked hearts) might say +that she (Mia) should leave her current husband (and presumably her child) to +follow love with Sebastian. At least that is what all the bad TV shows my +grandparents watch would seem to suggest. But no, they actually both do the +responsible and mature thing which is to realize the mistakes they have made, +but accept that what has been done cannot be undone; to live with one's +decisions, accepting all the responsibilities that come with it. Even so, I +believe this was the ending we needed, despite how tragic it was, since it shows +us the real consequences of what can happen when we have our heads a little too +much in the clouds and our feet less on the ground. In being so obsessed with +what we yearn to attain (the sin of greed) we lose sight of the treasure that +God has laid out right in front of us. Their greed led them to lose sight of the +love they had and could have shared for a lifetime.

+ +

But how did we get here? Where could Sebastian & Mia have made the right +choice and ended up truly happily-ever-after? The answer is (I believe) clarity +in their relationship and (as unromantic as it may seem) a bit of foresight.

+ +

To start, in terms of clarity, for much of the film it would seem that Sebastian +& Mia do not actually know the state of their relationship, nor are there +any real goals in mind. Are they engaged in courtship or not? Do they have the +intention of getting married? Do they have any idea of some sort of timeline for +their relationship? Instead it would seem they are simply drifting wherever the +wind blows at the moment, and therefore what is to stop them from drifting apart +when the wind blows as such? They lack agency, quite like those that Dante +Alighieri puts in the vestibule of Hell (Inferno III, 37-42), for since +they have never taken up a cause in life, they exhibit neither the virtues which +would merit Heaven nor do they harbor any evils such that even Hell rebukes +them, and so they remain churning endlessly in the winds outside the Gates of +Hell. Had these two clarified the state of their relationship since the +beginning, either by Sebastian proposing courtship or Mia demanding such +clarification, it would have made their relationship something palpable and +considerable, such that when these occasions (both for Sebastian and for Mia) +arose which threatened that relationship, it would have been something more +present on their minds during their consideration of such proposals. Which leads +to the second component: foresight.

+ +

Foresight, of course, is only useful when you have goals in mind, which, as I +have already established, they did not have. However, supposing they had +clarified their situation, foresight would have allowed them to consider the +effect which these choices would have on their relationship and on those future +goals. In fact, such clarification and foresight would even give them the +greater freedom to make the decision of what decision to make, as it would be +more informed. Sebastian would have known that a job touring the world with the +jazz band would be incompatible with a life married to Mia, and Mia would have +also known that becoming a famous actress in France would not have been +compatible with a life married to Sebastian. The choices would have been clearer +and the decision more freely chosen. Instead they winged it.

+ +

Getting to the conclusion of the film itself I think there is also a valuable +lesson to be learned with regards to our happiness. We should ask ourselves: why +do we feel so sad about the ending? They ultimately both achieved their +respective dreams, and to the full no less. According to the "follow your +dreams" mentality, should we not be happy for them? To perhaps clarify this, let +us contrast the actual ending with an hypothetical one where they both abandon +their respective dreams, but then end up living the rest of their lives +together. Would we not consider that to be a happy ending? The answer of course +is that love & companionship are more important to our happiness than any +dream we may have, whether it be a certain job, fame, money, power, etc. The +reason is actually quite simple: all these other things are temporal and +extremely finite, while love, because it comes from the Creator who is Love and +is infinite, can never cease to fulfill us, especially when sought for at its +source (i.e. God).

+ +

In the end "La La Land" was an amazing movie, and its tragic ending was, I +believe, a very necessary contribution since it helps us to reflect on life, +forcing us to truly consider in the most heart-breaking way the other side of +the "follow your dreams" coin. For this I claim "La La Land" to be my favorite +musical, and even one of my favorite films. Take the lessons to heart, do not be +carried away by where the wind blows you. Instead, set your trajectory, clarify +your circumstances, and make your choices based on what will truly be more +fulfilling, which is typically a lot simpler than you think.