166 lines
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166 lines
11 KiB
HTML
<p>Recently I watched the 2016 film "La La Land" with my wife, and it conjured
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some interesting conversation afterwards. I therefore thought it would make for
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a good blog post to talk about the movie.</p>
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<p>Now generally I am not a musical kind of guy, but I must admit that this
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musical changed my mind. It is also possible that my aversion to musicals was
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more influenced by the cheesy teenage musicals I would watch as a kid with my
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family, such as "Camp Rock" or "High School Musical." Yet this one really
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engaged my intellect and I truly believe the music had an important role to
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play throughout the film. That being said, it is not the cinematic style of the
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film that I would like to discuss, since I am by no means an expert or even an
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amateur of the topic. Instead, I would like to talk about the ending and the
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lesson which I believe it gives. So if you are one of those people who cares
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about spoilers and has not watched the movie, you can stop right here; although
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I will say that I watched the movie knowing how it ended, and even so I was
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quite impressed and entertained.</p>
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<p>To give a <em>very</em> rudimentary look over the plot, the story follows a man
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named Sebastian (or "Seb") and a woman named Mia, who move to Hollywood, each
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with their own dream. Sebastian wants to revive jazz by ultimately opening up a
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jazz bar in L.A. while Mia wants to become a famous actress. Evidently they both
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fall in love in spite of their rocky start and that neither of them is really
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doing all that well materially. Yet, neither has forgotten their respective
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dream. One day one of Sebastian's old friends offers him a spot in his jazz
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band, and even though it is not the kind of traditional jazz that Sebastian
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likes he feels encouraged by Mia to join, as he feels it is what she wants him
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to do, even though Mia only encourages him because she sees it as an opportunity
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for Sebastian to live out his aforementioned dream, which we find out is
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correct; though the cost, as we will see, may not have been worth it. Evidently
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they both realize later that Sebastian joining this band means being away for
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very long periods of time, and although he has been earning a lot of money, it
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also meant he was unable to see Mia's first theatrical solo performance. Mia
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then, after briefly losing hope, is then recalled to Hollywood because someone
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wants to hire her to be the star actress in a film staged in Paris. This would
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of course mean leaving to Paris for an extended period of time. Sebastian
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ultimately encourages her as well to follow her dream of becoming an actress.
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Then it cuts to five years later when both Sebastian and Mia have both attained
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their respective dreams, but at the cost of their love, as Mia is now married to
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another man and with a child, and Sebastian is the owner of this newly-created
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jazz bar. Mia has a fantasy of how things could have possibly "worked out" (in
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her imagination), but ultimately reality is what it is. They exchange a glance,
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Sebastian gives her an half-hearted smile, and they both continue down their
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ever-divergent paths.</p>
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<p>The movie, in my opinion, is truly a tragedy. An heart wrenching tragedy.
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Typically we are used to this sort of plot where in the end either they both
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realize that love is more important than their dreams earlier (as I believe they
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do notice this at the end when it is already too late) and then they abandon
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their dreams for their newfound dream to be together, or (in the most naïve of
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films) they manage to somehow both follow their dreams and be together against
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all odds. Yet I think this movie was absolutely necessary, much more in an age
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like our own (especially in 2024) when so many people are doing what we have all
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been told as children, to "follow our dreams," but then they realize that their
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dreams, or at least the dreams we have been encouraged to have (as opposed to
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the more humble dreams of simple family life) are not compatible with that which
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is truly fulfilling. Therefore, what "La La Land" shows us it actually the
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reality that many (I would imagine especially those looking to make it big in
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the arts) go through.</p>
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<p>The first place to start is, of course, when they each respectively get the
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opportunity to live out their dreams. In Sebastian's case, his reason for
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pursuing the job in the jazz band is not actually all that problematic at first,
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in that the motives are not completely wrong. Prior to this he is in a situation
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where he is practically unemployed, such that even if he wanted to live a life
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with Mia he cannot (at least not in any decent way). He is presented with this
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opportunity to earn quite a lot of money all of the sudden and additionally has
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Mia's encouragement to go forward on the offer. Sebastian therefore does
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something very honorable for a man to do: he takes on this job which he does not
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even like all that much in order to attain the greater goal of the jazz bar or
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(more importantly) a lifetime with Mia. What both Sebastian and Mia forget,
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however, in their calculations is that this will require that Sebastian spend
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lots of time touring; something they both very quickly realize is not compatible
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with their relationship. However noble his intentions (which he admits were
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mostly for the sake of Mia) they cannot make up for the reality of the
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situation.</p>
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<p>Secondly, and as if to put the last nail in the coffin, Mia gets her chance to
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become a star filming in Paris. In Mia's case, although also encouraged to take
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the opportunity by Sebastian, it becomes clear that the intentions are not as
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noble, nor is it of as great a sacrifice as Sebastian's case. Whereas Sebastian
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was taking on a job he did not like for the purpose of ultimately sharing a
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dream with Mia (albeit at an undetermined time in the future), Mia takes on a
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job she has always wanted for the purpose of... well, simply living her dream.
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This is not to say she did something bad for an evil intent, but simply that it
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was not in any way noble or sacrificial as in the case of Sebastian. Ultimately,
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however, just as how Mia had encouraged Sebastian, so too Sebastian encourages
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Mia to pursue this opportunity. But at this point they both begin to realize
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what this means for their relationship.</p>
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<p>Finally, some five years later, we see that Mia has married and had a child with
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another man. She stumbles upon Sebastian's jazz bar and they both tragically
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realize what they had lost. Ultimately (and beautifully) they go their separate
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ways knowing that what has been done cannot be undone: that we must live with
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the consequences of our decisions. Perhaps some (with wicked hearts) might say
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that she (Mia) should leave her current husband (and presumably her child) to
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follow love with Sebastian. At least that is what all the bad TV shows my
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grandparents watch would seem to suggest. But no, they actually both do the
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responsible and mature thing which is to realize the mistakes they have made,
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but accept that what has been done cannot be undone; to live with one's
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decisions, accepting all the responsibilities that come with it. Even so, I
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believe this was the ending we needed, despite how tragic it was, since it shows
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us the real consequences of what can happen when we have our heads a little too
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much in the clouds and our feet less on the ground. In being so obsessed with
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what we yearn to attain (the sin of greed) we lose sight of the treasure that
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God has laid out right in front of us. Their greed led them to lose sight of the
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love they had and could have shared for a lifetime.</p>
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<p>But how did we get here? Where could Sebastian & Mia have made the right
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choice and ended up truly happily-ever-after? The answer is (I believe) clarity
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in their relationship and (as unromantic as it may seem) a bit of foresight.</p>
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<p>To start, in terms of clarity, for much of the film it would seem that Sebastian
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& Mia do not actually know the state of their relationship, nor are there
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any real goals in mind. Are they engaged in courtship or not? Do they have the
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intention of getting married? Do they have any idea of some sort of timeline for
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their relationship? Instead it would seem they are simply drifting wherever the
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wind blows at the moment, and therefore what is to stop them from drifting apart
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when the wind blows as such? They lack agency, quite like those that Dante
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Alighieri puts in the vestibule of Hell (<i>Inferno</i> III, 37-42), for since
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they have never taken up a cause in life, they exhibit neither the virtues which
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would merit Heaven nor do they harbor any evils such that even Hell rebukes
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them, and so they remain churning endlessly in the winds outside the Gates of
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Hell. Had these two clarified the state of their relationship since the
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beginning, either by Sebastian proposing courtship or Mia demanding such
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clarification, it would have made their relationship something palpable and
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considerable, such that when these occasions (both for Sebastian and for Mia)
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arose which threatened that relationship, it would have been something more
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present on their minds during their consideration of such proposals. Which leads
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to the second component: foresight.</p>
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<p>Foresight, of course, is only useful when you have goals in mind, which, as I
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have already established, they did not have. However, supposing they had
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clarified their situation, foresight would have allowed them to consider the
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effect which these choices would have on their relationship and on those future
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goals. In fact, such clarification and foresight would even give them the
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greater freedom to make the decision of what decision to make, as it would be
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more informed. Sebastian would have known that a job touring the world with the
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jazz band would be incompatible with a life married to Mia, and Mia would have
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also known that becoming a famous actress in France would not have been
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compatible with a life married to Sebastian. The choices would have been clearer
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and the decision more freely chosen. Instead they <i>winged it</i>.</p>
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<p>Getting to the conclusion of the film itself I think there is also a valuable
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lesson to be learned with regards to our happiness. We should ask ourselves: why
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do we feel so sad about the ending? They ultimately both achieved their
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respective dreams, and to the full no less. According to the "follow your
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dreams" mentality, should we not be happy for them? To perhaps clarify this, let
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us contrast the actual ending with an hypothetical one where they both abandon
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their respective dreams, but then end up living the rest of their lives
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together. Would we not consider that to be a happy ending? The answer of course
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is that love & companionship are more important to our happiness than any
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dream we may have, whether it be a certain job, fame, money, power, etc. The
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reason is actually quite simple: all these other things are temporal and
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extremely finite, while love, because it comes from the Creator who is Love and
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is infinite, can never cease to fulfill us, especially when sought for at its
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source (i.e. God).</p>
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<p>In the end "La La Land" was an amazing movie, and its tragic ending was, I
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believe, a very necessary contribution since it helps us to reflect on life,
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forcing us to truly consider in the most heart-breaking way the other side of
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the "follow your dreams" coin. For this I claim "La La Land" to be my favorite
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musical, and even one of my favorite films. Take the lessons to heart, do not be
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carried away by where the wind blows you. Instead, set your trajectory, clarify
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your circumstances, and make your choices based on what will truly be more
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fulfilling, which is typically a lot simpler than you think.</p>
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