My friend Tara made me watch a truly horrendous movie last night, Becoming Jane. I mean it was terrible! Now it wasn't badly made, it just didn't have a happy ending. I know all movies can't have happy endings because its not realistic, but this one just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It left me contemplating which is never a good thing because I can just contemplate all night long over nothing and end up with no solution and bags under my eyes the next day. But this is what I thought...
We live in a society of instant gratification. You want the bigger house, you get it. You want a faster car, you buy it. You want a younger face, you suck the fat out of your butt and inject it in your face (or have someone help you). I am no different. I wanted the fancy jeans, I bought them. I wanted the expensive haircut, I got it. I wanted a L.A.M.B. sweatsuit, I got it. But unfortunately my list of wants never seems to get shorter, it just grows exponentially while my meager salary stays the same.
Then there are the things I want but have to work towards - even I cannot buy every Marc Jacobs sweater I want, even though there is a gorgeous grey on that I WILL have. I have to save my quarters to indulge my vain desires. And finally there are the things I want desperately but will probably never get my hands on like a supple leather Gucci bag with purple suede lining or a pair of hidden platform stiletto Louboutin's. But thats ok, these are all just material things that I can live without. In the movie Jane gives up on love because she is too practical. I symapthized with her. I would never go into debt for clothing let alone elope with someone who had a large Irish family to support - they eat more than just potatoes these days you know. But it seemed so unfair.
What holds us back from living like today is our last? What are we afraid of? If you truly care about someone, shouldn't you let them know? I happen to think that living with 'what ifs' is much more depressing than just knowing the truth, good or bad. Merriam-Webster's defines Torture as: anguish of body or mind. AKA the black leather 4.25 inch hidden platform mary jane's from Urban Oufitters on back order until December. Or is it actually secretly loving someone and never acting on it?
So I guess the real question is; When do you stop saving your pennies for that Fendi spy bag and go for the Ralph Lauren at TJ Maxx instead.....or do you?
Any thoughts???
4 comments:
My thought: Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness -not pain or mindless self-indulgence - is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.
So the question is - did Jane act in a manner that secured her own happiness? And did she achieve that happiness?
What is happiness to her? Writing or love? Because of her action we deduce that happiness was NOT living in poverty with the man she loved. So do we feel so sad at the end because it is a decision we would have chosen differently, or because we feel she did not act in a way that would make her happiest?
That is why I liked the movie. I question whether both my means and end are happiness, like it ought to be.
I'm just bugged because the movie is a specious, far-fetched account of the truth.
You know...if we pool our money we could get one pair of Louboutins...
love is over-rated. finding "one" person is also over-rated, and in today's instant gratification society, people think it's so ok to just be over one love and move on to the next. i think practical over dreamy is definitely more of a path to happiness. but then again, i could be jaded :)
I never saw the movie, but I think I get what happens. You know what makes you happy and you know how to achieve the happiness, so make it happen.
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