Benjamin Button: [Voice over; letter to his daughter] For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. (imdb.com)
In light of this post, I'm anticipating someone to comment about the film being way too long, boring, awkward, weird, etc. And I understand why you might feel that way, but Benjamin Button intrigued me; I felt as though it was something very original and had some deeper meaning to it.
You don't have to look too far down to find some important ideas the film plays with: age, innocence, love. But what I find particularly interesting is how it deals with identity.
Now, identity is a tricky concept. Psychologists still haven't figured it out entirely, but I think as humans we get it: our identity is something we find in the things that surround us, our birthplace, age, family, occupation, hobbies, etc. It's something that we all have, but sometimes feel as if we have to find. Nonetheless, changing identity isn't as easy as it seems.
Although we live in a society and many reading are part of a generation that has no trouble picking up and leaving their roots, the core of their identity, I feel as though it's hard to start all over again. Benjamin does it constantly throughout his life, moving backwards while everyone else around him moves forward.
There are no rules to this thing. Wow. So often we box ourselves in, slaving away to rules and regulations that sometimes we impose on OURSELVES. Academia, jobs, families can all be sources of regulation. But the actual living of life, you know, the stuff that actually defines us, there's no right or wrong way to go about it.
I think what Benjamin says is extremely important for us all to ponder. Are we seeking out experiences that startle us and change the way we think about the world? Are we trying to meet people who are different than ourselves, providing us with new perspectives? And if we're not, do we have the courage to change that?
It's hard to think of this in terms of having unlimited time; that is, time is not something that should hold us back or define us. I know that I have trouble letting go of time. I was the girl with the I need this and this by 22 and then this and this by 30. But in actually getting to 20 years old, I've found that I don't have to grow up so fast and that I don't need to be rooted in something before I'm ready. It's okay to change and grow; that's what we do.
I changed my frame of mind, in theory. In practice, I find it difficult to let go of a plan and just try something, try to make it work, "fail" and then have to start all over again. It's like when your computer crashes and you lose everything: pictures, documents, music, etc. I know it's a terrible comparison, but both take a lot of courage, courage to get out of an unplanned rut.
So what do you want to do? Thankfully we're not living our lives backwards like Benjamin. That would be terrible. However, it's easy to forget that he's not real and he's not in the real world. I guess my question is how do we do this? How do we completely change our lives when we feel dissatisfied when we have all these other social/whatever pressures on us? It is just a matter of courage or does more come in to play?
I wish I knew, but I'm sure I'll find out.
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