You Say You Want a Revolution

I finished watching "Revolutionary Road" just a while ago, and I think it's one of those films that's going to stick with me for a while. I don't know how many of you have seen it, but it's definitely worth a viewing (unless you REALLY don't like things that are exceptionally depressing...)

The film is about a couple living in the 1950s (Kate and Leo!) who become frustrated with their ho-hum suburban life and make plans to take off and move to Paris. The movie chronicles their emotional journey of essentially being bored with life and attempting to live "above" everyone else who is caught in mind-numbing suburbia. The movie gets more and more depressing as Leo's character begins to question leaving his job and his life, while Kate's character never wavers in her intense desire to move to Paris (which, somehow, will automatically make her life more fulfilled).

While the film is a hyperbole of the extremes that people pursue in order to change their lives, I think that this is something that lots of people struggle with as they start "settling down." When you're young, you can literally do anything, go anywhere, make your life into whatever you want it to be. I think that most people realize that once they get married, have kids, etc., it won't be like that anymore, but I don't think people are prepared for what that actually feels like. Once you make a choice, you are essentially saying "no" to every other option. In my generation, we are used to having everything we want, when we want it. It's a huge adjustment to go from a mindset of total and complete freedom to one of commitment, safe regularities, complacency. Contrary to the characters in the film, I DON'T think that these things necessarily mean monotony or a zombie-like existence.

But that's just life, isn't it? We can't be young and idealistic forever, or else nothing would ever get done.

Depressing? Perhaps. But I like to think of it as "comfortable," which excites me very much.

Happy Halloween.