I have lately been accused of being negative. While I do see some ground for this accusation, I do not see my life being controlled by my negatively. Mornings are met by hitting the the snooze-button a few times, not because I see my life as wholly undesirable, but because I hate waking up. I also hate going to bed; I’m a five year old.
This is relevant to my movie-watching resolution because I just watched A SINLGE MAN (2009). For last year’s Academy Awards I voted for Colin Firth, Best Actor without having seen this film. As I’ve stating in previous posts, I am a creature of bias and, until I have a professional reason to put those aside, my biases remain a contender in my decision-making.
Any who, A SINLGE MAN is about a homosexual man, Firth, who has lost his partner. In the 1960s, when his 16-year-old relationship was not commonly accepted, Firth’s character isn’t even allowed to mourn his lover’s death as a husband or wife would a spouse. Talk about bottled up emotions. His life is dull, his out-look is that of a depressed Englishman. Beautifully acted, the “single man” is at the end of his rope.
He wakes up at the beginning of the film and feel pain in knowing he has to, “Get through the G**d*** day.” Kennedy is on the radio talking about communists in Cuba and the world is gray, but as Firth starts to look at the world as if it were his last day–he plans to kill himself–the simplest and most ridiculous things seem extraordinary beautiful, a realization that is communicated on film via technicolor.
I try to do the same thing. For example, I get excited when one of my roommates does the dishes or when I get an e-mail from my mom or when I get to write down another movie on my list. As they say in ZOMBIELAND (2009), “Rule #32-Enjoy the little things.” I got it, Columbus. And to those that still think I negative, look for something simple and ridiculous about me that can be seen as endearing.
Molly Koeneman 