Someone
up there, indeed, has a sick sense of humor. I’ve proven this countless times.
Most of the time, I’m the object of his jokes. And the audience would be none
other than me as well, but sometimes, he includes other people to witness my comedy
(or tragedy. depends on how you look at it).
This
morning, I got the chance to watch the beginning of the movie called Stranger than fiction. Its one of those somewhat
existential movies urging you to find the meaning of your existence, and it
really got me thinking. It’s a pretty smart film considering that the main
star, Will Ferrell, is known for his slapstick and senseless jokes. But he’s a
good actor I should say, well in this film anyway. The film reminded me of Jim
Carrey in The Truman Show and also
the book Sophie’s World.
The
plot of the movie revolves around the life of Harold Crick (Will Ferrell). It
starts off with the narrator describing Harold’s character. Harold is shown as
a stereotypical sorry loser kind of person who works like a robot. His daily
routine is guided by the time from his wristwatch.
It
turns out that Harold is a fictional character from the book which is being
written by the narrator. Everything that the narrator says, Harold does in
precise detail.
Then
one day, due to some weird twist of fate, Harold began hearing what the
narrator is saying. However, the narrator doesn’t hear him. And it made him
paranoid due to the fact that the narrator mentioned his imminent death. The
thought that someone else, other than himself, can control his life urged him
to seek help.
I
only got that far into the movie because due to some weird twist of my own
fate, the HBO channel went dead on me. What the hell?! I was starting to enjoy
the movie. It definitely pissed the hell out of me that I wanted to rip that
stupid cable box into pieces. I rarely get to watch cable TV nowadays because
of my schedule, and the times that I get the chance to watch TV, that’s when it
goes dead. To think that I’m the one paying the cable bill. As if to insult me more, it was only HBO that had a problem. All the
other channels were fine. It was decided that I’d call the fucked up Sky Cable
customer service and give them hell over the phone. Just when I was about to
lift our phone’s handset, my mom told me that our phone line’s dead too.
Just.
Freaking. Great.
I
never want to be left hanging clueless about the ending of the movie so I got
up from my comfortable position on our living room sofa and went out to the
nearest pirated DVD shop on our place. Its 8AM. The movie is relatively unknown. The main actor is not famous.
But what the heck, I NEED to finish the movie or I’ll go mad. The store’s a few
blocks away from our house. As expected, they didn’t have the movie.
It
was like someone didn’t want me to watch that movie because I’d learn something
so truthful that it would change my perception of myself and my entire universe. I felt like the person in the movie. I’m just like a puppet being
controlled by some omnipotent puppeteer who’s probably laughing his head off.
His power trips on me have been getting rather cruel these days.
The
internet proved helpful to me this time. I searched for the movie and read its
reviews. It turns out that a lot of critics regarded it as a good film, although
not as good as the movies of the same genre.
As
I suspected, the movie has existentialist ideas. Existentialism is a
philosophical belief that postulates that individuals create the meaning and
essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for
them.
The
mere thought that we are powerless against the will of the author of our lives
doesn’t sit well with me and with most other people, I would think. Yet, I am amazed at how some people have this unbreakable
faith and trust in that guy up there.
So
here I am again with my conflicting ideas. Should I be an existentialist or
should I continue believing in a divine being? I don’t know if I should be
happy or sad with the turn of events that I’m experiencing right now. I can’t
decide whether my life is a tragedy or a comedy. Who should I blame for
everything? Who should I thank? Is it me or the author?
To
those who were able to read this far in this long-ass blog, I suggest you watch
the movie. It’s worth your time. I think it will be shown again in HBO until March 23. And if you really have time at your disposal,
I would also suggest watching The Truman
Show. Its message is very similar to Stranger than fiction. And if you really, really, really have LOTS of free time, you should
also read Sophie’s World.
Come
to think of it, it is holy week. Maybe its time you reflect on your existence and
what your life really means.
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