People don't like the last Woody Allen movie "To Rome With Love", but I get it, and liked it.
The title for starters suggests to me it could be a "goodbye note", a final word to a city he loves, a postcard, a sentimental note to end a life.
DEATH
Even though I don't think he will be going anywhere soon, he is only 76 years old, Woody is probably facing the issue of mortality, and that appears in the movie. A retired "opera" director that cannot let go of his profession and continues to find talent anywhere.
He refuses to be "put in a box" and complains to his wife (a New York psychiatrist) when she brings this up: "If you are channeling Freud tell him I want my money back".
Woody is an artist that turns his life into a movie, what he sees around, and his vast life experience into a teaching instrument. Retiring or dying are issues that need denial before they can be faced, and what better way than putting him in his nervous personality going through turbulence on an airplane.
Tell me, what better approaches the feeling of dying than turbulence in a plane? I think this is why we fly so much. "I don't like it" he says, and we see him in first class, weak and vulnerable holding hands with his wife "I don't like it when it does that". Do we all not like it when we are faced with our own death?
SEX
Then he goes on to issues affecting hose in their 20's trying to find their ways, and we have a young boy who is about to cheat on his "sensible girlfriend" with the actress that knows a line or two of any poet around, just enough to impress boys.
It is Alec Baldwin who plays the same role he does in 30 Rock, that of "Advisor/Elder/Mentor" who gives us the inside notes, who teaches the young boy to not fall for the traps of flashy women who end up being of no substance. God, wish I had a mentor like that in my 20s.
He is trying to teach us, to impart us wisdom. He might be facing death, but so are youngsters in their 20s facing it again and again as they disappoint themselves by chasing waterfalls.
Oh and then the other story line on sex. There are two on this. This is how important this message is.
FAME
Then there is the story line of the famous guy who was not famous and one day is famous. And then he has to adapt to being famous. To the nuanses and stupidity of the whole fame game. This is perhaps the weakest story line of the movie, but is it the weakest story in our lives? I think not.
Just like in previous movies Woody showed us that "furniture really does not make a marriage" (Midnight in Paris for example, where half of the couple is not grounded in reality and is only thinking about the French curtains and the amazing antique expensive pieces of decoration for the Greenwich mansion), in this movie Woody Allen takes on fame.
I see my step-daughters looking up at stars as if they are Gods. Don't we all? I think... Yes we all.
As a collective, our fascination with the Kardashians is an example of it, fame for fame. And we all seem to care about how they brushed their hair. We don't. But we want to. Or we think we want to. We plug into the People magazine and the Entretainment tonight (I used to before I cut cable for good). Does it really matter THAT much?
And so I get it, three important lessons:
1- Mortality is real, and we need to face it sooner or later. So let's do it with humor and art, with our practice, like he does, with his constant writing of movies and just doing it. That is his yoga.
2- Younger generations, please pay attention to sexual energy. It can be draining when misused, It can be lethal later on if not properly channeled (divorces, children, bankruptcy). It is no laughing matter. Sex is the most powerful energy we have. We need mentors!
3- Let's explore: what is our fascination with being famous? Times are changing, anyone can be famous these days. Did you hear that Sony got upset at children who were doing covers of their songs? They wanted to sue the children! - But then they realized that was stupid. Daaah!, and so they "paired up" with them in You Tube, and split add revenue. Now there are children out there making 100s of thousands of dollars. It is a new world, fame means different things.
And nobody cares what underwear we are using today, nor would we want them to.
The title for starters suggests to me it could be a "goodbye note", a final word to a city he loves, a postcard, a sentimental note to end a life.
DEATH
Even though I don't think he will be going anywhere soon, he is only 76 years old, Woody is probably facing the issue of mortality, and that appears in the movie. A retired "opera" director that cannot let go of his profession and continues to find talent anywhere.
He refuses to be "put in a box" and complains to his wife (a New York psychiatrist) when she brings this up: "If you are channeling Freud tell him I want my money back".
Woody is an artist that turns his life into a movie, what he sees around, and his vast life experience into a teaching instrument. Retiring or dying are issues that need denial before they can be faced, and what better way than putting him in his nervous personality going through turbulence on an airplane.
Tell me, what better approaches the feeling of dying than turbulence in a plane? I think this is why we fly so much. "I don't like it" he says, and we see him in first class, weak and vulnerable holding hands with his wife "I don't like it when it does that". Do we all not like it when we are faced with our own death?
SEX
Then he goes on to issues affecting hose in their 20's trying to find their ways, and we have a young boy who is about to cheat on his "sensible girlfriend" with the actress that knows a line or two of any poet around, just enough to impress boys.
 |
| Don't do it Jessee |
He is trying to teach us, to impart us wisdom. He might be facing death, but so are youngsters in their 20s facing it again and again as they disappoint themselves by chasing waterfalls.
Oh and then the other story line on sex. There are two on this. This is how important this message is.
FAME
Then there is the story line of the famous guy who was not famous and one day is famous. And then he has to adapt to being famous. To the nuanses and stupidity of the whole fame game. This is perhaps the weakest story line of the movie, but is it the weakest story in our lives? I think not.
Just like in previous movies Woody showed us that "furniture really does not make a marriage" (Midnight in Paris for example, where half of the couple is not grounded in reality and is only thinking about the French curtains and the amazing antique expensive pieces of decoration for the Greenwich mansion), in this movie Woody Allen takes on fame.
 |
| Chasing fame |
I see my step-daughters looking up at stars as if they are Gods. Don't we all? I think... Yes we all.
As a collective, our fascination with the Kardashians is an example of it, fame for fame. And we all seem to care about how they brushed their hair. We don't. But we want to. Or we think we want to. We plug into the People magazine and the Entretainment tonight (I used to before I cut cable for good). Does it really matter THAT much?
And so I get it, three important lessons:
1- Mortality is real, and we need to face it sooner or later. So let's do it with humor and art, with our practice, like he does, with his constant writing of movies and just doing it. That is his yoga.
2- Younger generations, please pay attention to sexual energy. It can be draining when misused, It can be lethal later on if not properly channeled (divorces, children, bankruptcy). It is no laughing matter. Sex is the most powerful energy we have. We need mentors!
3- Let's explore: what is our fascination with being famous? Times are changing, anyone can be famous these days. Did you hear that Sony got upset at children who were doing covers of their songs? They wanted to sue the children! - But then they realized that was stupid. Daaah!, and so they "paired up" with them in You Tube, and split add revenue. Now there are children out there making 100s of thousands of dollars. It is a new world, fame means different things.
And nobody cares what underwear we are using today, nor would we want them to.
Nice insight, Claudia. Looking forward to seeing the film.
ReplyDeleteNice review, Claudia. I loved the movie too, whatever the critics may have to say about it. Btw, I also blogged about this movie in my latest post, although I have to say that yours has more yogic insights than mine :-) Hmm... Are we running out of things to say about our practices, and turning our blogs into quasi-yogic movie review sites? :-)
ReplyDeleteha ha ha, maybe... the more I know the more I know I know nothing... who was it that said that? will read your review now, had noticed but did not get a chance, been busy with lots of life... want to see your insights now.
ReplyDeletethanks
ReplyDeleteLove this post, Claudia, and your lessons. Saw the movie last weekend, enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteGood lessons. I'm still a teenager, so I haven't thought much about mortality. When you're young, you kind of take your body for granted. But at what age did it hit you where you thought time has flown by. Or maybe it still hasn't.
ReplyDeleteDid not know you were a teenager... I dont know what age specifically, but I do know now that life is precious... must be used for important things!
ReplyDeleteMe too! :-)
ReplyDeleteHa, if I say my age, then sometimes people wont take me seriously. But I've been appreciating the lessons and wisdom of you and James : )
ReplyDelete