In the past few years, newly released books and movies have been trying to get us to live life, experience our dreams, and appreciate every moment we are given. Phrases, though initially inspirational, get mundane and passed over when seen on the covers in bookstores and coffee tables, as well as on infomercials. I don’t know many people who pay much attention to them, although I’m sure the advice is sound.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a subtle epic that wants you to live life, experience your dreams and appreciate every moment you are given without ever saying it in those words. It is a movie about a man who ages backwards. He is born a healthy baby, except with the physical attributes and problems of a 90-year-old man. His mother dies in childbirth, and his devastated father gets rid of the baby, coincidentally, at a nursing home. Luckily, Benjamin Button finds a mother there.
Benjamin grows up (or down) in a nursing home, experiencing loss frequently and at a far younger mental age than many of us ever do. As soon as he can work, he gets a job on a ship. In his life, he is a sailor, he is a soldier, he is a traveler, he is a friend. Benjamin Button loves many times. However, as is often the case, one time matters the most. Daisy, his one true love, is the thread that ties together much of the story.
Although the film is funny and enchanting for the most part — in essence, it’s a fairy tale that will sweep anyone off their feet. At the back of your mind you know that Benjamin can’t be truly happy or lead a normal life, since he and Daisy, or anyone he could love and befriend, are aging in opposite directions. So when it seems like he has finally found true happiness, you have to wonder how long it will last, and how he can possibly have the courage to make the difficult choices that lie ahead.
This movie, though very sad, and at times heart-rending, will leave you with the satisfying thought of a life well-lived, despite the complications. Hopefully, it will also help everyone to realize that Benjamin Button lived an accomplished, well-lived life despite his limitations. Since everyone that doesn’t happen to be in a sad fairy tale ages forwards, how much can we accomplish in our lifespan?
