"Young Adult" - a study in "growing up" - featuring Charlize Theron
In my Hotel room in Louisville, this week, I happened to watch a very insightful TED talk by the famed literary critic and book reviewer for the NY times, Parul sehgal. She was talking about ‘Jealousy’ as an emotion that is so psychologically debilitating, and yet in a strange way, helps to truly understand the person who one actually is, and the aspirations that drive us to explore different relationships. In a wonderfully concise talk of 14 minutes Parul illustrates the fact that literary fiction is probably the only medium that has expressed and explored jealousy in its various hues, and almost every classic in English language defines and stitches jealousy in some way or the other into its story line and characterization.
Close on the heels of watching this video, I tuned into Netflix to play a 2011 drama named “Young adult” featuring my favorite actor these days, Charlize Theron. It is a very simple story about a young, beautiful career oriented rural town girl, who moves into the city hoping to make it big and successful. Quickly disillusioned after a failed marriage and broken dreams, she falls into a familiar state of existential crisis that is so illustrative of most urban society. As she wallows in her state of pity and boredom, she receives an email photo of a new born sent to her by her adolescent and school heart throb (Buddy Slade), who continues to live in the same town that she so vehemently detested, marrying a high school class mate , and seemingly happy and contented in the warmth of marital bliss. Given the tender psychological state that our heroine is in, this innocent picture of the baby tips the scales, and she becomes intensely jealous of her ex-boyfriend and his balanced life. A terrible possessiveness takes hold of her, and she decides to drive back to her town to reclaim her lost love, which to her dissipated and reckless mind, seems to be the most rational thing to do…
What happens in the story after , is the slow realization that one moves on in life, and to look back, is only going to aggravate the sense of loss of ‘what could have been’. The painful ,and at the same time ,an exhilarating realization that one cannot rewind one’s life , no matter how hard we try, or how ambitious the intent is;- comes as a great stress buster , and helps make a vertical drop into the ‘present’. Its helps us realize the relationships mutate, priorities change and more importantly the profound Heraclitan truth that “One cannot step into the same river twice”, will hit us with all the force and authority possible. Jealousy invariably is about comparison, a measurement of inner well-being. It is a powerful force, like water swelling within the confines of dam, waiting for the sluice gates to crack a little, and then it gushes forth potentially capable of tearing apart everything in its wake. "The young adult" takes us through this journey of Jealousy and its ramifications quite beautifully..
Charlize Theron brings a certain quality of brilliance to her role in the film. As the movie progresses, one almost begins to dislike her character . So convincing has been her portrayal of a jealous maiden, struggling with her inner demons; - that we are forced to forgive her eccentricities and pray that sanity returns quickly enough. Nature has gifted Charlize a face that can reflect a pure strain of malice, if required. If you have watched her acclaimed performance in movie “The monster”, where she plays the role of the insane female serial killer Aileen Wournos: you will understand what I mean. She has used it to beautiful effect in the film to bring out effects of jealousy in the human breast and its manifestation one's conduct.
I highly recommend this movie. Watch it if you want a mirror to reflect your ‘true’ self, and also ,if you wish to see another virtuoso performance by Charlize ……
God Bless…
Close on the heels of watching this video, I tuned into Netflix to play a 2011 drama named “Young adult” featuring my favorite actor these days, Charlize Theron. It is a very simple story about a young, beautiful career oriented rural town girl, who moves into the city hoping to make it big and successful. Quickly disillusioned after a failed marriage and broken dreams, she falls into a familiar state of existential crisis that is so illustrative of most urban society. As she wallows in her state of pity and boredom, she receives an email photo of a new born sent to her by her adolescent and school heart throb (Buddy Slade), who continues to live in the same town that she so vehemently detested, marrying a high school class mate , and seemingly happy and contented in the warmth of marital bliss. Given the tender psychological state that our heroine is in, this innocent picture of the baby tips the scales, and she becomes intensely jealous of her ex-boyfriend and his balanced life. A terrible possessiveness takes hold of her, and she decides to drive back to her town to reclaim her lost love, which to her dissipated and reckless mind, seems to be the most rational thing to do…
What happens in the story after , is the slow realization that one moves on in life, and to look back, is only going to aggravate the sense of loss of ‘what could have been’. The painful ,and at the same time ,an exhilarating realization that one cannot rewind one’s life , no matter how hard we try, or how ambitious the intent is;- comes as a great stress buster , and helps make a vertical drop into the ‘present’. Its helps us realize the relationships mutate, priorities change and more importantly the profound Heraclitan truth that “One cannot step into the same river twice”, will hit us with all the force and authority possible. Jealousy invariably is about comparison, a measurement of inner well-being. It is a powerful force, like water swelling within the confines of dam, waiting for the sluice gates to crack a little, and then it gushes forth potentially capable of tearing apart everything in its wake. "The young adult" takes us through this journey of Jealousy and its ramifications quite beautifully..
Charlize Theron brings a certain quality of brilliance to her role in the film. As the movie progresses, one almost begins to dislike her character . So convincing has been her portrayal of a jealous maiden, struggling with her inner demons; - that we are forced to forgive her eccentricities and pray that sanity returns quickly enough. Nature has gifted Charlize a face that can reflect a pure strain of malice, if required. If you have watched her acclaimed performance in movie “The monster”, where she plays the role of the insane female serial killer Aileen Wournos: you will understand what I mean. She has used it to beautiful effect in the film to bring out effects of jealousy in the human breast and its manifestation one's conduct.
I highly recommend this movie. Watch it if you want a mirror to reflect your ‘true’ self, and also ,if you wish to see another virtuoso performance by Charlize ……
God Bless…
Comments