Life Is Deep, Big

I watched a movie called “Swing State” on the plane (upgraded to business class!) from Beijing to San Francisco over the weekend. The collection of movies looked fairly dire, so I went into the experience with the attitude of, “it’s the best thing there is, within a selection of crap.”

I remember this movie marketed as a light comedy about some guy, played by Kevin Costner, whose vote ends up deciding who will be the next President because of some electoral vote anomaly: a-la Florida in 2000.

On the surface the movie lives up to the promotion.

Really, though, the movie is about single parenting, alcoholism, unemployment, and apathy in America. Not just socio-political apathy, which is certainly pervasive throughout the film, but really a general laziness by Americans. The main character is as lazy in his parenting as he is with his knowledge about the importance of his civil duty as an American.

The main character’s 5th grade daughter takes care of him – makes his lunch, gets him up in the morning, and acts as his social and moral conscious. The main character is a metaphor for all Americans…or at least the average (mean) American.

Do American’s really understand the issues when they vote? Are the policies that our next President will set understood by the average American?

My meandering point here is that Americans are apathetic and we don’t understand the real issues in front of us. We don’t pay enough attention to the details of our leader’s policies to comprehend the long term implications.

Back to the movies… there are other films that on the surface look like one thing, but viewed through a different lens are something quite different.

Another example is “Fast Times at Ridgemont High;” superficially, a movie (a GREAT movie) about stoned teenagers in Valley during the 1980’s. But, “Fast Times” is a social commentary on divorce, abortion, and a world where teens are forced to grow up too fast. The term “Fast Times” doesn’t have to do with the partying in the movie, which is the obvious interpretation, it really has to do with the how fast kids have to grow up to survive in America today.

Anyhow, here’s my message for the day, look for a deeper meaning in everything. Life is big.