Little Children and the Human Condition
I’m off work with a cold. I can’t quite figure out how it crept up on me – yesterday evening I was fine; this morning I felt like my brain had been put in backwards.
Putting words together in any kind of sensible, lucid manner is proving difficult – hence the decision early this morning that attempting to instruct a computer to do anything similarly planned or constructive might be a bad idea.
I think this may be the second “real” day off sick since the girls arrived in February 2008. I say “real”, because I invariably end up working if I am at home.
The itinerary for the day so far has consisted of wrapping myself in old tracksuit bottoms and a fleece top, pulling on the oldest, thickest socks I could find (Simpsons slipper socks, it you really need to know), drinking multiple cups of sugar laden tea, and attempting to quietly watch a movie or two.
I just finished watching “Little Children” – Kate Winslet is lost, unhappy, and lonely – living in picket-fence middle America, and finds herself pursuing and becoming involved with a parent from the playpark in a similar situation. The voice-over between major scenes of the movie reminds me of a modern fable; it is calming and unsettling at the same time. The story draws you in early in the movie, and then systematically messes with your head. It pulls at the loose threads of your personality.
Little Children taps into the part of you that wonders “what if”. It explores the person we once knew, that we passed in the street, that we went to college with, or that we held a candle for. It’s difficult to watch at times – like a slow car crash involving several lives where the outcome is inevitable. While you might not approve of the events that unfold, you cannot help but sympathise with those involved, and hope for a good outcome – whatever it might be.
I find uncomfortable subjects in movies and books interesting. I also find other people’s reactions interesting too. Does that mean I am a voyeur, or a student of the human condition? Are they the same thing?
I read “Thus Spake Zarathustra” a couple of years ago, and it set me down the road towards some of the more famous works of Philosophy. I loved Plato – something about the abstraction, clarity and purity of thought appealed.
This virus is making clarity of thought almost impossible. I’m guessing a return to this post in days to come will result in either horror or hilarity.
Now would be a good time to stop writing. To relax. To recuperate. To recharge.
Time for another cup of tea. Better stay away from the playpark though.
p.s. I am becoming a huge fan of Kate Winslet
Oh no! Hope you get over it quickly :-)
I’m trying. This evening’s bizarre cocktail is fizzy drinks and paracetamol.
oooh – another movie to add to the long list of ones I have to watch – that looks amazing.
Now go have another tea and kick that virus!
I think perhaps one of the things that will stay with me about the movie is that there is no happy ending – or *any* ending really. I guess it’s Pandora’s Box, isn’t it…
While I have not seen the movie you speak of, I will look into it. As trite as it can be, I love the movie “Sliding Doors” with Gwenyth Paltrow and John Hannah. If you’ve not seen it, it is also one of those movies that makes you wonder how you wound up where you are right now. What if all those things you wish you had done differently did not lead you as far away as you think they should have?
By the way, feel better soon.