Rightfully, the producers of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” chose Arcade Fire’s song, “My Body is a Cage”, for a recent promo for the movie.
Benjamin Button is a long, bittersweet tale taken from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story about a boy, who curiously, was born old.
Brad Pitt, who must have the best agent in Hollywood, plays Benjamin. He navigates his way through life, growing up on the inside, while growing younger on the outside. His body is truly a cage, limiting him his entire life and making normalcy an impossibility.
Yet, because of his unusual circumstances, a loving mother, the old folks home he grows up in, or an attitude that just seems to be thankful to be alive, Benjamin is able to look at his predicament through mature eyes. Despite the frail body he is born into, Benjamin takes life in stride and genuinely cherishes the relationships he forms as he heads backwards towards childhood. There are memorable characters the whole way. He forgives the father who abandons him; waits patiently for the immature girl he loves, and adopts the freedom to “start over” in life whenever he wants, and most surprisingly, never adopts bitterness towards his strange condition.
Benjamin and the girl he loves, Daisy, can only spend a few years together because of Benjamin’s reverse aging. This time is the best in both Benjamin and Daisy’s lives, yet is sad even as it is occurring because they both know it will come to an end. As lovers dancing to The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, Benjamin makes plans to leave – he knows they cannot be together as he rapidly approaches boyhood.
Benjamin Button makes the temporary nature of life the focus the film and encourages viewers to make the most out of every moment of their lives, to value relationships, and to be whoever they want to be. Said Benjamin,
“Life can only be understood looking backward. It must be lived forward.”
On the surface, it seems easy for Benjamin Button to look at his time this way because of his strange life. Yet, all should view life like this. As the movie played, it was easy to shed tears for Benjamin and Daisy, but I too will only have a few short years here on earth to spend with my wife and the ones I love. I look back at the times I’ve enjoyed with other people and they are memories now. I can never go back to being a child on the playground or messing around with friends in high school. I can, however, look forward to more memorable events in life and make the most of the time spent now.
Too often, it is easy to focus on the minutia of daily life. While we may not be in a cage like Benjamin’s, we are all trapped inside of a bodies that quickly approach death. The temporary nature of life that Benjamin Button conveyed so well is the greatest tragedy. Relationships are formed and severed by death and many other unnatural occurrences. However, this was not meant to be.
I left the theater thankful for my life and the relationships I do have, while also thankful for the grace of God the enables anyone who receives it to have eternal life.
Really good perspective you got there Joe. I, personally, didn’t like the movie, but I think it really came down to it being very late in the night and I was in a grumpy mood… Life is short, random, and without God, completely insignificant. Ben was born an ol’ man, born with utter insignificance, almost to the point where his Dad nearly killed him at his birth. Throughout the movie, he goes through random phases of enjoyment and sorrow his entire life. I think this may be why I didn’t find the movie remotely interesting. His life, though lived backwards, wasn’t very significant at all. His only significance was his oddness and reverse-aging. It’s a reflection of an average persons’ life. They go through the motions of age and then they die when they’re old. What tragedy! We have so much to be grateful for! We can approach life from a position of love and joy because of God’s love! I just wish Ben woulda found grace too, what a powerful leader he could have been! He was very smart, if only he had the opportunity to express and use his gift of knowledge…. Well that’s my two cents on that movie. Good point tho Joe, death is a tragedy! Get God’s grace! The only thing that can replace that tradegy with a life full of love and purpose!
Comment by Jeff — January 2, 2009 @ 5:08 pm
Jeff – I think you hit the nail on the head – the more I think about it, I believe you are right. Although I liked the movie because it presented life as a bittersweet experience, life without God in the end is just bitter.
The movie was really an artisty-fartsy make-believe look at life. Benjamin had a unique way of forgiving and being thankful, yet you are right. Despite his cool “just make the most out of life” attitude, his life is still meaningless without God.
I guess I liked the movie not because of what it might have been trying to say, but because it made me thankful for what I have – a relationship with God and the ability to be eternal and have significance.
Also – it is refreshing to hear someone from CBS/Word leave an actual comment with an actual viewpoint. Thanks!
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