I really like the movie the Hours. It was my first time watching it and I really enjoyed it. I must say though, I think one of the most recurring themes is the idea of life and death. Which is pretty obvious so I'll talk about it a little bit.
Most of the characters are in some way trapped by the society and people around them.
We have Virginia Woolf who is trapped in the small little area that she is in because people are afraid for her sanity and health. I think the small place she is stuck in is sucking the life out of her little by little. She thinks about death most of the time and she eventually feels that the only way out is by suicide.
Then there's Laura Brown who also feels trapped in the lifestyle that she is in. I once took a marriage institution class and we talked about the role of the mother during the 50s and it wasn't pretty. To sum it all down, the bigger society, the government, wanted families to be a certain way when really it was too much to ask for. I think Laura feels trapped in that suburban Leave It To Beaver lifestyle when really it wasn't for her. It was never for her but she felt obligated to be that kind of person for her husband and perhaps for the society around her. She thinks about suicide, but unlike Woolf, she chooses life instead.
And then there's her son, Richard, who also feels trapped in his body because of Clarissa. He chooses death as well because for him because he feels that's the only way out.
I think it's a very powerful movie about the being trapped and the choices that we make pertaining to life and death. That's just something to think and post about. I'm pretty sure there are other themes out there as well.
I agree with your take on the movie and I enjoyed it as well. I just had a hard time sympathizing with some of the characters. Perhaps I'm being insensitive but suicide is something I consider to be selfish and cowardly. It shouldn't be glorified. Woolfe's suicide, although dramatic and sad, is not justifiable because she was depressed. Everyone is depressed from time to time, but most people work through it. It seems to me that because she was a powerful literary figure we're not supposed to pass judgement on her suicide. Her suicide, which was a great publicity stunt by the way, was not cool! Forgive me I just had to get off my chest.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an interesting thing to look at, the ideas of the situations that the characters are placed in and the only way to "free" themselves is to either run away or take their own life. I wonder why Virigina has it to where the characters cannot change the life or state that they are in so they have to completely pull away? And if this has any sort of reflection on her own entrapment and how she had tried to change her situation and when it was impossible she committed suicide. Her poor state of health, being enclosed in her home and having a husband who is helping to contain her definitely doesn't give her much options rather than death. Even within these constraints when do you lose all hope? Because life goes through changes and waves, why not wait it out and see what happens next?
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