Alfie
Some people spend a lifetime with their noses to the grindstone in order to have a happy life... or at least a happy retirement. Alfie lives in the present. He's attractive to women, he enjoys them. He seems the epitome of the carefree bachelor, just out there enjoying the benefits of looking like Jude Law (who often takes these facile roles), until he changes and starts to find it very superficial, sorry and sad.
The original took place in early mod London, this one in NYC today and the remake is definitely updated, especially in terms of the women, who come off as more self-posessed. As a guy with no kids, or real family or ever having even experienced commitment... that is kind of empty, and I can see where someone would get into their thirties and wonder if they'll ever have those things.
For me, it was important to have kids. I would never have wanted to live my life on earth bypassing an experience like that. You can duplicate a lot of lessons in other ways, but, there is no replacement for having relationships with children you have raised. So, I can see where any person could get to a point in life, even if they've been in a committed relationship, where, if they haven't had kids, would feel a certain emptiness, no matter how great their life was.
For Alfie, in the original, a woman he impregnates has an abortion, right in front of him, and the movie has an unforgettable scene where he literally looks at what his choices have wrought. In this version, he meets his mixed-race infant and the mother basically tells him he's useless and unwanted, which isn't any better. The other thing he has not built for himself is a career.
More than just having kids though, the movie explores a man who has enjoyed a lifestyle for so long that he never even experienced what it means to be in a long term committed relationship. And that is also a loss, in and of itself. Both of these experiences, parenthood and marriage, test us, challenge us, take us outside of ourselves and our naturally hedonistic self-absorbed little worlds.
What I have found though, is that you can also go too far the other way. After a while you can get so used to that self sacrificing that you forget you even have a self, which needs respect as much as anyone else. I mean, right now, I'm defintely Alfie. But, I don't find it old or empty or sad at all. Because, I have two kids, I've had a long-term marriage, I've known self-sacrifice, believe me. Once you've had all that, the Alfie lifesyle, I feel is not only appropriate, but extremely enjoyable. It's kind of shown in the Susan Sarandon character.
So, what's it all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live? Sometimes, hell yeah. Too much of anything is bad. Too much hedonism - bad. Too much diligence and self-sacrifice and immersion in what we should do instead of what we want to do... also bad, just as bad.
The original took place in early mod London, this one in NYC today and the remake is definitely updated, especially in terms of the women, who come off as more self-posessed. As a guy with no kids, or real family or ever having even experienced commitment... that is kind of empty, and I can see where someone would get into their thirties and wonder if they'll ever have those things.
For me, it was important to have kids. I would never have wanted to live my life on earth bypassing an experience like that. You can duplicate a lot of lessons in other ways, but, there is no replacement for having relationships with children you have raised. So, I can see where any person could get to a point in life, even if they've been in a committed relationship, where, if they haven't had kids, would feel a certain emptiness, no matter how great their life was.
For Alfie, in the original, a woman he impregnates has an abortion, right in front of him, and the movie has an unforgettable scene where he literally looks at what his choices have wrought. In this version, he meets his mixed-race infant and the mother basically tells him he's useless and unwanted, which isn't any better. The other thing he has not built for himself is a career.
More than just having kids though, the movie explores a man who has enjoyed a lifestyle for so long that he never even experienced what it means to be in a long term committed relationship. And that is also a loss, in and of itself. Both of these experiences, parenthood and marriage, test us, challenge us, take us outside of ourselves and our naturally hedonistic self-absorbed little worlds.
What I have found though, is that you can also go too far the other way. After a while you can get so used to that self sacrificing that you forget you even have a self, which needs respect as much as anyone else. I mean, right now, I'm defintely Alfie. But, I don't find it old or empty or sad at all. Because, I have two kids, I've had a long-term marriage, I've known self-sacrifice, believe me. Once you've had all that, the Alfie lifesyle, I feel is not only appropriate, but extremely enjoyable. It's kind of shown in the Susan Sarandon character.
So, what's it all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live? Sometimes, hell yeah. Too much of anything is bad. Too much hedonism - bad. Too much diligence and self-sacrifice and immersion in what we should do instead of what we want to do... also bad, just as bad.
posted by Intervision at 3:37 PM
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