The Man Who Wished to Be Lucky Instead of Good

I haven't been watching the news in two weeks, except for scanning headlines. But I have already finished with my exams and I am not really doing anything.

I finished a movie last night though, which really upset me. It is mostly for private reasons why it touched a nerve, but in other regards I feel that Woody Allen is a genius (at least according to this film). I am talking about the psychology of the human mind.

It is a story of a man who is making his way up in the world, but everything is perfect except for the deep attraction he has to his future brother-in-law's fiancee. So it becomes a story of his struggle to choose between a woman who is good for him and a woman he is passionate about.

I don't think I can go on further to describe what exactly upset me, but I have to say that I believe he captured the nature of what a man in his situation would probably have done. I don't believe the ending is applicable to every person (I seriously hope not) but it is something where I can comfortably say "That is realistic" despite how bizarre it really seemed.

I love how you can take Woody Allen's films and pick them apart and analyze every little detail and then glue them back together into a bigger picture. The themes, motifs, and symbolic events can be obvious enough and then there are those subtle ones you need to go back and find.

This film was set through a man's perspective and I have to say, I don't think I had a very nice opinion of men after this film. But after a few moments of thought, it expanded to the entire human population because ultimately this film is about our weaknesses despite the fact that the writer began the story about the role of chance and luck in our lives.

How much does success and money and wealth really play into our decisions? Ok, at this point I am probably going to have to say that there are some spoilers if you read on. After this film it reinforced my opinion that those great love stories about people giving up everything to be with another person are only good for the storybooks and fairytales. You must be a rare and geniune character to do otherwise.

And luck definately is on the side of the main character, Chris. And the poor girl Nola (his love interest) had it very bad from the beginning. One of my very closest friends told me that there is no such thing as a coincidence, that things are always set to happen for a reason. It was a very surprising statement coming from her, but I was always under the impression that this is a statement that a lot of people would make if they are religious (and she is not). Although I consider myself religious, I do not take the viewpoint that everything is based on chance or luck. If there is no room for hard work and control in our lives, then what good is it to live if everything is supposed to be played out?

I have opened up my mind to the possibility of "luck", especially after this movie. It was stated by Chris, the main character, that hard work definately plays a factor in life, you can't just take it for granted, but luck takes a far larger and intricate role in our lives than many of us are willing to admit. It could just be due to fear.

Ok, so in conclusion this is a good film for a long and deep discussion with friends, go out and get it. I don't think watching it once would be enough...