what was the point of the ridiculous scene on the airplane when the flight attendant says "can sir" (which no flight attendant would do) and Clooney thinks she says "cancer".
shareIt was funny.
I love scenes like this. It adds a humorous flavor to what would otherwise be a melancholy dish.
I took the scene as a metaphor for aging. Ryan Bingham has grown older but has not done the traditional acts of adulthood, such as settling down, getting married, raising a family, etc. I think the scene was a subtle reminder of the realities of aging in the back of the character's mind.
share^Hmmmm, interesting theory. Seems extremely far-fetched to me, but you could be right.
share
You don't have to be married, settled down to be an adult. Traditional is boring. I would love to be able to travel around the country, see different cities.
I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
Naw man, its fun at first but it gets old FAST.... I dont travel as much as the character in this movie obviously, but even a few times a month (from anywhere a couple days to a couple weeks at a time) gets old. It was exciting at first, but youre traveling alone! Yippee going out to restaurants alone, sleeping in your hotel alone, going to sightsee... alone! (I have lots of pictures of cool sights, but none with me in them.. since Im the only one taking the pictures!)
I agree you dont have to be settled down to be an adult... but traveling for work, definitely isnt anything to write home about either.
You guys got fat while everybody starved on the street. Now its my turn - Frank White
I guess I'm just the odd girl, I love airports, planes, you can bet I was devastated after 9-11.
I do a lot of things alone in my own town, so being in a new city wouldn't be any different. Even movies! This way I can move at my own pace and not have to worry about someone else's schedule.
I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
I'll agree with constant travel being less romantic than it might seem, to most people. But I wouldn't rule out the existence of some people who enjoy it.
There are plenty of people in life who can take being alone in life just fine; let's get that clause out of the way. I'm one of them; it's how I prefer to live and it is what makes me happy. That moment in the film where Ryan asked Larry to think of the best moments in his life, and how it was always with other people, with company? Well, he didn't really mean that, he was just saying it because he knew that Larry was that type of person. It was a sell. The character is like me, the best moments of my life have each and every one of them been all alone. I enjoy reading a book while eating in a restaurant. I like standing alone a place that most people go to with others. Have you ever stood all by yourself at the Grand Canyon? Nothing but yourself, the drumming of the wind, the sky. It's the most beautiful feeling in the world. Driving across the country; days on end in a car with just thoughts and passing scenery. Definitely high on my list of favourite events in life. I have stacks of paper from my journals on those trips; piles of pictures. I don't need me in the picture because I have no one to show them off to. Just myself, and I fondly remember taking them just as though it were yesterday.
But that is me, and I've been that way for many years now with no real desire to change. Tried it a few times; and I was miserable the entire time---turned into a shell of who I normally am---much the way I suppose most people would grow to feel if they lived their lives as I do. Getting married, having kids, all that---it has never had any appeal to me, even when I was a young passionate idiot.
But I have a home. I have those places I go that I love, and I like knowing where not only the best coffee is, but when the best barristas are working. I don't think I would enjoy living from airport to airport like the character in the film. I like watching places evolve too much; the ebb and flow of society within the concrete shapes of a city; and watching that city gradually change under its pressure. The way broken down houses over a decade get fixed up again, while other areas decline. That's a beautiful thing to watch---and you don't have to be alone to watch it, I'm not saying that---but you couldn't partake in that if all you did was travel.
So, with all of that said, given that people like me exist, and I assure you we are happy and we don't need the traditional structures of life to improve it---we aren't "missing out" on anything---given that we exist, I am prepared to say there are those who can exist up in the air and be quite happy that way. There probably aren't many, but the world is too big to throw a blanket over it and say it's not possible, or that the character in this film is ultimately unsatisfied and melancholy. I see rather this film being one of those events, and I'm sure most extreme introverts have had them a few times in their life, where they almost give in to the lure of "being normal" and try to bend themselves that way. It never ultimately works; and in the end you are sad for a bit but you get alone again and gradually you heal and life gets better again. That's one message in this movie, as I see it. There is a breed of people that briefly touch down in the lives of those who are "connected". Then they disappear and everyone just remembers them for a while, and eventually probably forgets them. You've probably met a number of them yourself, and maybe you've even forgotten them by now.
But don't worry. They are plenty happy without you, just like you got on just fine without them.
Depressing? Nah. The only depressing part is when you try to be someone you aren't. That's the pits, and the sad thing is I think too many people do that. That's the most important message in this film. The little speech he gave to the guy who once wanted to be a chef and gave up most of his life to sitting in a cubical. How many people start families just because they think they should, and go on to never be the chef they were meant to be? Too many I'm afraid. For a bit there, Ryan almost took that cubical job. He would have been miserable with Alex, ultimately, so it is for the best that it didn't work out.
Another topic entirely is whether or not the Western concept of the nuclear family is at all healthy for society. :) I think there is ready evidence available which show the "American Dream" takes a devastating emotional toll on individuals and societies.
I think Ryan's father's business made him into the superficial face that he was. In the book, Ryan's sister is a basket case. And you get the sense that Ryan himself is another result of what produced his sister's problems.
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Koch and Coke: Oligarchy Goons
I think there is definitely some truth to that. All of the siblings seemed a bit unstable to me in one way or another. Might be explored in more depth in the novel.
shareHave you ever stood all by yourself at the Grand Canyon? Nothing but yourself, the drumming of the wind, the sky. It's the most beautiful feeling in the world. Driving across the country; days on end in a car with just thoughts and passing scenery.
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Will someone tell me why people start forums with 'Will somebody tell me...'. Do us a favour and write a succinct themed title.
My 120 favorite movies http://www.imdb.com/list/Uvw_F2_GMx8/
What would you add?
Wow, an awful lot of deep discussion for something that was essentially a throwaway line. It was a flight attendant making a little joke with a first class passenger (which they do, because the good ones try to be a little more personal with their best customers), when offering him the whole can (which they sometimes do, depending on their policies).
It was nothing more than a mildly humorous line, not a metaphor for life.