Robert N EmersonMy Thoughts on The Wrestler
February 26th 2009 02:55
Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is a fine movie for more reasons than I think I am capable of verbalizing, but that's not gonna keep me from trying.
As with many of my "reviews", I'm not really going to cover plot points and spoilers, but more empathic content of the movie. In my view, movies aren't purely about entertainment, although it is a big part of it, but also about what you think and feel about it after words. Does it inspire you to see things different, understand something deeper, make you wanna be a better person, or maybe even be a lesser person?
Who knows, but it is something to think about and The Wrestler covers this quite nicely and I think it is a shame that Mickey Rourke didn't win the Oscar, although I can see some good reasons, as well as some kneejerk ones, as why it went to Sean Penn. Just as folks will always wonder if Heath Ledger would have won his Oscar, if he had lived (I think he would have), people should wonder if Sean Penn would have won his Oscar if Prop 8 would have failed, instead of passed. As with Ledger, I think he would have, but the curiosity is there.
Now, on to my thoughts on The Wrestler.
Not only do I watch professional wrestling, I enjoy it, as I feel it is a modern version of the Greek Hubris drama and aims its self toward so many parts of our being that I couldn't, wouldn't point at just one.
Our experience of the life of Randy "The Ram" Robinson is one of a man living through the twilight years of his stardom, looking back on a life lived and seeing the good and bad of it. We see such tribulation in Randy, his mistakes, his work ethic, and his realization of what matters most to him, or perhaps what is left to him that matters.
But, Randy isn't the only one going through a moment of twilight, as Pam, a stripped called Cassidy, is also experiencing a moment of choice in her life, of the emotional content of it, and where her future lies. Together these two people, thrown away by the populace in so many ways, seem to gravitate toward one and other, for good and bad.
Many people have had moments in their lives where they decide if they are going to be the person that they wish to be, be the person that others want them to be, or be the person that they are and, with respect to the Wrestler, we see that moment for two people and those that are in their life. It is the experience, the witnessing of these moments that holds the power of the Wrestler. The visceral wrenching impact of each moment that holds you and, for that, I feel the Wrestler is an excellent movie.
Period.
As with many of my "reviews", I'm not really going to cover plot points and spoilers, but more empathic content of the movie. In my view, movies aren't purely about entertainment, although it is a big part of it, but also about what you think and feel about it after words. Does it inspire you to see things different, understand something deeper, make you wanna be a better person, or maybe even be a lesser person?
Who knows, but it is something to think about and The Wrestler covers this quite nicely and I think it is a shame that Mickey Rourke didn't win the Oscar, although I can see some good reasons, as well as some kneejerk ones, as why it went to Sean Penn. Just as folks will always wonder if Heath Ledger would have won his Oscar, if he had lived (I think he would have), people should wonder if Sean Penn would have won his Oscar if Prop 8 would have failed, instead of passed. As with Ledger, I think he would have, but the curiosity is there.
Now, on to my thoughts on The Wrestler.
Not only do I watch professional wrestling, I enjoy it, as I feel it is a modern version of the Greek Hubris drama and aims its self toward so many parts of our being that I couldn't, wouldn't point at just one.
Our experience of the life of Randy "The Ram" Robinson is one of a man living through the twilight years of his stardom, looking back on a life lived and seeing the good and bad of it. We see such tribulation in Randy, his mistakes, his work ethic, and his realization of what matters most to him, or perhaps what is left to him that matters.
But, Randy isn't the only one going through a moment of twilight, as Pam, a stripped called Cassidy, is also experiencing a moment of choice in her life, of the emotional content of it, and where her future lies. Together these two people, thrown away by the populace in so many ways, seem to gravitate toward one and other, for good and bad.
Many people have had moments in their lives where they decide if they are going to be the person that they wish to be, be the person that others want them to be, or be the person that they are and, with respect to the Wrestler, we see that moment for two people and those that are in their life. It is the experience, the witnessing of these moments that holds the power of the Wrestler. The visceral wrenching impact of each moment that holds you and, for that, I feel the Wrestler is an excellent movie.
Period.
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