“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a cinematic masterpiece in which David Fincher paints a portrait of love and time. Life is filled with moments that both enthrall and bore us, but love fills our hearts with memories that outlast many of our thoughts. Its more than just a feeling and certainly molds us into the people we ultimately end up becoming. Our heart portrays love as art and that beauty is always slightly ugly because it is so real.
This movie is a variation on Love in many ways- From lost love, new love, never-ending love. The array of emotions that we feel, never truly feel complete without love. I have spent time trying to understand the importance of love and how it connects us yet at times also separates us. If life were like a fable in which fantasy delivered us meaning then love would be something that was magical because we could not see it. It isn’t something tangible that you can grasp or hold close to you; yet you know exactly what it is when you feel it. Our soul must be the carrier of our love which it can only keep locked in a small glass box because it is easily stolen or broken to which it is up to us to take care of it. Realistically meaning defines our choices in life because we understand that logic rules our theories of why we are here. Right where you stand now is where you are at. At its most simple life is common sense because it is instinct. Love is neither common sense or instinct, its something beyond what we can comprehend. Time is our greatest enemy because it steals from us the moments that mean the most, but it also relieves our heartache from past events. I’m older not because of choice and that maybe a reason why life feels so fragile. In the movie Benjamin ages in reverse first starting life as a very old man nearly on his death bed and by the end he is but an infant catching his last breath. In the span of his life he will love many and lose many as people do, but his sadness to not grow old is his personal fate. As I age slowly older everyday I think about the impact that I’m supposed to have on this earth and whether it will be minimal or profound. There is no way of knowing at this point because I don’t know my fate. Life is grand as people move about their daily life making decisions that impact them and others. I feel that love is the same way, that it ripples out from you and touches everyone around you. That need that we have to be wanted and needed is universal in its affliction. I don’t think that your soul ever deteriorates, but I do believe that it changes as you evolve and it learns from your feelings the importance of thought and meaning. We evoke passion from our education as well as hope and fear. These things shape us and our knowledge of love grows because of it. You may always have love, but the meaning can change over time due to our understanding of it. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a surreal fantasy on life beyond fate and realism. Love is what binds our heart to our souls and that no matter how you live that it will always teach you the importance of a greater life.
