The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (A perspective)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a beautiful movie that goes from the depth of true beauty to the mysterious profundity of daily Life. It made me laugh, think and awe at the grace in it.

The first time I watched “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” I was in a numb place. Struck by heartbreak, I was alive but asleep to what I felt.

This blog post has spoilers all over it.
If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend sitting down to watch it, leave all distractions apart and enjoy every scene of it.
And then, come back and read this… However, if you don’t mind spoilers, read on!

I probably only saw it once because it was a call to come back to life and it was not the right moment to hear it. When I saw it first, I identified with Walter, of course. But! Sean was calling me from my depth. (I numbed the call and forgot the movie).

Later on, a close friend recommended it, and this time it was very different!

Finally, I could see Sean O’Connell in the eyes.
The Sean O’Connell that can see the snow leopard and understands the ghost cat and why not taking the picture is taking the perfect picture.

I will probably watch it a hundred more times, and every time, I will find something. But for now, these are my thoughts on this fantastic movie.

The movie is not perfect; it makes mistakes, points to wrong directions at times, and enters into unnecessary cliches. It didn’t need to have any fan service, and somehow it gets in there, painfully.

However, it is stunning, entertaining, intelligent, humorous, and made me think. Enough as to have it in my top list.

Characters:
Three characters are remarkable. Walter, Sean, and the boss, Ted. Contrasting yet, giving the philosophical pyramid and its three permanent questions possible answers.

Let’s start with Ted, the “bad guy”:

The shadows of this bright movie:

For me, probably the main dislike is the “bad guy” figure. I find that the creation of contrast limits the movies sometimes. Turns them a bit cliché. And that is why I want to see “Ted” in another way. And by doing so, we can see more profoundly in the movie.

There are some “bad guys” that may explain us the way I try to see him.
Take the Death Poets’ Society close-minded “Mr. Nolan” (The principal) and “Mr. Perry” (Neil’s father).
None of these characters in DPS are inherently wrong; they have dogmas and strong beliefs that drive them to act the way they did. From where I see them, they represent a system of thought. This terrible and constraining system of thought creates a fantastic contrast with the wise, creative, and freeing thought system of “Mr. Keats” (Robin Williams).

In Walter Mittys’, Ted seems somewhat incomplete as he is always, from beginning to end, the stereotype of the bully, self-centered, and somehow blind boss. Without any reason or story behind it.

However, let’s just see him as a system of thought that is completely opposed to the “other” system of thought in the movie, which is Sean O’Connell’s system of thought.

Sean O’Connell’s system of thought is the motto of Life Magazine. This guy goes for the ultimate beauty, so much to the point that he reserves his right not to share it with the World if he so wills. He is free. (But we’ll talk about him later).

What is Ted’s thought system? What do you think it is?

For me, he is not only blind but completely numbed to the Life motto call.

He doesn’t know what Life (Magazine and experience) means. He doesn’t even see its inner purpose or what’s behind the walls and in the rooms. He is not interested. He “thinks he knows, he thinks he lives.”
The lamest way of ignorance, the most arrogant, and the more lost.
And that is precisely the thought system he represents.

Life Magazine/Sean O’Connell Thought System:

“To see the World, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of Life.”

Sean O’Connell knows he doesn’t know. As Life magazine. They care about touching the World; they care about living dangerously (Not the extreme dangerously, but living without a safety net). They care about discovering and learning.

Sean is a freelance; his occupation is to see Life, see what it is telling us, and send it to Walter for the magazine.
He takes in the experience, as intense, magical, terrifying, or boring it may be, and translates it into his work. But he is SO clear he doesn’t even take the picture when Life itself talks to him directly.

He takes in the wonder. He experiences awe. Period.

From the snow leopard to taking Walter’s picture and talking to his Mitty’s mom… He LIVES.
He is the verb of Life Magazine.
And he is so evident in his role that he can see the “ghost cat” in Walter Mitty even before Walter could suspect his existence.

Walter Mitty
He is crushed between his idea of duty and his call to live fully. I would even say he is “torn” between them.
So, he replaces “Life” with the imagination of “Life.” He can go on, pleasing his image of duty and responsibilities and daydreaming the excess of Life in him.
He evolves wonderfully in the movie! So much to the point that he starts replacing daydreaming with the real thing until he is only living and the fragmented Walter Mitty disappears.

He faces Life as it comes, lives dangerous things, sees the World, sees behind walls, draws closer, finds others, and feels.

He became the most authentic human being he can be.

He gets to be alone in the wilderness of Life, right before getting to the experience of Sean. (Remember, he doesn’t know Sean up until that point.)

He is not into impressing anyone, and he is a beautiful thing that doesn’t need to call attention. He is a true ghost cat.

Cheryl:
She is the co-protagonist.
However, she is a Walter Mitty who likes to dream of Sean. But doesn’t either take this dream seriously.

She is worried about her son, her job, and her refrigerator.

She gets into Life Magazine because it matches a bit better what she wants in Life, but she is not willing to go the distance. Ever. That’s who mostly everyone is.
And that is perfect too! Another ghost cat. The one that finds depth in going to the supermarket to get perfectly red big tomatoes.
We are all her! Even Sean O’Connell is Cheryl!
She thinks she is small. In fact, she has no size. She is her verb at all times.

The Third Act and ending
In the third act, Walter goes back to a new man. He gets his severance package and is trying to find a way to survive with his new experiences as a part of his resume. He gets the girl that we all know. He knows himself so much better now!

However, the movie leaves us with the question of “Now what?”
He has taken the red pill (Chooses color red, his car, his jackets when he is traveling… they are all red), and goes beyond his thought limitations.

We all know he still has to reconcile Walter Mitty, the adventurer, with a life where safety seems to be necessary.

If I was to invent an ending for him, he takes his magnificent eye for photography and becomes a colleague of Sean… Or maybe a writer.

It is extremely hard and painful (To the point of numbness) to touch Life with your bare hands and put on the gloves again. (But that’s my experience, thus my perception) Walter already lived that when his dad died, and he had to leave his backpack and travel diary empty and get into Papa John’s.

I don’t think he will get back to the routinary underground of darkness.

Unless! He resigns to Life to pursuit Cheryl Melhoff and a “normal life.” Which, of course, is another alternative ending. Normality is safe and comfortable. Mostly everyone goes for that.
Life will, of course, call back. Will he ever answer again? The question remains open in the movie.

Photography

If it was only for photography, this movie deserves to be watched over and over again! Nearly every single frame is observed to the last detail. Lines are taking the sight to this or that, colors meaning states of mind and emotions. From the gray and blue of the start to the hotter colors in other parts of the movie.
Even textures are very well showed: Clothes on Walter go from the short-sleeved soft shirt and tie to the harsh fabrics of a life in freedom.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is also fantastic! Light music that invites to lightness of feet. Already in my playlists!

Above all, and even with some glitches, the movie touched me deeply, and I love it when a movie arrives at the heart and gets its room there.
Walter Mitty did.

The true Life magazine motto

A big parenthesis here, this is the origin of the Life motto in the movie:
LIFE’s founder and publisher, Henry Luce, wrote in 1936 when he outlined his vision and his aim for his new publication, LIFE’s mission was at once grand and breathtakingly straightforward:

To see Life; to see the World; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things — machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man’s work — his paintings, towers, and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed.

This was paraphrased down in certain places for Life Magazine to just this:

To see Life. To see the World. To see strange things. To see and be amazed.

So the movie paraphrased the original mission statement and added a twist of its own.

https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/ept8eo/origin_of_the_quote_to_see_the_world_things/

What are your thoughts?