Logic

If these writings are merely a brain dump, a place for me to unload whatever is on my mind, off the top of my head, as I think it, than my posts so far have been consistent with the intent. However, in earlier writings I have discussed goals that have involved working on my writing. This would require more work than just typing whatever comes into my mind. It would require treating writing as a craft, that needs consideration, research, and work.

After some consideration, then, here might be a better way of explaining why my missing the point of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" bothers me so much.

Let's start with the premise that any time an artist creates a work of art, including a popular film, he or she creates it to convey a message or vision of the world. Otherwise, what would be the point of the work. Okay, okay, to make money, but I think that most filmmakers do have some artistic aspirations, if not artistic integrity. In any case, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is more serious fare than a typical Hollywood blockbuster, so at least this writer and director must have had some vision or message he wanted the movie to show.

The main plot of the movie is that a man lives his life growing physically younger. Thus, one might imagine that the message has something to do with how growing younger would affect someone. Does the character live his life backward? How does he relate to those around him who are growing older? Do people treat him as an outlaw? Does he show surprising maturity for an 8-year old? Is there some wisdom that he has attained through his life that can be useful to us?

As far as I can tell, the answer to all of the above is "No." People look at him a little oddly because he is growing younger, but no one who knows him over a long period of time appears to have a problem with it, and no one else he encounters knows him long enough to be aware of his condition. No one seems to mistreat him because of it. As he ages, he doesn't appear to be any more mature than he was as a 17-year old. There is no special message that his story reveals to us about how to live our lives better. He doesn't make any profound statement on life, nor does his life suggest any statement. There's no moral. There's no lesson. Benjamin has a "curious" condition, but he doesn't appear to change, to grow, in anything other than the physical sense.

The closest part of his story that suggests some moral is the romance between Benjamin and Daisy, that provides the bulk of the plot. Since the story is told through a scrapbook in Daisy's possession, the movie might only have intended to be a love story. The drama of the movie is in how a relationship between a man growing younger and a woman growing older could even start, let alone survive. But, given that the two continue to return to each other, the message may be that "love conquers all"; not particularly original, but at least it's a message. Except that love really doesn't conquer all. The condition of Benjamin ends up causing him to end his relationship with Daisy, and when he sees her in the end, he doesn't remember her. Each of them, at one time or another, make choices to leave or reject each other. Each of them, at one time or another, make choices that lead them back to each other. Each has other lovers other than the other.

To put it another way, the distinctive characteristic of the movie is the unusual direction of Benjamin's life. But why put it in that direction unless there is something that either the character can learn from it (and through the character, us) or something dramatic that happens as a result (such as him fighting in WWII and Korea and Vietnam as he grows younger). Instead, the main character has few friends, does few things, and learns nothing.

I enjoyed the movie while I watched it, but the more I think about it afterwards, the more it frustrates me. Maybe I expect too much. But there's got to be a point. And either there wasn't, or I missed the point.