Movie: Visioneers

Just finished watching Visioneers. A movie where people explodes, literally due to their meaningless, mundane, pointless, and frustrated lives. It may be interpreted differently by each – to me, its a dark comedy about finding the real purpose in life and how shallow & impressionable we can be to be “normal”. What’s normal? To do what others do – to go with the majority, that’s normal? Being afraid to be who you are and admitting to your real feelings inside – that’s the norm? At one point of the movie, the tv guru had a melt down on live tv screaming – “Happiness is being Happy, What the fuck am I supposed to do with that? What fucking moron wrote this?” Later, she put the gun in her mouth, apologized and pulled the trigger. George’s (the main character pictured above) wife, a devotee of the tv guru – tried to impersonate her, but failed. When George return and saw her sitting crying in the bedroom – she told him “I have been sitting here all afternoon and trying to make myself explode and I can’t do it because there’s nothing in me, there’s nothing left. And then I realized what no one is saying that all these people who are exploding are not sick, evil or dangerous. They are better than us, because they still feel something. They still dream something. Something that hasn’t been ripped out of them by some haircut, latte with what kind of milk and ass that can’t stop growing .. and a husband who can’t get his dick up!” Walks over, slaps him in the face. As George stood there stunned by what happened. She said “See, nothing. Nothing left” and walked out the room.

In this movie, people who has the tendency to explode are treated as minority, outcast and dangerous to the society. The media paint them as evil because they do not conform to the norm. They do not live by the cookie cutter lifestyle made out for them. They are different. The government is constantly clamping down on these individuals. Monitoring their every move.

Do we live in a world where happiness is elusive while complacency is easily achieved? It’s a simple truth that everyone wants to be happy. What separates us is how we go about looking for happiness, or whether we even look for it at all. Sometimes we try elaborate, stupid measures to produce happiness when the real solution is staring us in the face. I love this movie. If I had to look for a soundtrack for this movie – it will definitely be Why Not Smile by R.E.M from their 1998’s album, UP.

Why Not Smile – R.E.M

The concrete broke your fall
To hear you speak of it
I’d have done anything
I would do anything
I feel like a cartoon brick wall
To hear you speak of it
You’ve been so sad
It makes me worry
Why not smile?
You’ve been sad for a while
Why not smile?
I would do anything
To hear you speak of it
Why not smile?
You’ve been sad for a while
You’ve been sad for a while