180311프라Lalaland

On the way home after watching the movie Lalaland, my mom and I had quite the quarrel. The movie was about a couple who, fed up of frustration from the reality, followed their heart’s content and found what they loved to do. Everyone in the family were satisfied and talked joyfully about the movie, until mom made a comment that somewhat stabbed me under the nails. “So, in the end, the girl broke up with the poor musician and found a rich husband. That’s the reality right?” I immediately denied her, stressing how the couple’s break up was to show how much they pursued their dreams. Mom had completely different ideas, and our conversation got louder and louder. In the end, I told mom she just wasted two hours of a perfectly fine weekend, and that was it for the family gathering.

Lalaland was one of the most interesting and heart-touching movies I’ve seen, from the way how it made me walk out of the cinema and sit back to reflect my own past. As a child, I remember having great enthusiasm for art. I never meant I was painting Mona Lisas every day, but even from doodling on textbooks arose the fascination. Although I was never sent to any art institutions, I spent sunny afternoons with my nose in the sketchbook. Then one day, upon looking at my drawings my teacher told me to join the school’s art class for the talented. I was so thrilled at the news and ran back home to tell my mom the story. However, she denied it saying I should rather join the special math class for my future. That’s how I did end up joining the math class, and for the next two years I had the greatest wars with my parents for skipping math lessons. After watching Lalaland, I regretted myself so much for letting go of something I love due to external conditions. In the scene where the protagonist was fired from a restaurant for playing jazz instead of a Christmas carol, I depicted myself dozing off in math class. I should’ve known better that any choice lacking self-motivation rarely makes my life happier.

The belief this movie showed about how I should make effort, not for social recognition or someone else’s content but my own sake, helped me onwards in making decisions every day. In the movie, the protagonist who loves classic jazz joins a music team that follows the trend of electronic music, and he does so because of financial reasons. Although more people listened to his music, he himself was never happy from playing such songs. I felt I was undergoing a similar problem. The third year of high school was a time when everyone struggled to meet ends with their parents and teachers for deciding which university/department to apply to. Higher grades got us into medical schools and business departments, but I surely felt I was not studying to be in those fields I had the littlest interest of. I turned away from all the gibberish about which department has the highest employment rate or what my parents expected of me, and by doing so I was able to feel the actual thrill of preparing for a goal I myself set. Looking back, this really helped me stay a bright student in a time they call in Korea the ‘Examination Hell’.

One last reason I like the movie Lalaland so much is simply the great music in it. The famous opening theme song ‘Another Day of Sun’ really lights up your sleepy morning, and the lyrics are also very encouraging. Another famous song ‘City of Stars’ matches in perfectly with the hardships the characters are going through. The lyrics “Who knows, is this the start of something wonderful, or one more dream that I cannot make true” really touched my heart blended in with the agony of the couple pursuing their dreams. All other songs express so well what the movie tries to tell us, and my writing skills will never be enough to carry out the sensation I had from this beautiful harmonic movie. So here are words from my favorite song of Lalaland ‘The Fools Who Dream’, to summarize what I think is the lesson of the whole story, and for the best of conclusions—

A bit of madness is key

To give us new colors to see

Who knows where it will lead us

And that’s why they need us

Here’s to the ones who dream

Foolish as they may seem

Here’s to the hearts that ache

Here's to the mess we make