The Wanderer

sesungguhnya realiti itu tidak indah;

Photo by Pedro Ribeiro Simões

I was expecting to learn something about numbers and trade when I signed up for the Economic and Cultural Theory class this semester. I was surprised and actually quite happy when I found out that we were going to watch three different movies along these four months instead! What a  great way to learn! I found it interesting that my sensei believed that there was actually some economic theory in Evan Almighty, but what intrigued me the most would be the first movie we watched, Julia Roberts in  Mona Lisa Smile.

It was yet another movie concerning gender roles in society set in the 1950s, and what an eye opener it was for me. To think that all Kirsten Dunst's character wanted at 22 was a washing machine, and having that washing machine meant that your life is complete.  I wonder why I don't feel that way when I look at my own washing machine. and I've had it for nearly 3 years now. 

It's true that women have come a LONG way since then. A little more freedom, and a little more equality, even if its a little. Each girl had their own dream, and it made me think about my own. Joan just wanted to have a family, even if it meant sacrificing her chance of going to law school. Katherine trying her best to save these great minds from becoming a doomed housewife, and Giselle just wants to break away from the stereotype society because she doesn't want to get married. 

I wonder how people figure the things they want out of life so quickly. I thought I did. But when i sit down and just really think about it again, I just can't seem to answer my own questions.

What dreams do I have. To be married? to be successful? 

What is it that I really want. Money? A big house? A cat?

What really makes me happy. Eating without ever getting fat?

if only it was as simple as a washing machine.

I guess its hard because we tend to get lost in society as well, and just agree to what the standard of being happy or being successful meant. Back then for women it was just to be married. Today, well I'm really not sure.These things take time to figure out, and while I do it's alright to maybe just go a drift, because as Betty wrote in her final editorial after Katherine left:

"I've heard her called a quitter for leaving, an aimless wanderer. But not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition; beyond definition; beyond the image"

I don't know if what I got from the movie has anything to do with economics at all, but I sure learned that.