I just watched this film. I stayed up till 2AM to finish it and am so disturbed that I feel compelled to stay up another 30 minutes to write this blog.
Acting was amazing. Cinematography was flawless; as was set design, music, and directing.
What disturbed me was the story and the profound selfishness so powerfully displayed.
Richard Yates originally wrote the novel of same title in 1961 as an indictment of the conformity and desperate clinging to security so prevalent in the suburbs of America. I think the film captures that bleak sense of conformity and the emptiness that can happen when dreams are abandoned and imaginations squelched. I have no doubt that this happens often...especially in suburbia.
Unfortunately the story goes to such ends to demonstrate one woman's sadness over a dream unrealized that it ultimately descends into a portrait of profound selfishness.
Sure....life is hard, dreams are unmet, parents often live very sacrificially in order to provide for their children, and many are stuck in jobs that are not life-giving (to say the least). OK - I grant all that as true.....
But so is joy - fulfillment - love - goodness - peace - and profound gratitude.
Gratitude....I think that is it...that is what so bothers me. This story demonstrates zero gratitude...and fixates on all that is unrealized. It is as if the wife, in summary, simply said, "my dream of Paris isn't happening....so I give up....and I no longer care or love you. I'm done. I'm picking up my toys and going away." This really irritates me.
If we learn anything from Jesus it is that sacrifice and gratitude are pillars of a life lived well. I'm not sure how this best translates to suburbia, to our cultures obsession with security, to our own sense of frustration at work, to our unmet expectations at home, and/or to our unrealized dreams.
I do know that if we choose to live our lives as a little Jesus - poured out for our community - sacrificially giving of ourselves.....we will not end up like the lead characters in this script.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is an incredibly well made film.....it just misses the point...majors on the minors....and unfortunately offers little wisdom for our complex lives.
