The unrevolutionary "Revolutionary Road"

Yesterday afternoon I went to see "Revolutionary Road" at the Chase. For those of you who have seen it, you know this film packs quite a punch, but I left the theater feeling absolutely stunned. I heard some others walking out mumbling things like "well that was depressing," but I honestly just did not know what to say about it...I had no words to express how it made me feel.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure it out, and I came to the conclusion that the best way to describe this film's message is by using the phrase which the two main characters coin to describe their lives; they say their existence is filled with "hopeless emptiness." And when those credits started to roll across the screen, I was overcome, and I walked slowly back to my car feeling hopelessly empty. Even though this movie is set in the 50s, it loses absolutely no relevance in today's society.

There was a lot to appreciate in this film; the acting was very good- Kate might even win an Oscar- and the supporting cast was full of memorable characters. The cinematography was also very fine. It was fun to see Leo and Kate together again in a movie. But overall, I would hesitate to recommend this film to anyone. In my opinion, America is already full of enough "hopeless emptiness."
I read an article the other day by Mark Edmundson, a professor at the University of Virginia, entitled "On the Uses of a Liberal Education As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students." In it, Edmundson describes the current generation (my generation) of students as having a predominantly cynical outlook on life, and I will tell you that one of the ties that holds my group of friends together is our cynicism. We are part of a society in which it's not cool to be happy. It's not cool to be in love anymore. It's cool to be dysfunctional and "depressed," and to pop pills.
As testament to this fact, last year my single friends and I threw an "Anti-Valentine's Day" Party, and to make matters worse, the only friend I have who was in a stable, long-term relationship at the time preferred to spend the night at our Anti-Valentine's Day party rather than with her boyfriend, who happily went out to bars with his other single friends.
When we see PDA we glare and scoff. "Sex and the City," the young, single female's bible, has an episode called "The Ick-Factor," a phrase that the girls come up with to describe romantic gestures made by male suitors, and I will whole-heartedly align myself with all of these sentiments; there's nothing that will get my eyes rollin faster than a googly couple. But I'm starting to think that this is a problem because I genuinely have no interest in being in a serious, committed relationship. I am the product of one disastrous relationship- my parents have a failed marriage- I have too many friends with divorced parents, and too many jaded girlfriends. Then, as bitter icing on the lemon cake, movies like "Revolutionary Road" come along and validate all of my fears. I can't get over my cynicism by thinking that the situations that made me like I am are personal and unlikely when society is telling me that they are common to many.

This movie might win best picture, or score some Oscars for its actors, but I for one could do without it. I have enough "hopeless emptiness," thank you, and it's called real life.