Watched Eat Pray Love last night (watch online, direct link). It is interesting, though I do kinda agree with the review in Bitch magazine that called the book ‘Eat Pray Spend’. They were perhaps unkind call it ‘Wealthy, Whiny, White’. In this story, a woman leaves a marriage that makes her unhappy, goes to Italy to eat good food, goes to India to learn meditation, then goes to Bali to learn from a medicine man and find love. While what she finds is interesting, the whole trip is underwritten by a book publisher, a fact which is completely unexplained in the film. As such, it makes interesting viewing, with some insights here and there, but there is little actual struggle against the odds in the film. It’s mostly a struggle within herself which, to people that actually struggle, may seem spoilt.
At the core, however, the story does address suffering, which everyone goes through, and which even the Buddha left a comfortable existence to find a way out of. So I think there’s something there. The movie however, may not quite get it. It is beautiful, everything in it is beautiful, and her suffering never gets externalized into film as something real. The Buddha saw sickness, old age and death, but Julia Roberts character was merely unhappy in a marriage and felt unfulfilled. Her main problem seems to be too much money, too much time and not knowing what to do. While this is a real problem, it’s not exactly universal.
In the end the movie is an entertaining, but not, I would say, especially spiritually informative. I think most people feel that if they had a year of paid vacation in Italy, India and Bali, they would be happy. As in, yes the ability to eat great food, learn meditation and meet rich Brazilian factory owners might lead to a satisfying life. It is somewhat unclear if this is spiritualism, or just spiritual tourism. From watching the movie, it feels like the latter, though I may just be jealous.
There is an option that Western people do have to pay a lot for, simply because they don’t necessarily have a social category for the spiritual. Protestant religion is also a work ethic, but there’s no accepted category for someone that just goes off and seeks. It is less and less in the East, but I do know people who’ve left being web designers or whatever and gone of to a monastery. On one level it is that there are mediation retreats three hours away, but it’s also socially supported to seek. In the West if you have everything you’re supposed to be happy, and they often lack a spiritual salve to deal with the suffering that persists even amidst material plenty. So, in that sense, I think her quest is interesting and worthy, though in the movie it comes off as a bit self-indulgent and vain. Would I have her being self-indulgent and vain in New York though? If you can, then why not do. Everyone suffers in their own way, and this was one woman’s way out of it. Perhaps one need not look at the price tag.
That looks like a very yupee movie
In other words, not bad for a cliche unhappy-housewife-therapy film. Most western self help literature lacks solid foundations i feel.
Run away from all your responsibilities, your kids, wife, and parents, and who knows, people may call you Buddha.
This book was a HUGE bestseller for a reason. The vast majority of women could identify with the character, either in the past, present or through other women they knew. In subtle ways, not necessarily that they had to have bad marriages to identify with the book. I know many happily married women who loved the book. What’s more Julia Roberts said many times while she was promoting the movie that she loved the book so much that she stopped reading it, had another sent to her best friend, so they could read it together and enjoy the experience. This was long before there was a movie in the pipeline and long before she was cast for the role. And Julia is a happily married woman and obviously loves to have children. Both different to the character in the book. The point being, the book’s popularity didn’t rest with people that identified with Gilbert, i.e. women trapped in an unhappy marriage who additionally didn’t want children.
The author, Elizabeth Gilbert is extremely skilled at her craft, and the book had another huge factor going for it: how the main character finds love and happiness in the end. After all, we’ve been conditioned to love this type of story since we were fed fairy tale after fairy tale since we were knee high. It is part of our DNA now, we love that story line. Overcome all kinds of misery, find prince, live happily ever after. The story does that with a modern twist.
The movie appealed to women from all walks of life, and spawned its own industry, a bit like the Harry Potter industry. Indeed if it were a series of books instead of just one, the commercial industry that followed could have been huge. The travel industry has been offering Eat Pray Love tour packages. You get the drift. It wasn’t just a bestseller. Or just a successful book.
I loved the book and eagerly awaited the movie. What a let down. Badly directed, horrible movie. Urgh! It did not capture the essence of the book at all. Instead I noticed an attempt to cram as many one-liners from the book as possible into the movie that the story and essence of the book fell by the wayside. It was a very unmemorable movie. I had to force myself to finish the movies. It was that bad. If I had seen the movie first, I would have never wanted to read the book. It was that bad. A complete injustice to the book.
Halik: Elizabeth Gilbert was not a “cliche housewife.” She was the main breadwinner of the family and one of the reasons for the break up of their marriage was, she was tired of pulling all the financial weight. They were living a very upscale NYC lifestyle that cost a lot of money. She also didn’t want to have children, which is also very different from what one would expect from a cliche housewife. She felt trapped and suffocated. The thing that drove the final nail was the pressure to have children when she didn’t want to.
Lefroy: Ok, so Buddhists don’t issue death threats on people like you, they are more tolerant, but what does that say about you? About your religion? Does you religion advocate that you insult other religions and their leaders as long as they don’t come for your head? You certainly won’t say something along the same lines using degrading language about Prophet Mohamed or Jesus would you? For the record, no, what you describe does not make a Buddha. Becoming Enlightened, All Knowing, by oneself, without a teacher does. Then being able to teach it to the world does. His wife, child, father and mother, and even other relatives and friends, the monks and nuns of his Order, the benefactors, Kings, Queens, all wished for their relationships with the Buddha and did many acts of merit for eons of lifetimes to become those people, to have those relationships with the Buddha. And His family that He left behind, are most fortunate, because all of them attained Nibbana, His parents, aunt/step-mother, wife, child, all of them. nibbana is the highest goal of any Buddhist, as such, they were not victims, they were extremely fortunate to have those lives with the Buddha. And yes, working toward your own salvation is the highest goal of any Buddhist. If one can leave their family to do that, that is something to be rejoiced in any Buddhist. That won’t make them Buddha though. There is nothing wrong with with leaving your worldly possessions, relationships and responsibilities in the pursuit of Enlightenment. Buddha advocated that we workout our own salvation with an urgency as if our hair was on fire and we were putting it out. Since being born a human is extremely, unimaginably rare, and the samsara stretches out over eons and eons, leaving your worldly relationships behind to workout your salvation would be the wise thing for any human to do. It’s certainly not something to be ashamed of. It’s the wise thing to do.
Lol, so i was spot on about this being a yuppie movie. And it definitely sounds cliche to me
@J
You seem to be a nice person, so I’ll be as polite as I can.
I think Prophet Mohammed is a child rapist thug with a sword up his ass.
I think Jesus was some pacifist guy who had followers far far more brilliant than he ever was, and yet weren’t exactly pacifists.
I think Buddha is just a man (perhaps a very clever man) who left his wife, son, parents, friends, and all his responsibilities to go and sit under a Bo tree.
I think anyone who believes in those religions, or any other religion ever created on this earth for that matter, is a nut.
Haven’t you wondered J, why there aren’t any enlightened people these days? Have you seen any? If you have, please let me know.
Let me ask you J, why are you a buddhist? Were you born buddhist or did you become buddhist? In any case, why do you remain buddhist?
Have you seen something that I haven’t? Have you seen your dead cousin, on whom you had a crush, pass by you while you bathe semi-naked? Any proof J? Any real proof?
The truth is, you believe crap. Faith is belief that isn’t based on reason.
hmm…….
@J
By the way, buddhists are hardly non-violent. They are better than the Muslims, no doubt. But Buddhism, just like any other religion, make people throw rocks at Sirasa TV over that Akon-Buddha Statue thing. You may say they aren’t real buddhists. But then Muslims can say Osama doesn’t believe real Islam.
If you ask me derailing the Akon concert was one of the better things religious extremists have done in recent times.
Wow, that must be Lefroy’s longest speech I’ve seen to date. Religion makes him eloquent.
Actually, I love all those quaint Buddhist temples that perch on little hills everywhere, which you reach by climbing numerous stone steps. They add a certain character and Sri Lanka wouldn’t be the same without them, sprinkled as they are everywhere.
They’re nice but having to take off shoes is bitch
@shammi
Please tell me that you know I love you.
Lefroy, I know you love me, and I love you 2.
We can’t always have things exactly as we like, and noisy footwear would destroy the atmosphere. It’s not that difficult to slip on and off those rubber thongs you practically live in, is it? (note: 8.5/13)
@shammi
mmmmmmmmmmmmma
@dodo
Sorry bro. I know you’ve been trying.
Just kidding.
Lefroy, Jesus said “Love thy neighbour”, and I always try to be a good christian although I’m a hopeless catholic.
As for Dodo, he’s soooooo cute he doesn’t have to try at all.
Now I wish Indi would write a new post for everyone to concentrate on. he’s not allowed to take vacations, is he?
@shammi
Did he also say kiss thee neighbour? Then I’m a good christian. Baptist.
Eat Pray Love actually exceeded my expectations. To be sure, they weren’t that high.
Inception disappointed me. Maybe because I had expectations for it that were simply too high. It wasn’t a bad movie. But by no means a great one either.
Come to think of it, Christopher Nolan has always disappointed me, except with his Dark Knight. Mememto had a plot hole that is as big as Ruki’s a-hole. Prestige was brilliant, and would’ve been great if there was a great revelation in the end. That was what I was expecting while watching the movie. Dark Knight was just great, although I think it doesn’t deserve to be called one of the greatest films of all time. And now we have Inception, which is a good movie, but not a great one, when I keep on expecting Nolan to make great movies.
The reason I write about Nolan is because today’s a very boring day.
The greatness of dark knight has little to do with nolan.
@Dodo
It’s like saying the greatness of Atonement has little to do with Wright.
Don’t rubber thongs give you a rash?
Dodo loves to wear his rubber thong footwear everywhere, so obviously he’s immune to rashes. But I would guess him to be the staid navy blue or mottled pale grey and white, cotton briefs type, whilst opting for the same in ‘kurakkan’ maroon for special occasions.
Dodo, how did I do? Did that improve my score?
Say David, I just remembered seeing a report that you “didn’t do pants”. Were you avoiding rashes or did you serve in the commando unit in the army?
I have always been a fan of Julia Roberts but her choice of story on this one leaves a lot to be desired.