By Cielestia Calbay
While most see film as a form of entertainment, I see it as a
retelling of our day-to-day situations.
Sure, the plots may not be a direct interpretation of our lives,
but it certainly alludes to various ordeals that we have or have
yet to encounter.
Maybe movies like “A Lot like Love” brought you back to a time
when you had more-than-just-friends feeling for someone, or when
“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” made you deathly afraid of walking
down your dorm hall.
Either way, film can have a positive or negative impact on your
outlook.
Last week, I caught the screening of “How Low Can You Go?” at
the Newport Beach Film Festival and found that it related to a
familiar theme: how low can we go to make our lives easier?
“How Low Can You Go?” was an amazing program of short films
featuring performances by known and unknown actors.
“Bye Bye Sally” told the tale of a depressed young woman who was
about to commit suicide until she found solace in killing
scumbags.
“Head Above Water” told the dreary story of a drug-addicted
prostitute struggling to be a good mother to her newborn child.
“The Show Must Go On” mediated on fame through the rebounding
career of a clown who entertained audiences by playing Russian
Roulette, only to meet his deadly fate.
“The Sacrifice” told the story of a polygamist leader who takes
a couple’s 13-year-old daughter as his bride.
Each film touched on the notion that the easiest way out was
through some form of corruption.
That said, do we bail on the rightful path in exchange for
something more convenient and less arduous?
Take the case of cheaters for example. They cheat because there
is something lacking in their current relationship, hence they seek
that missing factor in another individual. The rightful way would
be to address the situation with his or her partner, but that would
be an arduous task.
Therefore, cheaters venture down the corrupt path by finding
another person to be with in order to make their lives easier.
Even cheating on an exam or plagiarizing on a paper follows the
same notion.
Studying for an exam or writing a paper from scratch isn’t the
easiest thing to do, so stooping down to cheating or using copy and
paste becomes an option.
“How Low Can You Go” alluded to this notion in the sense that we
stoop down to low levels in order to make our lives easier.
It’s almost as if we make ourselves helpless, and that we
succumb to the temptation of an easy route.
But maybe there is no other option or a solution, as the easiest
routes are always the best option in hindsight.
Despite the lack of a solution, there is still the option of
consideration and that the next time we’re faced with a decision,
it’s best to consider if that easiest route is really worth it.
Reach Cielestia Calbay at lifestyle@thepolypost.com
Lessons learned from the red carpet
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