I like the idea of a “feel-good” movie. I like watching an ordinary character with an average life find themselves amid an unthinkable challenge and overcome it to get a happy ending. I know that life can be unfair and not all stories have a happy ending, but it is nice every now and then to watch a movie that leaves me feeling happy and satisfied.
One movie that I watch for this kind of comfort is the 2013 film “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” and I want to add my own perspective to the sea of criticism and mockery people have poured on it since it came out 12 years ago.
Without giving away too much of its premise, the film is an adaptation of James Thurber’s short story of the same name. The movie follows Walter Mitty, an ordinary office worker who works at a magazine based in Manhattan that is soon going out of business. For the final issue of the magazine, the planned cover photo was supposed to be sent by an eccentric photographer as a gift for Walter, but it is nowhere to be found. Walter has to track down the photographer — who doesn’t have a home address or a phone number — and starts traveling the world, leaving his mundane life behind as he embarks on this journey.
I simply love this idea. It isn’t intellectually deep or complex, and in this case, it doesn’t have to be. I like the premise of a person being unwillingly dragged out of their routine and into a challenge that is way outside of their comfort zone. I also enjoy this approach to storytelling — a quote attributed often to Leo Tolstoy says, “There are only two plots in all of literature: A person goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.” I feel that the movie presents the former kind of challenge in a memorable, even touching way. However, its performance at the box office seems to have overwhelmed all of this aesthetic greatness by making the movie remembered as a cinematic failure — a “flop.”
There is a common theme in the reviews I read about this film. Supposedly, the sudden changes in Walter’s life and his journey to find the photographer are all abrupt and do not carry meaning. Additionally, some critics believe the songs that are used to mark changes in Walter’s emotions are noises that are carelessly thrown around. In other words, the character that the movie encourages us to look up to — with the whole point of the movie being a character leaving his ordinary life and living a challenging one — is attacked because his transformation makes him stop being “one of us.”
I don’t agree with any of this superficial commentary. I have my own reservations about the movie for different and unrelated reasons, but the story itself is not only entertaining but also very much inspirational to watch. Yes, Walter does stop being “one of us” in the movie — he experiences a journey that an ordinary person with an ordinary job would not live through at all. However, this is only due to the fact that he needs to go completely and literally out of his way to achieve a necessary goal. In the end, something beyond his individual life, perhaps the randomness of life or the machinations of fate, takes him away from the ordinary routine and puts him on a journey to accomplish a task. The beauty of the story comes from how, on this journey, he also gets to answer the questions on his mind, realize long-delayed dreams and find deeper meaning in his life.
The best part of the movie, and the part that is misunderstood the most, is the ending. One particularly harsh criticism pinned the supposed lack of creativity of the film onto its complicated production process, arguing that by the end of it, Walter is simply a character lost in his thoughts with no apparent meaning and no visible escape.
I simply disagree. The ending is my favorite, as this is where all the daydreams and lost thoughts, things that set the themes for Walter’s journey, are resolved and answered. Walter finds himself at the end of this long journey, but also at the start of a completely new life while holding hands with his new partner and having a clearer mind. This final scene carries the most meaning for me. It shows the beauty of having found answers to deep questions and being confident in yourself to live life bravely from then on.
The film speaks to your consciousness beyond any such minor comments. Walter Mitty’s story demonstrates the essence behind “living the life to the fullest,” something everybody wants but nobody really has a clue about. Setting aside minor issues or misguided pedantry, the film is definitely worth knowing and remembering as a good example of what a life challenge can look like. Being pushed out of your comfort zone can put you on a new journey — leaving behind the ordinary routine can show you the extraordinary meaning of life.
Deniz Gulay is a sophomore double-majoring in history and Russian.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.