Wild (2014): Topic of Choosing

        Over the Thanksgiving break I spent a good chunk of my free time flipping through the channels on TV which is how I happened upon the film Wild playing on FX.  The film focuses on a young woman named Cheryl who tries to piece her life back together by embarking on the Pacific Crest Trail.  Over the course of her solo hike, flashbacks of her failed marriage, the death of her mother, and her subsequent behavior are gradually revealed, each paralleling the various trials she encounters while on the hike.  It was a pretty candid, telling example of the level of conviction that some hikers have to these journeys and both the emotional and spiritual influence that it has on them.

Image result        What I found most interesting in the film was the subtle presence of the Other.  In one of her flashbacks, Cheryl--played by Reese Witherspoon--is seen praying to "the universe" for someone to heal her mother.  While not a religious person, this scene reveals a more universal cry for the Other and the acknowledgement that most people have of the possibility of something outside of themselves.  There is a glimmer of this being known to Cheryl, fleeting, however, as she becomes consumed with the bleak reality which surrounds her.

        What I love about film is the messiness of life which it seeks to convey.  While acknowledging some of its theological and moral implications, I think the candidness of Hollywood is what better captures the reality of life and relates to the individual journey. The universal call to sacred journey is present in these kinds of films, and with it, an unconscious acknowledgment of the transcendence of the Other.

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