 I believe that love that is true in Rio creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving or not loving well, which is the same thing. And when the man who is brave and true looks death squarely in the face, like some rhino hunters I know, or Belmonte, who's truly brave, it is because they love with sufficient passion to push death out of their minds, until it returns as it does to all men. And then you must make really good love again. Welcome back to Lifelessness in Film. Today we're going to be making sense of life through Midnight in Paris. And this is also our one-year anniversary video. Thought we'd do it with a good classic, good romance. Yeah. The first one, we start showing up and see anything, which is also cool. So it follows Gil Pender, a Hollywood scriptwriter, on a little vacation with his fiancée Inez. And her parents. And her parents, yeah, as they're preparing for their engagement in their their wedding and everything. Gil starts to stroll around Paris and one night he's up till midnight. And that's what allows him to travel back in time to the roaring 20s in Paris, where he meets all his literary idols. Scott Fitzgerald. And who are you old sport? Gil. The, you know, the same names as, as what? Scott Fitzgerald and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, but Fitzgerald. Is he beautiful? Hemway? You like my book? Light, I loved all your work. As he engages with them more, he meets a woman that he starts to fall for, Adriana, who lives also in the 1920s. His relationship starts to get rockier and rockier with Inez, until they finally break up. Gil realizes that they were not a good fit and he wants to stay in Paris and give writing a novel, becoming a novelist to try. The whole movie is really a journey of self reflection about his present realities. So him getting transported back to the 20s is him escaping his reality. Very fitting. His book is about a guy who works in a nostalgia shop. So he has a nostalgia for the past. Whatever you have a nostalgia for comes from, you're not happy with the present. You have this view that the generation that you're a part of right now, it's not as good as generations past. And so you have a nostalgia for this time or era that you never even experienced. But then there's also the personal nostalgia, your own history. Like he remembers the time when he was wanting to write his novel. Reflecting a lot on how his life diverged. It's like, what if I had just stayed in Paris when I was younger and actually give writing a good, good go instead? I played it safe, went to Hollywood, made a living that way. I'm having trouble because I'm a Hollywood hack. Never gave actual literature a real shot until now. And comfort really is the challenge here. It's not to say that you're happy, but for example, this guy is a screenwriter and he's successful. It makes it easier for him to move through the world. Like in Hollywood people actually take him seriously. That's comforting instead of the struggle of the artist who doesn't have any accolades that are actually renowned or known. That's a comfort that you are afraid to let go of what's on the other side. There's then the comfort of having a relationship, having a fiancé. We live in a world where being single is looked down upon, right? And then the comfort of being with a beautiful woman. Comfort does not necessarily mean that you're happy, but it's just one of those things where you can move through the world without being questioned. And so now you get to that point of, do you really want to continue to succumb to this life that you hate just for the comfort of not ever being questioned and people not understanding why are you pursuing this? Because it is hard. The moment you take a different route, even though it's more fulfilling because it's more honest to you, I think those are the challenges that he faces and that's why he needs to go back to the past because the present for him, what was it that was bad in the present? He's gotten engaged, he's getting married to this person who they have nothing in common with, who always emasculates him and who has zero faith in him and his passions, pits him against Paul all the time and does not respect him. I heard that Monet, one of the things that he used to try... Shhh, I'm trying to hear Paul sing. And then of course the family, it has his parents are awful. They just look down on him and even though he's a screenwriter... I've seen what he earns, but sometimes I think he's got a part missing and I didn't like his remark about tea party Republicans. They are decent people trying to take back to country. They are not crypto-fascist, airhead zombies. You hear him say that? Nevertheless, I don't think your idea of having him followed is very practical. I'd like to know where he goes every night. New money, old money. They want to get that chair that costs 18,000 euros. And he's like, what? That is so expensive. We're trying to keep expenses down so I don't have to take any crummy rewrite jobs. What it is? Get what you pay for. Cheap is cheap. Cheap is cheap, right? You are not good enough for my daughter. Even if you are a famous Hollywood screenwriter, you come from nothing and you will never be enough. The dad says, I see what he brings in, but he's just weird. You never fit in. Nostalgia can be a good thing. It's a kind of way of looking back at who you truly generally are because who you were in the past. Who was that person who had that dream to write that great novel? He's engaging with this past that he has a nostalgia for and then through the journey of him engaging in it, he comes to the understanding that actually every single person romanticizes the past. Look at these guys. I mean, to them, their golden age was the Renaissance. You know, they'd trade Bellapok to be painting alongside Titian and Michelangelo. And those guys, Brian, imagine life was a lot better when Kubla Khan was around. Definitely, I think one of the main themes is what they talk about is the golden age thinking and the temptation to want to live in the past or imagine yourself in a better time because that takes away maybe the responsibility. It's a bit of a kind of like, what was me, things would have been better, but I was just born too late or too early or whatever instead of just making the best of it again where you're at. It's not about the year or the time or the era or the country or the situation. It's really just all about you. No era is better than the other. They're all the same. You have Adriana. Adriana is exactly him in that same way. She's dissatisfied with the 1920s, which is his golden age. It's a cool way to look at it being a way of kind of getting back to your true self and recognizing where you need to make changes in your life. But you can also get stuck in nostalgia as Adriana does, maybe Gil almost does, where you're like, I'd rather just live here forever. It's kind of a scape as a moral illusion. At one point, he finally decides, well, if I want to be a good writer at all, comparing myself to these great writers, then I have to get rid of my illusions. And that might include accepting the present for what it is and making the best of it. If I ever want to write something worthwhile after I get rid of my illusions and that I'd be happier in the past is probably one of them. I think the thing with people like Adriana, for example, this is someone who's perpetually dissatisfied. You are dissatisfied no matter what. There's really truly nothing that can actually help you out. Even if you were transported back to what you perceive to be a golden age, you are still going to find something that's dissatisfied, that's someone who fails to look at themselves internal instead of the external. I think that's something that he comes to realize in the end. He goes off to Hollywood to play it safe. And then of course he meets someone who is superficial there because a lot of people that get attracted to that scene are just there for the glitz and glamour. Right? And then he goes along with it for a while. Maybe he enjoys, again, he's someone that failed freshman English. He was Boy Scout's normal dude from Pasadena. And now here he lives. Now he's got like what he considers, you know, a foxy fiancé and he's a successful screenwriter. But then he has to come to terms with, well then why is this not actually working? Because he has to accept he's not like his fiancé. He doesn't fit in the culture of his fiancé and their parents. I mean the studios adore you, you're in demand. And do you really want to give it all up just to struggle? He's a guy that likes the idea of struggle. The struggling artist thing of actually just doing something honestly and committing to a life of trying to be a good artist. Came to it later in life but he realized kind of where he needed to, where he was going to be happy and what kind of people. People that listen to Cold Porter and own kind of like antique shops or sell really old records, you know? That's where he will feel at home. Gosh, Inez is horrible. I gotta tell you. I disliked her from the very beginning. I really wouldn't even mind if she were superficial but actually respected the relationship, respectful of his passions, his dreams and was willing to actually allow this guy to nurture his ambition because it's an awful thing to live feeling unfulfilled. And I feel like if you actually love someone, you would want to accommodate that. On top of the fact that she knows what he feels is the thing that would make him feel proud. He knocks what little self-worth he has down. So then that's where her superficiality ventures into the terrain of like, I just don't respect you at this point. Is that, no, it's the end of the story. What have you been smoking? Mom said we can use her decorator's discount. Get up. You always take the side of the help. And as usual, that's why daddy says you're a communist. I was with Paul for a few nights because he's romantic and he speaks French and you were always working and maybe it's the mystique of this corny city, but get over it, Gil. Mom's right about you, you know. You have this part missing. Go ahead. Walk the streets. Gush over the Parisian light and the rooftops. Especially when you look at her and Carol and how they look at Paul, for example. And the name for this fallacy is called Golden Age Thinking. Ah, Touche. So knowledgeable, isn't he? No, he was never married to Rose. Yes, he did marry Rose. In the last year of their lives. I think you're mistaken. Are you arguing with the guy? Yes, I am. The juxtaposition of color is amazing. This man was the real father of abstract expressionism. I take that back. Maybe turn it. Just because Paul has memorized all of these books, he just has statistical data of the past, of art, etc. That does not make you smart at all. So someone... Makes you a computer. It makes you a computer, really. Yeah. That doesn't mean, first of all, you understand how to really use that knowledge to any meaningful or beneficial way. It doesn't help you properly connect with people. It doesn't help people really even learn much. I mean, it can just be going over your head. But that's the whole point, right? That's the whole point. If you're someone like Paul, if you're pseudo-intellectual, right, you are the kind of person who gains their self-worth from what it is that you know. Information, that's it. Paul's always saying, oh, if I'm not mistaken, that's kind of his way of seeming more humble and open-minded. Makes it feel like he's a lot more humble and he's not completely taking over the entire social event, the entire conversation, the entire time he's talking. Hoda, we should feel it to serve as his headstone and epitaph. Is that true? I don't know. He died of the flu, if I'm not mistaken. In 1917, I believe. You know, I'm willing to possibly entertain the idea that I don't know what I'm talking about, but I only say that just to seem that way. Because really, I am acting and will never allow myself to ever be mistaken. Yeah, or be questioned. Or be questioned. Confidence is very, can be very intimidating. If someone is super confident in themselves, you have the sense of, well, if they are so confident, they must be intelligent. They must be right. He has that kind of energy and that kind of intimidation and that arrogance himself that can actually be very alluring to some people, some very insecure people. Nez and Carol are all about it. Have you tasted the 61? It is divine. The Paul picked it out. I didn't do it. What? What's happening? What's happening? Slightly more tannic than the 59. I prefer a smoky feeling to a fruity feeling. There's just a lot of very interesting tidbits with Carol when she says to her bond the first time she corrects herself and says it differently the second time because she's so afraid of getting it wrong and Paul reprimanding her for it or correcting her. Exactly. Why would you want to be in a relationship with someone like that? For whatever reason, because they just feel like you need to be near this person because they're cool in the most kindergarten sense. Not everyone will connect with you or like you or be on the same wavelength as you. There are just people that are different from you. So they're going to be people that will connect with the Paul. They'll see that blind arrogance as knowledge and confidence and all that. Something to be to be respected. Right? And as someone that says, well, he's less than the Sir Bonne and she's one of those people that believes that anyone in any kind of position of power or any kind of lecturing or teaching in any kind of respected institution, all those people have to be there completely through merit and there's reasons for it. Not wanting to believe that there are just some people that get in there for whatever reason. They need to fill a slot or they knew people, they had connections or they just managed to con people enough into thinking that they deserve to be there. Exactly. You have your PhD, you lectured at the Sir Bonne, we're not going to question your intelligence. So then if you're having a conversation with someone like that, you then have that sense of, well, who am I to even question? Society is going to look at me like I'm crazy for saying that that person is actually pedantic. But then I'm like, but no, no, no. I swear this guy's dumb. Which is why the tour guide was able to first call out Paul's BS to Gill because she knows her stuff. That's the whole thing. That's why it was so outrageous that he questioned her because that was her job. Actual, intellectual, wants their students to learn enough about what they just said to have questions. If you have no questions, because you didn't, you have no clue what's going on. So you didn't even know where to begin with questions. You want to confuse people so much that they couldn't possibly even have any questions if you want to just overpower people. You want people to actually learn? You want them to have questions. And so you want to start to actually help them learn about something enough so that they can have other things they want to ask. And you're confident enough to be wrong. You're confident enough to say, you know what, I don't really know a lot about that. Let me get back to you. Yeah, yeah. Or maybe go to this whatever resource if you want to work about that because that'll be more specific to the thing that you asked. We've had experiences with pseudo-intellectual. We've talked about this after watching this movie. And this one person has this thing where he'll make a point about something. And then I'm like, well, you know, actually I, maybe I'm contesting that point and I want to share some information that I have. If he realizes that my point is going to counter his point, this dude, I swear, like if I didn't stop talking, you'd probably grab a chair and throw it at my face to just shut me up because the whole point is like my self-worth is determined by how much knowledge I have because I don't have an identity. I don't feel good about myself and this is all I have. And so if you present information that counters mine, then I'm nothing. You see what I mean? It's mental arm wrestling. I just see it. I don't see someone who is a pedantic pseudo-intellectual that, you know, obsesses over just throwing more facts out than other people. I just see them as a drunk at the bar who needs to yell the loudest that the other person puff themselves out. There's nothing really behind it. It's all fear, but that's just another version of trying to get more attention and seem better or smarter or whatever. I used to believe, okay, you're a conversational narcissist because they won't let other people talk, especially people who are smart. You're only allowed to talk if you, oh my gosh, you were so smart. That's the only time you're allowed to talk with these kinds of people. Paul, I'm going to have to differ with you on this one. Really? There's no point of actually having a discussion and presenting your point because they have no interest in actually learning or engaging or teaching you because first of all, they have nothing to teach because knowledge isn't knowing information in facts and that's it. You receive the information, you analyze it, and you use your brain if you have it to contextualize whatever information you have and also maybe to contest it. That's where I also like definition between or the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Paul, the pedantic one, has knowledge but he doesn't have wisdom. Wisdom is turning facts into understanding more about yourself, the world, having a better way of moving through life, you know, enjoying life more, being better to other people, making the world better. That's what wisdom, that's what wisdom is. So Gertrude Stein talks to Yale and says, hey, you know, this is the role of an artist. The artist's job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence. You have a clear and lively voice. Don't be such a defeatist. She talks about how the world sucks. There's so many things about the world that sucks but then the artist provides a platform through which you can look at the world through a different lens and maybe the things that you think suck don't actually suck. They are actually bringing value to you. So that is how an artist serves you. A pseudo-intellectual does not see that. When they are reading a book, they don't have the capacity to actually grow from whatever it is they're reading. Someone who does have the wisdom like the artist who's writing and imparting that wisdom is able to do that. Which is why Gil, you can see it where how he enjoys Paris and the Rain more because it's like a different way of looking at it. Some people would just be like, oh, I'm getting wet and I'm cold and uncomfortable. But he's like, yes, but look, look at beyond just yourself or look at beyond certain things that are affecting you. It's like also take in everything else that's going on. When he's talking to Adriana, he's able to conceptualize things in a totally different way where he's, you know, they're always hanging around all these different painters and writers. And then he even, you know, looks at things as like, you know, maybe no work of art can ever actually compare to a great city which every street and every alleyway is its own kind of work of art in itself, right? Which is something that Paul would never be able to put in. It's too abstract. Yeah. It's an abstract conversation. And for me, I feel like that is one of the measures of wisdom. The ability to truly have an abstract conversation and understanding Paul, God, Paul. It's so annoying. At one point, Gil gets to one up Paul which is very satisfying because he's able to like go back and know all these obscure facts and then disprove Paul when he's, you know, going on about Monet. Or Picasso. Yeah, you're right, Picasso. And you can just see the look in Paul's eyes like he is just, he is not happy. People like that, they don't, they don't want to learn. Yeah. They don't actually enjoy knowledge for the sake of knowledge. They look at life as every new person they come across. How can I come across is better than this person? Yeah, that's it. Yeah. That's their whole life. I will say Gil is not clean. Gil cheats. Even before he kisses Adriana. Right. He's cheating. There are feelings involved. Tries to steal. Yeah, that's true. He does his earrings. He won't say his earrings. Yeah. That was dodge pot. Yeah. And he would have continued to do it. It was only the guilt of, of the family going to accuse the maid of stealing her earrings that got him to finally give them back. Yeah. It doesn't mean that ultimately he's the worst human being alive. I think we're people. Making mistakes is part of our journey and it depends on where, how do you and shows they come out on the other side. Yeah. And shows the incompatibility of them too when they both in their own way kind of cheated on each other. Well, yeah. They were both cheating emotionally and physically. Not right in any way. Yeah. Yeah. For each other. That was a rough time. Yes. Hemingway's relationship with this Gerald. Mm-hmm. She'll drive you crazy, this woman. She's exciting. And she has talent. This month it's writing. Last month it was something else. You're a writer. You need time to write. Not all this fooling around. She's wasting you because she's really a competitor. Don't you agree? Me? Speak up for Christ's sake. I'm asking if you think my friend is making a tragic mistake. I like friends who are like that. You know, the mark of a good friend is one who will tell you the uncomfortable stuff. Things like your girlfriend sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. It's not mean. No. And I mean I- When you have your conversation with your friend because we've gone a long way. Yeah. You know that I'm I'm a good person. You know that I care about you. I have your best interest at heart. Yeah. So are you really compatible with this person? Yeah. He'll says later. He's like, Fitzgerald knows that Hemingway's right, but he also is conflicted because he does love Zelda for better or worse or whatever. And also friends of friends aren't always going to get along. So what do you do? It's just a tricky thing with people. The thing that I kind- I like though is that despite the fact that Hemingway doesn't like Zelda, they're still friends. Yeah. And I think that's fair. Yeah. Whoever you end up with, you can be in a relationship with anyone. That's fine. Yeah. But you are in the relationship. And also respect the fact that just because you love the person you're with, it doesn't mean that the people in your life are going to love the people you're with. Whether or not their relationship was in great history, we don't know. Some people say that Zelda was not a good girl. Yeah, I've heard other people said actually Zelda was a more talented one. Exactly. So you've got to get- We don't know. But bottom line is that relationship was not a good relationship and Hemingway called it basically. And I think that's okay. Date whoever you want to date, don't expect that your family is going to love them as well. And if they don't get along, maneuver. You know that you're not going to all sit down and have a nice little tea party all the time. It's not going to happen. And that's okay. If you don't agree with whoever your family member is with or your friend is with, it doesn't mean be mean to the person. Yeah. Hemingway, it's like he's not rude to Zelda. In fact, he even says like, he'll answer. She's like, what do you think of my writing? He's like, there was some good stuff in it but it wasn't really hitting for me. And that's not being mean. That's being true. That's just- Yeah. genuine. And also like he asked- she asked for his critique first of all. Yeah. And gave her time. Yeah. So he's respectful. And if you can't handle the person, just don't spend time with them. But you've got- Yeah. You decide to go- And you have to keep being like, oh, why is he not coming with us? Yeah. He keeps saying that. Why is he not around? I'm like, what? You don't like him. You don't like him. Why wouldn't he be? Why would he want to spend any time with it the whole time? Yeah. He just cut him down throughout. Another indicator of their incompatibility. Yeah. All they have in common is that they like man. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That conversation was actually on that. Yeah. Yeah. But I will say that we both like Indian food, not all Indian food, but the Peter bread. We both like Peter bread. I guess it's called naan. And Gil for a time, I don't think he noticed he's aware of this, but the woman that he's attracted to, until he goes for that the shopkeeper- Gabrielle. Gabrielle. Yeah. It's all about beauty. Yeah. Look at how he describes both Ines and Adriana. Oh, they're just both knockouts. Yeah. That's basically how he describes them. Yeah. And I'm like, do you not see the pattern here? Exactly. And you know, Adriana enjoys her beauty, honestly. I'm not even saying that don't, right? Like if you're conventionally pretty in the society that you live in, she is. I appreciate that she owns it. Yeah. You know, she owns her femininity. She's comfortable being a art groupie. Yeah. You know, just hooking up with all the big name artists at the time. Yeah. But it's also really tricky. These men that she hooks up with are married. So already there, you're like, I don't know how I can really feel about you. For me personally, owning my femininity does not mean I'm going to just, you know, seduce married men. Seduced married men. And I'm just a sexual person. You know, I'm just a free spirit. Yeah. The confines of marriage, what is just an institution. Marriage or not, these people made a commitment to each other, even if they weren't married. Yeah. She appreciates good art. She, but she more just likes to enjoy being around people that do it. Yeah. Right. Because then that's when she goes to, she stays in La Bella Poc because then she can hang out with the other artists that she had married. Yeah, but I question her. What is the common denominator here? All of them are married. They're all artists. And they all are into her because of her beauty. Right. She is their muse. Yeah. She enjoys this in a way that I'm not sure that makes me personally uncomfortable. Right. I think it's nice to feel beautiful. She is attractive. You're looking at her. You're just lost in her face. But then you're like, look at the details of this lady. Why do you get into relationships with people who are focused on how you look? Yeah. I think if you are someone who has a deeper sense of self-worth and a deeper understanding of human relationships, I would assume that anyone would want to be with someone who loves them beyond how they love. You know, she likes to say, well, I like artists, but they're all children. And that's why, you know, the relationships don't work. It's like, no, it don't work because you're only a muse. So it'll never be a full relationship. Plus again, you get with people that are married and that, you know, so that there's no accountability. There's no accountability. It's like, well, it's the toxicity of the relationship that finds herself in. That's the exciting turbulent nature of being with creative geniuses. Yeah. It's like, again, but if you're just a muse, it's never going to be a long-term, stable situation. Yes. And no, I don't like it when people say things like, well, artists are all, they're like children. No, the people you're with are. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Just because someone is an artist doesn't mean that they behave a certain way. Yeah. And just because someone knows how to draw or paint, yeah. Doesn't make them an artist either. You just have the skill. There's a lot more to anything. There's a lot more to people. Like, even on one point, it's like, what is it? Matisse is the greater artist, but Gauguin is the greater painter or something like that. Like, they even kind of make that distinction at one point because there are differences, right? Yeah. Be like, one's better technique-wise, but one's better at the abstract things that come with being an artist. Yeah. There's plenty more, but one last thing for me is when Hemingway is talking to Gil and he talks about, he's asking him about if you're made love to a truly great woman and then he goes and does his thing about how he believes that not only, you know, making good love can be a respite from death. And being with a good woman can kind of help with that. But also, you know, he believes that all cowardice comes from not loving or not loving well. I think that's a great way to put it because I think that's, that is where you have love and fear. And fear is connected to cowardice and everything. Love gives you the courage. Love is all the positive things. Love can overcome. Cowardice comes from feeling like you're not worthy enough. You're not lovable. You're not loved. You have nothing to live for. All deep down I think is a coward because I think he's lacking. Absolutely. He doesn't have any individual identity. Apart from all of the information he's memorized. And as it's like, well, no, we should go, we're going to hang out with Paul again because he's a, he knows a lot of, he's an expert on Monet. You know, he's an expert. Expert in everything. But he's an expert in Monet and he goes like, oh, let's get some culture. You know. He's an expert on everything else by himself. Exactly. If you're going to be an expert in anything, be an expert on yourself. Yeah. Everything else is extra. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. With that, that was, that was some stuff, that was a lot of stuff that we thought about Midnight in Paris. But what did you guys think? About the movie? What did you, what did you notice? Do you agree or disagree with what we shared? Let us know. Please leave us a comment down below. Share your thoughts on our thoughts. And until next time. Thanks for watching. It's a wrap.