Choose Your Montage
According to Merriam-Webster, a montage is a “rapid succession of images in a motion picture to illustrate an association of ideas.” Essentially, it’s a technique used in films to show a character or plot transition in a short period of time using a series of short clips set to music.
We’re all familiar with them - the beginning of a relationship showing the happy couple having fun, visiting beaches and amusement parks, falling in love. Or, maybe they show a rejected and dejected former lover walking in the rain, eating alone and crying themselves to sleep. Many of the visuals and messages have become standard fare, even cliche. But, why?
The reason most montages resonate with people is because they elicit those thoughts and feelings that make us human. They display and remind us of the best and worst moments and experiences in our lives. The joy, the boredom and the heartache. The ecstasy, the numbness and the pain. The love, the anger and the loss.
Because the ideas and emotions conveyed by montages are so universally recognized, we often focus solely on them, rather than on the actual events and activities being shown (which, basically, is the intent behind using them). But, if we analyze what is going on during these montages, we discover that we know quite a bit more about the human condition and what it takes to improve it than we might think we do.
Ask yourself this question, “If someone suddenly obtained the unlimited ability, motivation and desire to improve his/her life, what would the montage in their movie look like?” Chances are, you can visualize quite a few scenes and actions they would take.
Let’s look at a few examples. In the movie, Yes Man, Jim Carrey’s character, Carl, is bored with his life and his career and generally languishes at home missing his girlfriend, who recently broke up with him. However, Carl runs into an acquaintance, who tells him about a life changing personal development group he joined, and Carl attends an event and becomes converted into saying, “Yes!” to everything in life. So, armed with this newly found positivity, what does Carl do? He does what you would expect - he takes piano lessons, flying lessons, learns a foreign language, helps plan his friend’s fiancé’s bachelorette party, attends events and engages in activities he never would have before, goes out of his way to meet others, saves someone who is threatening to jump out a window and commit suicide, falls in love, and basically has the time of his life. (In actuality, the whole movie isn’t a montage, of course, but there is one, and you get the idea.)
The film, Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper (who also was in Yes Man, coincidentally), involves a similar type of transformation. Here the slovenly, unmotivated, unproductive Eddie is an out-of-work writer, who understandably is rejected by his girlfriend. But, Eddie is given a new experimental drug that promises to create “the perfect version” of himself. And, what happens? Once again, it’s an easy prediction: Eddie cleans his apartment, finishes his book, gets in shape, gets a haircut and a new hip wardrobe, learns to play the piano (a requirement of enlightenment, apparently), learns advanced math that helps him win money playing cards, literally charms the pants off of every cute girl he meets, etc., etc.
The point here is that people choosing to actively live their lives, to better themselves, and to help others is obviously what you would do if you were given the power or the pill that miraculously imbued you with the ability to do so. Of course, good health, joy, contribution, and exhilaration do not come from reclining on the sofa, so that’s not what is shown in the personal development montages. Leisure might feel good, but achievement feels better.
Moreover, and more importantly, we all know this. If we didn’t, filmmakers would put different ingredients into their upbeat montage recipes. They have to know their audiences and try to speak to them, and the films you see are the result of that effort. In other words, the proof is in the pudding.
However, despite the fact that each of us easily could make a list of half a dozen activities that would go in the downer montages and another half dozen for the positive ones, we usually don’t follow our own advice. The way Tony Robbins puts it, “Most people know what to do, but they don’t do what they know.”
Arguably, there are many reasons for this, psychological, emotional and otherwise. To clearly determine the causes would take quite a bit of research and introspection, as each of us is living our own unique narrative with a different set of circumstances. Nevertheless, your life is your story, and you can choose your own montage.
Think about where you are in life and where you’re going. If you are dissatisfied in some way, sit down and visualize what your ideal future would look like, and then describe the actions you would include in your own personal montage, ones that would make you happy and energized along the way toward achieving your goals and dreams. (And, no, you don’t have to learn the piano - unless you want to.) After that, act out your montage!
Write your tale and live life on your own terms. You don’t have to be Walter Mitty and remember you can’t relive Groundhog Day forever until you get it right. So, you might want to get started. However, you already have the ability to say “Yes” to life, and you’ve made it this far through the story, which is a good start. Now go live the rest of your narrative and don’t be too worried about making mistakes, which will happen. We’ll just edit those out later.
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