We live in a “comfortable” time, where there isn’t much war and turbulence around us (except natural and financial disaster). And if we are lucky, we will be educated with a comfortable job, and parents who could take care of themselves physically and financially. Thus, we would have no dependent (unless we have children or a spouse who is not working).
The good thing is we don’t through much hardship or difficulty in our life based on our surrounding, unless we come from really poor or problematic family, or we have a streak of bad luck and misfortunes (such as sickness, unnatural death, etc). Thus, we are not tested in our ability to face despair in our life.
I was watching Echoes of The Rainbow (歲月神偷) and felt that it’s a really “touchy” story. First we have a poor family trying their best to save the roof of their house, including pulling the roof together with their bare hands. Then they are heart broken when knowing their elder suffered from leukemia, which is very deadly at that point of time. They did all they can to keep their son alive, trying their best to go through the hard times (to believe or not to give up), but it just didn’t work out pleasant in the end. They face quite a lot of financial challenges (corruption, bad business, medical for their son, poverty), but that is nothing as compared to the lost of their child.
What’s the reason for us to work hard everyday? So that we can live a better life, or to protect and care for the people we love (our parents, spouse and children)? I was told happiness comes when we help others to achieve their happiness. No matter how selfish we think humanity might be, I think we do want to protect the people around us, even though it might incur great lost to ourselves. We live and work hard for the happiness of the people we love. We wanted a better future for our children, we wanted to make sure our parents enjoy a comfortable retirement and we wanted our spouse to be satisfied and happy.
Since we live in more “comfortable” time, we should be able to achieve more and do better than the previous generation. We should be able to give back more to our parents, and provide a better life to our children. If I only need to fend for myself, I don’t really have to work very hard and I can have a very enjoyable lifestyle. Perhaps I do feel the responsibility to protect and provide a better life for the people around me, to shield us from hardship and despair as much as I could. Then again, we could only do what we could, and the rest is up to fate.
2 comments:
I watched this movie yesterday with TW too, and was extremely touched by all the characters, and couldn't help noticing that the problems they have is a common thing in all families, only at different degrees. Siblings arguing and making up, parents trying to discipline and yet still have the soft spot in their hearts, and how they deal with a parting of a family member. A great reminder to all of us to appreciate all the things around us.
The story telling and cinematography is very touching, as you could really felt their despair and heartache.
Generally, we are the lucky generation. And ya, the issue of sibling rivalry and parenting :)
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