1) Randomly Picked
“What do you think about the movie?” Gina asked Wendy. They have just finished watching a movie and now walked towards a café for a little chillout.
“I love the trilling scenes where those dinosaurs attacked them!” Wendy’s eyes were wide opened. “I got shocked a few times. Ha-ha…” She held her palm to her chest and gave it a little pat.
“Yeah, ‘65’ I didn’t know that this would be a movie about dinosaur era. I simply picked it for it was a sci-fi movie.” Gina said. These two childhood friends for almost twenty plus years actually opt for a movie with a spontaneous decision during their window shopping, on this Saturday afternoon. That sci-fi movie was chosen among the list of movies on show.
“65 million years ago… Interesting. Can’t imagine if I were there, how would it be. I might become the dinosaur’s meal in a blink of the eyes. I can’t run fast.” Wendy added.
“Same here. I walk slow in my everyday life. You even walk faster than me. Ha-ha…” Gina chuckled.
2) The Message Behind
“Cappuccino, please. And you?” Gina handed the menu back to the waitress; and waited for Wendy’s order, next. “Erm… Ice Latte for me then, thanks.”
“Back to the movie, actually… the story line was kind of plain to me. They just have to travel by foot, from point A to point B, and then go home with the space ship.” Wendy shared her takeaways. “What I see is… ‘Family’. Family could be the hidden message this movie tried to deliver.”
“Family? Hmm…” Gina’s words have just rang a bell in Wendy’s mind. She went silence for a second. “You’re right, there. I didn’t think of that. Oh my…” Wendy took a sip of her Latte. “His daughter was his only motivation to keep him moving forward; and the urge to meet with her family, the child actress braved herself up to follow him into that life-threatening jungle path.” Wendy recalled the movie scenes.
“Yupe, that’s what I thought.” Gina gave a smile to her buddy who could often get what she was trying to convey. That was the ‘same wave-length’ understanding ability built between them all these years.
They spent an hour at the café and talked about other topics that they came across or experienced in the past two weeks.
3) You Need A Trigger?
On her way home, Gina still can’t get herself ‘out’ from that movie’s hidden message. She sat in the MRT (i. e. Mass Rapid Transit), starred to the space in front of her with her vision lost focus. Her train of thoughts flew far away.
(‘65’ was all about the motivating power from family and loved ones. I don’t know how many viewers will get this same message as I did. Everyone might have different takeaways. Actually, there were quite a number of movies that deliver the same message – the importance of family in one’s life. Let’s see…)
(The Act of God-related disaster movies. Disaster strikes, family members lost in sight, everyone tries to survive, and some ends with a happy ending where family reunion while some were sad ending with some loved ones didn’t make it.)
(Another type was about attacks from outer space. Same thing happened – family members were in high risk, everyone tried hard just to survive.)
(So many movies laid before our eyes; some even from real-life stories. Most cases, only during those critical moments, would human starts to appreciate the importance of staying alive and survive. People realizes how much family and their loved ones meant to them. The thoughts of their family members and/or their loved ones was the main motivation that pushed them not to give up but keep striving to survive. The gladness and happiness when one found out that his or her family was saved and still alive. The sadness of losing the loved ones, often made viewers cried.)
“Teet… teet… teet…” The alarm sounds of train doors closing drew Gina back to reality. “Huh…” Gina took a deep breath. She really lost in her deep thought; she did not even realize that it was almost reaching the station she needed to alight.
She was still having her monkey mind actively processing the information.
(Actually, I have these questions to everyone in the world…
Now that we have watched so many movies of this sort; the storylines and movie scenes touched our emotion. Some cried, some applaud for the great director and wonderful casting crew. How many of us see the message behind all these movies? Well, many might treat movies and stories as just another entertainment only.
“DO YOU NEED A TRIGGER?”
A Trigger, that makes you realize the importance of your loved ones to you?
A Trigger that could be any nature disaster or some sort of virus attack.
Do you really need those Trigger to happen, then only will you awaken and started to care about your family or loved ones?
How about you do that now BEFORE any of those TRIGGER strikes?)
4) That 1-minute Grief
Gina stepped out from MRT station and slowly walked on the pathway heading back to her place.
She looked up to the dark sky.
(Just a star or two can be seen tonight.)
She took out her mobile phone and dialed. “Hello, Pa…” She made a call home.
“Okay, good night.” As usual, her call home was short. Often times, it won’t last more than a minute. Well, that’s the way Gina and her family members’ way of communicating and bonding. She accepted that fact that not everyone’s family would have that kind of heart-to-heart long conversations as shown in the movies. She could even foresee what her parent would ask, from the other end of the phone line. It was so routine.
Although it was just a short phone call. Gina appreciated the moment. She felt happy to know that her parents and family members were in good health.
That short phone call… for how much longer would it continue to happen, for both her parents were aged? Gina wasn’t going to complain anything about it.
Gina lightly kicked a tiny stone on the pathway.
(Well, how other people decided to do about their relationship with their family members or loved ones, literally, is beyond my control. None of my business to meddle with.
No one can really understand the depth of relationship one has with their loved ones. That’s his or her loved ones. Not mine. How would you expect me to feel what you have felt? No way.
The most people would do could be that 1-minute grief that often goes, “Oh, so sorry to hear about that. My deepest condolence. Please stay strong.”. How could other people comprehend the feelings one has invested into his or her loved one(s)? No one. Just a surface level of compassion expression could be the most others could sense, I guess.) Gina’s debating mind went on and on.
Luckily, Wendy hasn’t heard Gina’s thoughts such as this one. Else, she would definitely scold Gina for being sarcastic and heartless again.
(Well, just take a look at the reaction from society, in reality. When we saw hungry children in Africa, community that lost their home and family in disaster encounter, condolence news people shared on social media, and so on; from what I observed so far, people will just express that ‘1-minute grief’, or 1-day the most. Has anyone seen or being fully thrown themselves into other’s sad encounter? Literally, we can’t. We weren’t the person in topic that experienced it; so how could we really fully understand the sense of losing someone that was so important to the said person? Franky, I can’t. Only when we were the one experienced the lost.)
Gina laid on the bed, tried to calm her thoughts. As always, she wanted to discern what action that she could take and do now; what are her responsibilities and what not (especially, other people’s issue). She just wanted to live in the moment and reduce as much regret as possible. As simple as that.
(Oh yeah, I forgot to ask mum if she has bought herself new pair of sandals. I’d call her tomorrow after work…)
Gina dozed off into her dreamland.