Stiller’s Walter Mitty (Stiller himself in a charmingly dour role) is a different kind of man, and his “secret life” serves a different purpose in his real life and in the story. Thurber’s Mitty maintains his innate sense of adventure in a world of overshoes, snow chains, and parking lot attendants. Thurber’s story, which you can read in its entirety here, concerns a man who, by the virtue of daydreaming, escapes the mundanity of everyday life (exemplified most uncharitably by his nagging wife). Whether lived in fantastic adventure or in the ordinariness of normality, life offers us the opportu nity to see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel.The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Ben Stiller’s latest directorial effort, is based on a (very) short story by the same name by American humorist James Thurber originally published in the New Yorker in 1937. They embrace both courage and the mundane, the ordinary and the extraordinary, choosing to live life in present reality while also hopeful and optimistic for the future. These three women are living everyday lives, but with an optimism, passion, and presence that deserve some admiration. She compassionately guides and supports Walter as he navigates both his external and internal endeavors. Walter’s mom, Edna, was also a single mom, a widower who nonetheless lovingly raised her children with heart and vigor. Walter’s sister, Odessa, is a creative fireball, jumping at acting opportunities with an authentic optimism and cheer. She gives a brief glimpse into the life of a woman doing her best to stay committed to the responsibility of her son while pursuing her own ambitions. Cheryl, the single mom who inspires Walter’s initial steps into adventure, briefly shares her thoughts on bravery and her recent job shift taking her to Life Magazine. Perhaps there are only heroines, the three women in Walter’s life who embrace both faithfulness and uncertainty. Maybe the titular male protagonist (and his intrepid photographer counterpart) is not the hero of this story. Ultimately, Walter Mitty calls us into taking risks and embracing courage. These ABCs of escapade are perfectly embodied in photographer Sean O’Connell (a wonderful and woefully short performance from Sean Penn), a renaissance man who stitches his own gunshot wounds and flies atop bi-planes into exploding volcanoes. When Walter finally meets Todd in person, he describes Walter as “Indiana Jones meets the lead singer from The Strokes.” Adventure. When asked if he’s gone anywhere notable, Walter can only respond with a hesitant, “Phoenix…?” Has Walter done anything interesting or noteworthy? The question is met with silence as Walter checks out from reality into another fantasy. His fantasies only begin to diminish as he takes literal leaps of faith, beginning with an impulsive flight to Greenland, jumping onto a helicopter, jumping off the same helicopter, fighting a shark, etc. On the one hand, we witness Walter’s movement from the mundane into a life of courageous risk. When Walter calls customer service at eHarmony for help with his profile and connecting with the woman he secretly admires, he has little to offer Todd, the overly-friendly customer service rep. Walter Mitty is about a man in his forties undergoing such a process.Įven the message of Walter Mitty is a patchwork of theses. A person left entirely with a patchwork self feels a low sense of self-esteem and value it is only when one becomes aware of one’s individuality, vocation, and purpose that the patchwork self is discarded for the integrated whole. In adolescent identity formation, each person undergoes the process of constructing a patchwork self, a smattering of various identities that come together in quilt-like fashion, various selves stitched together into a mostly-coherent whole. Perhaps this is intentional on Stiller’s part, but I wonder if Walter Mitty is simply a film–and a filmmaker–going through a sort of adolescence. There are beautiful sweeping panoramas of striking landscapes there are affecting conversations about presence and beauty there are hilarious fantasies with the tone of a goofball comedy. Is it a comedy? A drama? An adventure film? A fantasy? One is never quite sure as the tone and pacing shift and adjust according to Walter’s experiences. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, like its titular protagonist, is without a clear identity.
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