Ortega, Aliyanah A.
HUMSS 11 Sodium
A journey is a film that tackles a lot of mature topics such as sudden death
and the journey we endure while living life. Death to me is such a crazy concept
because you never know when the cold skeletal hand of death will drag you to the
deepest and darkest end of the earth. The way the movie handles the concept of
dying is the sad reality of it and it makes you relate to the characters.
The story begins off with a happy couple Bryan and Shane hanging out and
having fun times with their friend Tupe, when suddenly Shane visits a doctor to get
herself diagnosed only to find out the cancer she had thought she had survived
worsened and spread to her breast. She decides to tell her husband Bryan, who
initially wants her to get better and get treated but this leads to a back and forth
with Shane who doesn't want to get treated seeing how much she had to suffer
mentally, physically and financially. As a way to distract herself from her
impending death Shane decides to make a magic list. The magic list is certain goals
or things Shane wants to achieve or do before she is no longer walking the face of
the earth. Eventually, Tupe finds out about the news and is devastated to hear that
Shane doesn't want to get better, but instead of fighting with her like Bryan did he
supported her decision and even helped with whatever the couple needed and
fulfilled Shane’s magic list.
The three head off to Tasmania, Australia to fulfill Shane’s magic list, they
first venture off to explore the place marking off a few of Shane’s goals. They try
new things there like exotic food, driving in an RV, helping Shane reconcile with
her father and even went to see actual Penguins. In time, the three have a deep
conversation about life itself arguing if it's the journey or the destination that
matters. “Why go through life if you won’t end up where you want” Tupe said
making a valid point since you wouldn't have a journey in the first place if there
was no settled destination for you to choose besides in the end we go through the
journey to reach the destination. “The journey helps you mature” here Bryan
argues that in the end your destination may be altered during the journey because
the journey helps you learn, grow, develop making the destination useless. After
the two shared their wisdom they ask Shane who surprisingly doesn't choose the
option given because for her “it's who you are with” true that the journey and
destination are important but it wouldn't be the same if you do not surround
yourself with people who are willing to accompany you on your journey to reach
the destination. Unfortunately the issue of Shane getting the treatment was brought
back, turning into another argument that ends up with Shane choosing to get
treated when hearing how her husband Bryan was willing to drown himself with
countless debts as long as he can be with Shane for another 5 months or even 5
years.
After their joyous trip in Australia The next day, while Shane is preparing
breakfast, Bryan lets the dog out and loses consciousness. It turns out he had an
aneurysm, after finally agreeing to give Bryan a chance to be with her she had lost
him just like that. Shane expresses a lot how she wanted to get treated because of
Bryan. During the ending, Tupe decides to make a movie about Bryan’s love story.
He returns to Shane’s home, and as she lies in bed, completely withered, he hands
her the award, saying it’s for them. Shane finally tells Tupe that she can’t stand
being away from Bryan anymore, and it’s time for her to let go because what is life
of suffering worth?
The movie teaches us about how sudden death and even how hard you try to
prepare yourself from the inevitable you still suffer so it is much best that instead
of thinking about death you do the things you want to do before facing such harsh
realities so in the end you would not have any regrets and you’ve lived a life where
you feel fulfilled or happy. It also teaches us how life is unfair, an exact example
of this was when after Bryan had asked Shane for another year to spend time with
her, he dies showing how unfair life can get.
