Lately, as the school year is quote on quote "winding down," or more accurately as stress is reaching its all-time high, and the weather changes as frequently Vegas show performer, I can't help but think about life. Particularly, about the future.
What do I want *finger quotes* to do when I *finger quotes* grow up? What do I even want to major in? Where do I want to live next year? Should I really start recycling, would that help for this ominous future? It seems like people really think recycling will help. More than anything, I can't help but keep asking myself the question "what is the meaning of life?" lately, kudos to my philosophy class you are really doing your job.
However, as these intensely serious, and somewhat depressing, thoughts and questions enter my head instead of going straight into existential crisis mode I like to turn to one particular scene in one particular movie. It is the Grim Reaper scene in "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" in the chapter accurately titled "Death".
Now, for anyone who has never seen the movie I would one-hundred percent recommend. For just a short, little synopsis the movie follows no exact plot but explores the stages of life through various sketches and songs by the British comedy troupe. Not to spoil the movie or anything, but one of the last chapters is, yep you guessed it, death.
In the scene, the Grim Reaper goes to visit the house of a British couple in the countryside dining with an American couple. The gigantic, cloaked-in-black non-human figure of death knocks condescendingly on the wooden door of this country cabin with his larger-than-life pole weapon. Yes, a pole weapon, if there was any other way to describe it I would, but alas we wind up at pole weapon.
The beauty of this scene lies in it's dialogue, particularly between Death and the British husband who answers the door. Immediately after answering the door and seeing the long knife attached to the end of the pole the man goes "is it about the hedge?" to which Death answers "I am the Grim Reaper...I am Death." The man promptly responds "Yes, I see" in an uninterested and unphased tone, like he encounters Death on a day-to-day basis, which I guess we all do when eating the college cafeteria food.
As his wife calls to him to see who is at the door the man answers, and this is the golden line, "It's a Mister Death or something, he's here about the reaping." As if he cannot even be bothered to remember Death is literally knocking at his door.
And that is the level I aspire to be at, to truly let nothing bother me...not even Death. So, teh next time you think you are about to slip into existential crisis mode and the future and worries slip into your mind, just watch the "Death" chapter of "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life", for the reaping or something.
