So recently, a friend and I hit up the movie theaters to finally watch this year’s most awaited romantic movie, Me Before You. As expected I bawled my eyes out and ate a lot of cheesecake afterwards to make up for it. Me Before You is the story of a young unambitious girl who is assigned to take care of a paraplegic man. Even though she is hired to bring some light into the man’s life, it is really he who completely changes her way of viewing the world. After the movie, over cheesecake, my friend and I were discussing the movie when she said something that stuck with me. “I don’t think that movie was about love. I don’t think that movie portrayed what love is really like.” This intrigued me. This movie was such a romance; how could my friend say it wasn’t about love? And how are we, simple nineteen year olds, supposed to define love? But as the cheesecake settled, I realized that my friend was right. The movie was not that simple.
The main character, Louisa Clark, is a rather unambitious, yet quirky girl, dressing in funky clothes and having a generally bright personality. She works in the same café and has been dating the same boyfriend for several years. However, when she gets fired from her job she is forced to find another, because her family really needs the money. She takes up a caretaking job, looking after the needs of a paraplegic man by the name of Will Traynor. Will is an extremely intelligent and successful man whose life was put on hold after a tragic accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He is extremely depressed and his parents want him to see the good in life again. As Louisa gains his trust and respect, he begins to look forward to getting out of bed every day. He, in turn, pushes Louisa to realize that her goals are achievable. With his help she realizes that she is a hardworking and passionate person. She has the power to attain the job she desires, as a fashion designer. I refuse to spoil the ending because I believe that is a grave misdemeanor, but it was a magnificent movie. When I pieced together the plot again in my mind, I realized that the message of the movie was not only about love. I think that the writer beautifully crafted this story to show how in life, the people who change us the most are not always the people who stick around. They may not be in your life for very long, but they manage to change the lens upon which you view the world.
Making this realization forced me to think of a friendship that I made within the last year. My time with this person was extremely short lived. Even though we have the conveniences of the 21st century, it is different than sitting down face to face and having a conversation about anything and everything of interest. I realize that I miss doing that so much with this person that it actually makes my chest hurt. But then I thought of all the lessons that I learned from this person, about myself and about the world. I remember the laughs and the arguments. I remember the feeling of unreasonable excitement, yet safety that their company would bring. I remember falling asleep whenever they would ramble on and on, but trying so hard to stay awake because I wanted to understand their opinions about life. I think back to the girl I was before their presence affected me. I look at the girl I am now. These two girls are not equal. The girl now looks the same, but there is a new gleam in her eyes that knowledge can bring. It makes her look a little older, a little sadder. She understands better the complexities of how the world turns. I don’t know when and where I will ever see this person again. But I am really thankful that they bumped into my path. They were a temporary stop with certain experiences that I will never forget. The only thing I can do now is pocket these lessons and turn back to the road.
