The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of my favourite movies. The entire thing is gorgeously staged, from the cinematography to the location to the music. I hesitate to call it an inspiring movie—I do not think that that is its intention, either—but the story does move and resonate within people in an emotional, visceral way. Not in a trite "stop dreaming, start doing" sense, but something deeper and more complex.
Walter Mitty is a bumbling, mundane man who seems to be static—at least, he certainly isn't moving forwards or up in his life. He had an insignificant job at work to begin with, and now he is facing unemployment handed to him by an arrogant and smug new manager because the magazine is moving online. He retreats from the mediocrity and apparent triviality of the reality he lives in into the reality in his mind where he is someone extraordinary.
The idea of personal hopes vs. actuality is something that, I think, we all share. When we were kids, we dreamed about being famous athletes and glamorous stars. Adults still pursue the idea of something important, whether that be money or honour or pleasure or what-have-you. People like thinking that material gain—something that can be imposed on those around them in a "look at what I've done" way—is the way to a happy and meaningful life.
Walter is part of this myth, too, as he struggles to write his bio on eHarmony. He's nothing special—he's single, has to take care of his mother, and no one seems to appreciate his work Walter's dreams are wild and out-landish, oftentimes making him the butt of jokes, but the same imagination spurs him on to something between recklessness and courage. Practically everything that is remotely daring is outside of Walter's comfort zone, but he makes a massive leap because he is so enamoured with the idea of an remarkable, adventurous life that will make him accepted and attractive.
But that's not what Walter discovers at all on his journey from Greenland to Iceland to the far Himalayas. Instead, First, in a crucial moment of indecision, Walter only continues his quest because he is inspired by his imagination of Cheryl singing "Ground control to Major Tom." Normally used to ridicule Walter, the same song is what motivates him to do something, even if it seems ludicrous and impossible. Being a "Space Oddity" is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be embraced.
Walter discovers that he does not need to be incredible or outstanding as a man in society to live a meaningful life. Certainly, his travels take him to breath-taking and exotic places all around the world, but the film wants to open Walter's eyes-—and our eyes—to the fact that life is not about all those grand and wonderful things that make us starry-eyed.
O'Connell told Walter that his last negative was the "quintessence" of Life Magazine. Walter has no idea what the negative is--and thus his entire journey—until the end. It isn't until the end of the movie that he discovers O'Connell's negative is of him, Walter Mitty, the average and forgettable guy who processes cover photos. It isn't until the end of movie that Walter discovers the quintessence of life.
For all his amazing adventures, Walter learns that meaning doesn't come in the big and glorious events of our lives: meaning comes in the normal and mundane events of our lives. Our lives don't have to be remarkable to draw closer and to feel. Cheryl isn't attracted to Walter because he's gone off and done all these amazing things--though everyone on eHarmony all of a sudden is. She knows him: the ordinary, socially-awkward guy who is nevertheless dedicated to his work and dedicated to the people he cares about. Her estimation of Walter's worth has nothing to do with the fact that he's jumped out of a helicopter and seen a snow leopard. Her estimation of Walter's worth does not lie in his extraordinary-ness. It lies in his ordinary-ness.
"To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life." - motto of Life Magazine, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
