Do you ever wonder why we're here?

It's the ultimate question with more than one possible answer, and it's thanks to the entertainment medium of films that we have some pretty good answers. Join me as I count down 5 instances in films in which the meaning of life is mentioned or implied - leading to an answer. Just to be clear, this list is solely focused on movies (in case you couldn't read the headline) and is based on my personal opinion - so if you have your own understanding on what the meaning of life is, jolly good! You certainly have it figured more than I do! Anyways, let's get to the countdown!

5. One Big Machine - "Hugo" (2008)

Kicking off the list is the Martin Scorsese-directed film about an orphan boy in Paris who embarks on a spectacular adventure - with a little mystery, trains, very old movies, and automatons thrown in for good measure. However, it's around the middle of the film where we find a meaningful life message. Hugo is presented in this scene talking with Isabelle in the clock tower of the train station overlooking Paris on his thoughts about the world, relating it to one big machine. Hugo explains that machines come as they are with every part functioning precisely to serve a purpose, and there are no extra parts. So if the world is one big machine, there's no way that Hugo is an "extra part" (that he must serve some purpose in the world); he then points out that the same could be said about Isabelle. While the scene doesn't directly reference the meaning of life, the message here is clear: everyone has a purpose in the world and nobody's life is meaningless. A good thought wonderfully tacking into a spectacular family film.

"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."

- Hugo Cabret, "Hugo"

4. Life Moves Pretty Fast... - "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986)

Next up is the righteous dude in high school everybody loved. And it's not hard to see why. Throughout the movie, we see this guy do all of the things we wish we would've done in high school, and his reasoning behind his grand day out is so brilliant (and is probably the best excuse I've ever heard in a movie). You ready for this? Ferris's entire reason behind skipping school, fooling the principal, and going out on the best day off in movie history with his girlfriend, Sloane, and his best friend, Cameron, is because it was a beautiful day. I'm not kidding! This guy risked everything and fooled everyone in his town that he was sick as a dog because he didn't want to be stuck in school on a beautiful day. Anyways, his philosophy behind the entire movie's events is a "stop and smell the roses" quote in which life moves pretty fast, and every once in a while you need to slow down and get involved in it. A truly righteous quote from a righteous dude; there's a reason this guy is every high school and college kid's hero.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

- Ferris Bueller, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

3. 42 - "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005)

Well, there you have it everyone! The answer to life, the universe, and everything is...42! Whelp, that's it! The end! Time to go home! I know the meaning of life now! Bye! *shuts off computer* *leaves*

Okay, in all seriousness, I had to put this one on the list because of how intriguingly the film tackles the meaning of life. It is a big question, the meaning of it all, what the true reason to life is. Then this movie comes along and turns the question on its head! I put this answer at number three not because of the context of the answer (the meaning of life is 42...wow) but because of the self-reflection offered by the answer. Maybe the meaning of life is something we as individuals need to figure out for ourselves instead of relying on student articles to give us answers. Maybe the meaning of life is a question that should be left unanswered and should instead be asking the right questions. Or maybe, just MAYBE...the meaning of life is really 42. Well, if that were the case, I would have put this higher on the list now wouldn't have I?

"Okay. The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is...42."

- Deep Thought, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

2. The Meaning of Life - "Monty Python's the Meaning of Life" (1983)

You knew it was coming to this - an entire film based around the meaning of life. Sort of. The comedy group Monty Python sets out here to answer the ultimate question by layering out the phases of life in one movie. Any meaning to life you find in the movie is highly up to interpretation as the real meaning they're trying to convey is dodged around many times, making you wonder where this movie is even going. (The best part about this being that even the Python gang themselves are aware in the movie that they haven't really gotten to answering the meaning of life). However, we finally get a solid answer in the final minute of the film literally called "The End of the Film" with a woman hostess announcing the meaning of life on a golden card talking directly to the audience, claiming it's nothing special. While the meaning they give is in a way a joke, as if it's something anybody could have come up with, that doesn't make it any less true. What makes it really funny is the fact that you had to watch this entire movie trying to find the meaning of life only to let it be handed to you on a silver platter in the end, as if there's not really a true and honest answer to the meaning of life. They're trying to tell us that it's really all up to interpretation, and I'm pretty sure that's the feeling these guys were trying to convey in their movie through silly songs, scenes, and all.

"M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."

- Lady Presenter, "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life"

1. LIFE's Motto - "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013)

Well here we are, I'm willing to bet some of you guessed this would be on the number one spot. Can you blame me though? I love this movie and its message about life. I think the soundtrack is good, I think this movie was highly underrated, and, personally, I think Walter Mitty himself is the one movie character I can relate to the most. But I digress. I need to get to the point here. How does this film handle the meaning of life? Well in this film, Walter Mitty works for LIFE Magazine and the message here is the company's motto. The whole movie is centered around Walter veering away from his "secret life" (which is his imaginative zoned-out state of mind in which he is a completely different person) and going out into the world to find his friend - living out LIFE's motto. Instead of going further into taking apart the quote or explain the movie any more, I'm going to let the quote speak for itself and let you, the reader, create your own opinion - just know that there's a reason I chose this answer to the meaning of life for the number one spot.

"To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of Life."

- LIFE

Final Thoughts

You know the more that I think about it, any of these reasons listed above could be the true meaning of life (yes, even 42), but I know in reality nobody will ever know the true reason. But honestly I think the meaning of life we need to figure out for ourselves, whether it be through long and hard contemplation or just watching a good movie to aid you in finding out why you are here. In my case, I asked myself a question once that helps me to understand the meaning of life: "Do you ever wonder why we're here?" In long contemplation of comprehending how vast the universe is and coming to the realization how small we all must be, I figured there must be a reason we all exist or have a purpose - otherwise we wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be typing these final thoughts to you right now. And your eyes wouldn't be running down the page, nor your brain processing each letter of each sentence into a word, and you wouldn't be thinking your own thoughts and opinions about my thoughts and opinions. Whatever the meaning of life is, you are here...with me...right now...and that's all that matters really.

Well, let me know what you thought!

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Thanks for checking out my article, and I'll talk to you all later!