There are certain roles that are so iconic, you know exactly what and who they are without having even seen the movie. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" is the perfect example.
Countless girls have worn a long black dress and pearls, a small (fake) diamond-encrusted tiara and a French twist on Halloween to become the elusive party girl that is Holly Golightly. However, what we fail to grasp about this character is how much true depth Holly Golightly has.
A young girl runs away from a farm to New York, and attempts to run away to Brazil at the end of the film. Holly Golightly is just like us. She’s scared of her future and runs for the next adventure rather than facing her fears up front.
“The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of.”
This quote said by Holly at the beginning of the film sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Holly’s solution to “the mean reds” is to run to Tiffany’s & Co. jewelry store for some comfort, but don’t we all have our own version of Tiffany’s?
We run from our homework, our love lives, our finances every single day. Although we don’t pick up and move to another country, we avoid our problems with Netflix and other distractions.
However, we can’t run forever.
As Paul Varjack (or Fred, as most of us know him) says at the end of the film:
“You call yourself a free spirit, a 'wild thing,' and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.”
Although this may be the longest movie quote of all time, it hits home every time I hear it.
As we search for freedom and independence while in school, we often try to mask our fear with a face of rebellion, labeling ourselves “wild things,” and yet we continue to run from our problems.
As finals season looms over us, just think about Paul’s words. No matter where we run, we just end up running into ourselves. Making peace with our problems and our fears is the first step to surviving adulthood.
