From artfiles.art.com

I had seen this movie years ago when I was living in Kazakhstan, and at that time, I thought it was one of cutest movies I had ever seen.

Now, I’m not quite sure why I thought that.

While watching it again, I felt a sick need to finish it…kind of like that “thing” that captivates you as you watch a bad car wreck happening. You don’t want to see it, but you can’t bring yourself to look away. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great movie for a movie’s sake, but now that I have grown older and have formed a lot of my worldview from experience, observation, and God’s Word (hopefully), this movie was a downer.

But…the happy parts first. :) I really enjoy watching Audrey Hepburn act. Have you ever read that lady’s life story? It’s amazing. If you get a chance, google some of her screen tests and interviews. It’s crazy the things she had to go through.

Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a “wild thing” known by most as “a faker…but she’s a real faker.” Fashionably dressed and the date of most wealthy men she can snag, Holly lives a fairly independent, carefree life in New York. She lacks a lot of common sense, but you can’t really tell if that’s from her personality or her strong desire to live in denial of reality. If anything gets her down or is a serious problem (as a result of her actions, character, or something/someone else), she finds solace at Tiffany’s…

“Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!”

Poor lady. Seriously. I myself enjoy looking at things when I’m feeling a bit down, but to constantly run to a store to avoid problems seems…a sign of a very disturbed mind. Yet, isn’t that what society does today anyways? We find ways to distract ourselves from our problems instead of dealing with them. (As a side note, this blog post is quite fascinating about dealing with problems. Disclaimer: May contain offensive language.)

What I never realized until watching this movie again is that she’s somewhat of a high class call girl. “Gentlemen give me $50 for the powder room, and if they’re real gentlemen, $50 for a cab home.” That’s her main source of income. She claims not to love any of them and that they’re all “rats”.

Paul Varjak is the “boy toy” of a wealthy, somewhat older woman, but his main goal in life is to be a writer. He has published at least one successful book, but at the time of the movie, he has fallen into a slump. As Hollywood fate would have it, he and Holly live in the same apartment building and end up becoming friends (if not lovers…briefly). As the movie progresses, Paul really does fall in love with Holly, despite her looseness, fakeness, and troubled past. He is ready to commit to her, but she just sees him as another rat. In the end, though, he is the only one standing by her, and even then, she is blinded by…I’m not quite sure. People like her are not led by reason but mainly by a form of selfishness.

“You know what’s wrong with you, Miss Whoever-you-are? You’re chicken, you’ve got no guts. You’re afraid to stick out your chin and say, “Okay, life’s a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness.” 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.”

From www.postercheckout.com

That’s it. That’s definitely part of it – a fear to realize what one really is and who one really is. That’s why she takes on so many personas. That’s why she’s out at all hours, dining with men she doesn’t even like. She’s trying to find herself by trying out new things, but in the end, she’s still the same person with a new exterior coating, and she doesn’t want to admit it.

The end of the movie is fairly romantic, and I give mad props to Paul for having the guts to tell Holly the truth about herself (see quote above). However, I had to ask myself, “Where will these two be in a few months?” Would they still be together? Will Holly finally commit to the one man who actually loves her and is willing to sacrifice for her and take care of her, or will she desert him to find other activities to distract herself from her character flaws? Will Paul tire of Holly’s lack of sense and reason and just leave her to be? Would they even get together after their conversation? I don’t know…Hollywood doesn’t show you that part.

As sad as it is to watch situations like this on a screen, it’s even more sad to see them in real life. Hollywood didn’t just dream up these characters by chance – there are people out there like this…hurt people who really want to find themselves and find a reason for their lives. The sad thing is, they will look for it every place imaginable except the Cross. Why? Because the Cross demands that you give up yourself in order for God to make you into the full person you were meant to be. A wise professor once said that to truly be yourself, God has to work in you. Otherwise, one just stays the same, messed-up, sin-ridden, hopeless individual that one is – a faker, but a real faker.

I don’t want to be a faker (but I know I am sometimes), and my heart goes out to all the fakers out there who don’t even know it. If I ever met Holly Golightly in person, I would hug her and listen to her story. And I’d tell her about a Man who wasn’t a rat, and Who wouldn’t give her $50 to go to the powder room. Instead, He would set her free…for free…and because of true love.