Uncertainty in Our Life
Uncertainty in Our Life
After learning the concept of post-modernism in class and doing some research on the internet, I have a rough idea of what the postmodernism is. In this essay I will discuss the postmodern elements in the movie Ў°Run Lola RunЎ±. By watching this movie, I think that Ў°Run Lola RunЎ± is a movie which is fast paced, exciting and attractive. Moreover, it offers three sections, each comprising the same story, but told in contrasting ways; which in my opinion makes this movie quite different from other common movies and the uncertainty of the postmodernism view of life obvious.
First of all, the movie has an unusual opening. When the movie begins, there are just many people on the screen; and I cannot find any clue to the plot or the setting. However, I think this opening shows BonnycastleЎЇs idea of postmodernism which is Ў°it is hard to know what you might encounter next or what kind of transaction might be expected of youЎ± (Bonnycastle 232); in other words, I think the opening wants to show us there are various people on the earth, and their fate and destiny are different. After this unusual opening, the main characters Manni and Lola appear on the screen; however, after they finish their phone call, I understand what has happened. In addition, Lola has a mere 20 minutes to get a large amount of money to her boyfriend so that he will not be killed by his boss. In fact, it seems impossible to do such a thing in 20 minutes; however, I think this is what the audiences will find the most attractive. In addition, I guess the director wants each member of the audiences to imagine the next 20 minutes in their own mind before they see the result of the movie. However, I am sure that each personЎЇs ending will be different as this is a reflection of the uncertainty of the postmodernist view of life. Consequently, the first part of the movie only interests me in what will be going on in the next 20 minutes.
After Lola hangs up the phone, the movie shows Lola running. The movie uses rapid camera movements and accompanies by a pulse-pounding soundtrack to make me follow Lola with every turn she runs.
With the movie goes on, I feel that the main characters Lola and Manni do not fit stereotypical gender roles in this movie. As Bonnycastle says Ў°[you] may be uncertain about the sex of some of the people who surround you, and about how much power they wieldЎ± (Bonnycastle 233); from LolaЎЇs unique appearance defined by her strong body, engaging tattoos and bright red hair; I feel that she seems have a heroic role. In fact, Lola uses her strength and energy to help the hapless Manni whose gender is male but seems have a femaleЎЇs role in this movie. In my opinion, this shows another postmodernism view in this movie. In many stories men usually are the heroes and they save women; however, in this movie the woman is the hero. The opposite of stereotypical gender roles makes the movie more attractive and interesting.
As the story goes on, I find many things are arranged by the fate and destiny; in other words, humanЎЇs lives are full of uncertainties. However, in the movie it is clear that one tiny thing will affect the result in the end.
The different sections of the movie are altering quite considerably by the same tiny things from one to another; however, this reflects one of BonnycastleЎЇs core feelings of postmodernism Ў°Ў you may have [a feeling] as an outside is one of uncertaintyЎЎ± (Bonnycastle 232). In addition, the initial reason why Manni lost his money is that Lola does not go to pick him up; and then, why Lola does not go there is that her motorcycle was stolen when she was