Day 13: About A Boy

Will (Hugh Grant) has a fairly hassle free life; he doesn’t work or have anyone dependent on him so he lives off the money his father made and just does what he wants with his time. But then he meets Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) and it forces him to re-evaluate his life.

I’m not a big fan of the whole ‘if you don’t have a family you’re hopeless’ thing. Having people who depend on you doesn’t make you into this rich tapestry of a person. You’re just someone who has to do things for other people now, not just yourself. And I realise that could bring with it some good alterations in values and whatnot but it still doesn’t gel with me. All through the film Will is berated for not having a family or even a long term relationship because it somehow makes him less of a person. Having relationships with people (in any context) doesn’t raise you above those who are content to not invest their time and emotions in others. It constantly crops up in the film that nothing he does “means anything” because of how he chooses to live his life. So ridiculous! Why does having people in your life make it mean anything? If your worth as a human being is summed up in the relationships you have with other people then that just makes me sad. Apparently you can’t be great and worthwhile all on your own, you have to involve others otherwise it doesn’t mean anything. You’ve got to be comfortable alone before you can be comfortable with others, I’ve always thought.

Another thing that bothers me is the association between not working and doing nothing with your life. Having a job does not make you better than those who do not (voluntarily or not). Your worth as a person is not reflected in your job. Christ, most people hate their jobs. I hate that when you meet a new person one of the first things they ask is “What do you do?” What I do to make money has no bearing on me as a person. I wish people would ask things that meant something; what are you scared of? What makes you laugh like crazy? What gets you through the day? What you do to make money is so low down on the list of things I want to know about you that it’s not even worth bothering with. In the film as soon as people hear Will “does nothing” then they make completely unnecessary judgements; one calls him “a blank”. Yes, he doesn’t work so it’s not worth knowing him. No wonder the unemployed feel dehumanised.

Despite all this I do enjoy the film. I quite like Hugh Grant, for reasons that aren’t completely clear to me. Toni Collette is wonderful always. I forgot Rachel Weisz was in this film but what a wonderful surprise, she is fantastic too. Good film.

7/10