HUMA 1302
Purpose of Life
If you ask a person what they think the meaning of their life is, you will get lots of different answers. Almost everyone will ask themselves these questions: “what is life? Why are we here?” at some point in their lives to find their meaning or purpose of life. Some argue that the purpose of life is happiness. For some, life is all about accumulating wealth. For others, life is all about engaging in academic circles. Still for others, life is all about art. For many, life is all about love. For a few, life is all about religious practices. Others think that the purpose is to be the best version of themselves. Everyone will have different definitions of life as well as the purposes of their life. We can see those differences clearly through three movies: While We’re Young, Pariah, and Into the Wild.
Many people believe that life is meaningful when you can be yourself. But what does it really mean to be yourself? It may take a while for people to be themselves. Being yourself starts with knowing who you are, what you want, what defines you, and make you whole. You start to discover your strengths, weaknesses, and passions. Then you accept yourself, make choices about how you want to express yourself and live your life. You don’t worry about pleasing other people or living by someone elses’ standards and live as your natural self. Alike in Pariah is a significant example of being yourself. Alike is a lesbian teenager who struggles to be her authentic self. She dresses masculine for Laura, puts on skirts for her mother, but she never seems comfortable in either way. Alike is confused as to what she wants, and what she thinks is socially accepted clothing. To find your self-actualization, specifically in your sexuality and the expression of your sexuality, you must first figure out who you want to be. After she confirms her parents’ suspensions of her lesbianism, Alike seems to feel less of a need to prove who she is to anyone. She no longer dresses masculine or girly like before. She chooses the clothes that she thinks are suitable for her. That’s a big transition in her life to show that now she knows who she wants to be. The poem at the end of movie proves that Alike has found her own path and that’s her choice. This is painful, but she’s happy with it. She finds freedom from it.
On the other hand, some people define purpose of life is to live fully and happily. Living a full life means being in the moment and enjoying every small thing. You have to taste experience, step out of your comfort zone without fear of the new experience. Christopher was born in a wealthy family and graduated from a good college. He can have any material possession he wants. His wealthy family is a thing that many people want. S...
