Network!

"No man is an island."

Do you know who said that, in which film this statement is made?

If you don't know, it is the film About a boy (2002).

If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend you to do so. You will meet the young bachelor Will who has never worked a day in his life and goes for the depression free life. He lives off the proceeds of a Christmas song that his father once wrote. It was his father's only hit, but it is good for the luxurious lifestyle of Will who can afford what he wants.

How does someone, who is not only single but alone too, get through the day?

Will has devised a system for this and divided his day (life) into time slots of a fixed number of minutes. I admit that I find this fascinating. He lives a structured life although he is free to do as he pleases.

Single Will finds out by trial and error which are the best women to date without any problems. He no longer has to be the bad guy when he ends the relationship.

Is Will selfish, an antisocial although he stays on his island and doesn't really let anyone in?

I think not and Marcus the lonely boy who is bullied at school and whose vegetarian mother suffers from severe depression more than once senses this flawlessly.

It is not the Will who takes Marcus in, but Marcus who forces himself upon Will. He may have a depressing childhood, but the boy knows exactly how to manipulate Will to get what he needs to improve his life.

Although Will is not the right partner for his mother, and everyone he meets or knows, likes or is in love with someone, his network slowly but surely expands.

During the holidays, the network is complete and there is a group of people gathering and celebrating together even though they seem to have nothing in common.

No matter how sad, lonely, boring or mundane the lives of these different people are, they have, thanks to the boy, built the network they all need. A network where respecting each other and being single is not considered odd and where one can count on each other in case of need.

This film may fall under the heading of dramas, but for me it is definitely not one. It's hopeful and shows that with a little good will, it is possible to create a better world. Not for one person only but a large group (snowball effect) of people. Within that network being different does not turn out to be a problem at all.

#kittywu #freewrite #film #lifestyle