The Meditations, a collection of philosophical reflection essays by Mark Aurelius of ancient Rome, is a book he wrote to himself, a testament to his non-stop introspection.
There is such a passage in it
"Even if you can live three thousand years, or ten times longer, remember that anyone who loses is only the life he has lived, or that anyone has only spent his lost life... There is no difference between a long life and a short life. The length of the present moment is the same for all; therefore there is no difference between the long and the short; and therefore only the very small moment is lost. No one can lose the past or the future—what they don't have—how can something be taken away? ”
"All things are impermanent and cyclical, so it makes no difference whether the same thing is seen for a hundred years, two hundred years, or eternal life... There is no difference between longevity and early death, the loss suffered, both sides are deprived of this moment, if this moment is all he has, then he does not actually have anything and can not lose anything, death is natural, everything that is natural is harmless. ”
Movie "Million Dollar Baby"
Oscar
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Director: Clint Eastwood Starring: Hilary Swank Clint Eastwood Morgan Freeman
Don't be fooled by the name of the movie that swept the four Oscars, thinking that it is another inspirational movie, but its name is really just a name.
It is not an inspirational movie in the traditional sense, or it is not an inspirational movie at all, if it is only about inspiration, it is definitely not Toki's style.
What is he explaining to us?
Is it a long and meaningless life, or a short life of dreams to be realized and passions to burn?
Do you want to die with dignity, or do you want to live quietly?
Before she intersected with boxing coach Frankie, Maggie's life was meticulous, even if she had a dream, but any effort was ineffective and meaningless, she could only carry plates in the fast food restaurant day after day, eating the rest of the food left by the guests, from her teenage to her thirties, the days were long as if there was no hope.
Her dreams were just dreams, and they were stagnant, and at the age of thirty-one she had reached the age when a professional boxer should retire, and the only thing left was to refuse to give up and not to compromise.
Her life seemed to be like this, like stagnant water, although it was really an undercurrent surging inside, but on the surface it calmly discouraged her. And after Frankie became her coach, everything began to become hopeful, orderly and effective, she gradually became a well-known boxer, knocked down one opponent after another, won one game after another, and life began to move in a better and better direction, and everything seemed so smooth.
But the world is impermanent, and it backfires.
Maggie suffers a shameless and deadly sneak attack while competing against "Bluebear", resulting in a fractured spine, paralyzed and unable to breathe on her own.
It's not just a fatal blow for a boxer, it's just for an ordinary person.
Without the ending of the usual bloody movie, Maggie's enthusiasm and brilliance are only a flash in the pan, without any miracles. Although two stubborn people are restraining each other from the worst thoughts, in the end there is no worst but worse outcome.
Maggie is hurt by her loved ones, and finally fights with such a meaningless life lying in bed, and resolutely chooses death.
ultimately...... Frankie struggled to end her life.
What a frustrating film it may seem on the surface, without the kind of success that was finally expected, and even the cheers came to an abrupt end when she was attacked.
She got the worst and most desperate outcome.
Neither when she became successful step by step nor when she was paralyzed did not receive any pity from her family.
But is that all there is to it?
Such an uncool ending, how can a perfect interpretation be used to make people feel relieved?
But she had a life that many people did not have, even if it was so short.
"No matter how long a life is, no matter how short a life is, the length at this moment is the same for everyone." Aurelius's words made me feel a little relieved about Maggie's sudden passing.
But for Maggie, the thickness of "this moment" is not within everyone's reach, at least for the family who has never loved her, they are at ease, and even resent Maggie for disrupting their rhythm, how can their "now" reach one-ten-thousandth of her.
When I was lamenting that Maggie had been hurt by her family, it suddenly occurred to me that they were not equal in any way, that she was "unattainable" to them, that she never "belonged" to them, and that they had lost the supreme affection they could have had.
And she keeps having it.
Her father left her, and Frankie loved her as much as her father.
When she finally knew that "Mo Kushler" was "my beloved, my flesh and blood", the tears that poured out of her eyes at that moment were not tears of sorrow and despair, but grateful and relieved and full of love.
The dream has never been far away from her, once in the heart, and then it is realized step by step.
She said she saw the whole world, people cheered for her, chanted her name, she was in magazines, she got what she wanted, she got it all...
As Ole wrote at the end of his Meditations, "You have already experienced life here, and it doesn't matter whether you have five or fifty years left in your life?" ...... A three-act play can also be regarded as a whole play..."
Maggie had already experienced it in its entirety, and had decided to leave her life "in the moment", so what if she left at this moment?
At the end of the movie, through the blurred window glass of the Ai Ji snack bar, it seems that Frankie's lonely figure can be faintly seen, hoping that he is eating lemon pie in the bar that is not bottled, hoping that he really bought a small shop.
Hopefully he remembers Eddie's words, "Because of you, Maggie got the chance to belong to her..."
Her life had burned like fireworks because of him, and even such a short moment could become eternal.
albeit...... He didn't go back to the boxing gym again, he didn't show up in front of Eddie again.
But I hope he can understand that both Maggie and Eddie have made their lives bright because of him.