When I was a teenager I was diagnosed with depression. Imagine my shock and surprise. I wanted to tell the doctor, “You’d be depressed too if everyone were out to get you!” But I was afraid he wouldn’t get the joke and lock me away forever. They do that sometimes.
How can any conscious, rational, aware individual not be depressed? Life sucks, and that’s what it’s all about.
The Buddha said “All life is sorrowful.”
Biologists say that by definition life is painful. For the biologist life is defined by “irritability”. If you can be hurt, then you are alive. Take a hot needle and put it next to a virus. It does nothing for a while, then suddenly whithers and melts. That’s why viri aren’t alive. Put a a hot needle next to an amoeba. It starts undulating in a desperate attempt to ooze away. It’s hurting, so you know it’s alive.
Pain is life. Most of our senses exist to give us pain, so we’ll run away from whatever’s causing it. And joy is so very temporary. Like life.
Which is why you need to watch Waitress. It’ll make you happy. Briefly.
It’s about a waitress who makes awesome pies. Andy Griffith is in it, saying things that you never thought you’d hear Andy Griffith say. And Captain Tightpants from Firefly and Serenity plays a love interest.
The writer and director, Adrienne Shelly, is also one of the waitresses in the movie. She is just awesome. This is really someone to look forward to in the future. I can’t wait to see the next movie she directs, or writes, or acts in. Yo, Adriennnne!!!
A double feature for this film might include Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. But I don’t really know because I haven’t see that one yet. It’s in my queue. (I saw the TV show with Linda Lavin, but it was just called Alice because TV couldn’t afford all the letters in those other words.) You can compare Diane Ladd’s character Flo to Shelly’s Dawn. If these were Joss Whedon movies those names would probably be symbolic, and maybe they really are after all.
Just don’t get all depressed about it. Unless you have to.
