Saw Happy Go Lucky yesterday only, so I’m a bit late to the game, but I’m wondering what people thought of the movie. I read quite a bit into pretty much every scene of the movie and found a lot to think about. However, if I’m to believe the people I was watching it with, as well as the few online reviews I’ve quickly scanned, I was seriously over-analyzing and there wasn’t much more than meets the eye in the film (which makes me wonder how these people enjoyed the movie as it felt irritating without the interpretation).
My understanding of the movie mostly revolves around what it means to learn and grow and relationships between teachers and students. It’s about the dangers of arrogance, the importance of patience and focus, but also the dangers of lack of inhibition and lack of critical (literally) thought. It’s also about the pyramid: where we each fit in, and how it can possibly work when different people come from such different backgrounds/upbringings that encourage different values. And so on…
But what is it really? What’s this movie actually about?
I think the movie is a character study about someone who is always trying to help people. It draws no conclusions, but shows Poppy Cross* in her attempts to help out those suffering around her.
Poppy is always happy, but she isn’t delusional. She knows that the world can be a horrible place but she insists on being happy despite the horrible things that can happen. She meets three characters who have given up on being happy and she tries to help them. She succeeds with one, the small boy who admits to being abused by his mother’s boyfriend. She fails with a homeless man and her driving instructor.
Should Poppy have tried to help the driving instructor? If anyone else didn’t want to help the guy, all would be forgiven. He is refuses to see anything in the world except anger. He is mad at everyone and frequently lashes out at Poppy. He’s also a racist. However, Poppy stays happy and tries to make him happy. The instructor misinterprets Poppy’s behavior and thinks that she is coming on to him. When Poppy figures this out she finally gives up on him.
Poppy doesn’t want to date the guy, she just wants him to be happy. Yet she only makes things worst with him. The instructor desperately wants someone to love him, and Poppy gives him false hope. She isn’t able to make him see that he has to change before anyone will love him. The instructor believes that he is owed love, and is determined to be angry at everything until he gets it. Poppy figures this out and gives up.
Her attitude about her actions is summed up at the end of the movie. Her friend Zoe says “You can’t make everyone happy.” To which Poppy replies “There’s no harm in trying that Zoe, is there?”
That’s the movie in a nutshell. We follow a happy but realistic woman who tries to make everyone happy. The movie simply stays fateful to reality and makes no conclusions. We are left to decide if Poppy is really helping people or if she is making things worst by trying. I’m still not sure how to answer that.
[SIZE=“1”]*Notice the symbolism there?[/SIZE]