Are You Having a Quarter-Life Crisis? 1

by Sinoun • Clips, Trailers, Favorites, News • Tags:

It’s kind of strange how things work sometimes.

If you read this site regularly (anyone?) you’ll notice that I haven’t been doing many updates these days. I’m not sure exactly what to attribute this to. It could be due to lack of interest, or lack of interesting occurrences in Hollywood. Or an existential crisis.

I usually do quick internet searches for notable stories or movie releases worth mentioning, but lately, I’ve come away empty-handed. I just don’t seem to care anymore. There’s nothing interesting to talk about, nothing important to relay, nothing that sufficiently addresses the underlying uncertainty of “what exactly am I doing this for?”

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my own life, my own aspirations, trying to figure out the patterns that have prevented me from attaining true happiness – the kind that can weather temporary setbacks, that keeps you afloat amidst oceans of negativity. Having recently reached that quarter-century milestone, I feel a sense of inadequacy, a sense that my ideal and real self are poles apart.

I’m nowhere near the person I had always set out to be, or imagined I would become at 25. I don’t have a best-selling book, and the self-help guru within has yet to emerge. What’s worse, all the goals that once gave way to a secure sense of identity have unraveled like a loosely fastened knot, detaching a boat from its dock. And here I am, stranded without a paddle in a sea of confusion, hit with the realization that dreams are sometimes just illusions, and degrees don’t always come with guarantees.

In short, I am having a Quarter-Life Crisis. It’s kind of like the mid-life crisis, but for us young folk. Apparently it’s a phenomenon – as in, there are tons of others in my age-bracket going through the same thing. It’s even on Wikipedia, which means it’s true. John Mayer sings about it too.

So what exactly does all this have to do with my movie blog?

Well, I was starting to wonder if merely watching and writing about movies was a waste of time, time that could be better allocated towards self-discovery perhaps. But suddenly, by a random hybrid of chance and fate, I came across a movie that happened to address the very issues I’ve been facing.

It’s called How to Be starring Robert Pattinson (who’s no doubt a household name, having starred in two Harry Potters and all). Rob’s character, Art, is a socially maladjusted 20-something who’s determined to overcome his depressive existence by seeking the guidance of a self-help author, whom he invites to live with him in his parents’ home. Comedic developments are sure to ensue on this road to self-actualization.

But it’s more than just a comedy. It’s one of those instances of art imitating reality, and not an overly-stylized MTV reality of airheads and jocks and a backdrop of sprawling mansions, but a reality of actual relevance – a reference to a life its audience actually knows, though one they may not fully understand. This is a movie that speaks to the subset of our generation who still don’t have it all figured out, who harbor fears about the future and who still wonder “What is this really all about?”

Of course, I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t say whether it satisfactorily addresses these issues. Maybe I’ll decide that it’s a weak attempt at exploring the concerns of the undecided young adult, or that I actually can’t relate to it at all. Maybe I’ll hate the movie.  But final verdicts aside, discovering the film at that exact time was the impetus I needed – to continue writing about and watching movies, to see that it isn’t a complete waste of time, and to realize that there is a certain normalcy in being undefined. For now, at least.