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Friday night.
For the first time for as long as I can remember...I am at home. I am not out socialising and having a good time with friends. No, I'm stuck in front of the TV watching Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, guest staring Dev Patel (of Skins and, most recently, Slumdog Millionaire). It's about 11pm and I am absolutely beat and thinking of going to bed.
What is wrong with me, I wonder. It's Friday night, it's before midnight....and I'm thinking of going to bed?!!
I'm determined not to be a boring old fart (it's English slang meaning "boring somebody", for those of you who don't know), so I decided to check out this "Slumdog Millionaire" film online. YES, I watched it illegally and I'm not proud to say it! "Slumgdog Millionaire" tells the, what i think, "heart-warming" tale of the young boy from the Indian slums, Jamal (Dev Patel), and his story of how he managed to know the answers to get right up to the 10 million rupees answer on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire- or as Anil Kapoor, playing the host, puts it "Who wants to be...a MULLINIR!". Love it!
Directed by Danny Boyle (who's films I absolutely love, check out Trainspotting, Sunshine or 28 Days Later), it is a real gem of a film, with a good moral story behind it - as much as money can make you happy, love conquers all. In fact, the only reason Jamal ever went on the show was to find his long-lost teen love, Latika (Freida Pinto).
This kinda got me thinking....and hence the reason for this blog post and the use of that fantastic quote. Plus I think it's fitting as we just had Valentine's Day (i didn’t get anything in case you wondered nor expect or want anything...).
My thoughts....
Can love really conquer all material wealth?
Does having love outweigh having money?
Do we need love, in whatever form, to SURVIVE as complex human beings in our current social hierachy?
They say it's lonely at the top, whatever top that may be. I have to agree with those people. I think when you're at the top, you get sucked into the whole situation - money, material goods, power, responsibility. You lose track of whats real in your life and what really matters - sure you could survive without that flash car, people all around the world do it every day. Sure you could live without £2,000 or £10,000 in your pocket every month, over half the world - thats more 3 BILLION people - are thought to live on just £2 a day.
Could you live without your mothers love though? Could you live with the thought of knowing that you can never "love" or have feelings for anyone ever again?
WAIT for a second.
Take a look at Maslow's Hierachy of Needs - http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs.asp - which says that in terms of what we need in order to become Self Actualized beings, that is what I believe to be the true potentional of a person, we need Money before Love? In today's society, is material wealth more important to someone than having the knowledge that if you ever need help, someone is there to give it?
I think Valentine's Day is a good example of these two "needs" - i.e. Money and Love. The whole reason that this day was dreamt up was because people wanted to show their love with one another. But do we REALLY need a specific day of the year to do it? Surely, if it's true love...then it lasts all year round. Love can be shown when you hold someone close and wisper "I truly love you" in their ear. Or that feeling that you get when you hold hands with them...
My conclusion - nothing but a commercialised day which people spend their finances on to "show" their love to their other partner.
Love doesn't need to be represented by a diamond ring, a bunch of the best roses in town, or a one-off meal in a fancy restaurant that costs a month's salary. Love is higher than that. I think, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, that the best gifts are the ones that mean the most to the receiver and the giver, not how elaborate or expensive it is. For example, doesn't the memory of getting a picture album showing your best pictures together stick in your mind more than the roses he/she got you? Doesn't that picture of you that he/she drew of you, which took them days to do, feel better to receive than a gold necklace? Doesn't it feel nice to read a love poem that your partner has written you, rather than receive a book of 100 love poems and stories written by a best-selling author?
If you think it doesn't, then you my friend are consumed in the world of material goods. Sure its nice to show off to your friends about, and it makes you feel very special...but wheres the effort and the REAL love in them?
I think "Slumdog Millionaire" really points this out - and skip to the next paragraph if you dont want me to ruin the end of the film for you. Even though Jamal wins the 20 million rupees on the gameshow, whats more important to him is that his girl was watching. His girl never stopped loving him, and to be reunited at the end and be in each others arms is something money can't buy.
What I'm trying to say here, if you've managed to follow my random collection of thoughts (I tried my best to put them into organised and understandable paragraphs), is that love means a lot, especially to me. And I don't JUST mean love that you can get and feel from a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/fiancée....platonic love between friends and family too. Love has been around since the first mating of two concious beings - monkeys, humans, cats..whatever. Love is what brought us some of Shakespeare's finest works...Love is what brings together torn-apart families. We don't NEED a specific day of the year so share that with each other.
Love, in whatever form, is worth more than any money can buy....
A final thought, and a question that if you read this post you should be able to know what I think the answer is...
Is love really shown by how much your partner spent on that necklace for your anniversary, or how tight he holds you when he's hugging you?
Is love really shown by how much you treat your friends when you're out together or on birthdays, or how they can pick you up from when you're feeling depressed and unhappy?
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All the best,Dave
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