There are times I find myself watching some movies to process my emotions or pass time. when it comes to movies I have a very high and distinctive taste, there are a lot of things I look forward to while watching movies, which is why most times I can just stroll through some movies and I'm done watching.
It is not as if I have a speedy eye balls like Barry Allen, it is just that at that moment while strolling I'm desperately looking for something capable of hooking my attention. Mostly action or sensation but not just any kind of low budget action movie.
There is another side of me which is the poetic part, I mean I write poems and all. In most cases when I find myself writing poems, it means my emotions have been triggered by something, I can't sit down and write poems, it doesn't work like that for me, even if I try, the whole poem will eventually look lame and make me feel disgusted by it. Which means the way I feel dictate the kind of poems I write.
Some years back, while scrolling through WhatsApp status, I saw a movie clip posted by a friend of mine. I was attracted to the soundtrack which is an hobby of mine, I have a collection of movie soundtracks, it is like an art collection for me. I decided to watch the movie to get more details about the soundtrack. After watching the movie I was hypothesized, I think I cried a little which is almost unbelievable, I must say, the movie is an unusual one.
About the movie......
I will try not to bore you with the whole narrative of the movie, just few things that I need to point out to highlight lessons learnt and why I chose this movie as my favourite.
The movie was directed by Scott speer, released in 2018, the movie is about a girl named kattie price, in a roof top room with shaded window glasses that prevents sunlights from getting in, the story behind that is that kattie suffers from a rare genetic condition called xeroderma pigmentosum {XP}. Which means she has a very high sensitivity to sunlight, any exposure to sunlight would lead to skin cancer, brain degeneration, muscle dysfunction e.t.c. meaning going out during the day will definitely Hurt her and eventually kill her. Due to this she spent all her childhood in her room and only goes out at night to the hospital for checkups.
She doesn't go to school, she got home schooled by her dad who is a lecturer/teacher in an academic institution. Only few people knew about her existence which includes her dad {Jack}, her best friend {Morgan} and her doctor {Dr. paula Fleming}. Her mum died when she was little.
She gets herself engaged in few activities that involves writing of songs, playing of guitar, watching movies with her dad at home, hanging out with her only friend Morgan in her room, watching the rest of the world through her room window and on very rare occasions she goes out to the train station, sits and plays her guitar.
One day she met a guy at the train station named {Charlie} not just any guy, this guy lived next to them but they have never met physically, since Katie can't come out in the day time but she has always watched Charlie pass by her window every day and she liked him ever since she was 9 years old, until she accidentally saw him at the train station when she was 17. The only person that knows about her crush on Charlie was Morgan.
Charlie who was instantly attracted to kattie because he loves her music tried to approach her but kattie ran off because she couldn't handle a first time confrontation with her crush . Moreover she doesn't even know how to approach a guy, she has never been outside long enough to be on a date with anyone.
To cut the long story short, eventually Charlie found a way to meet Kattie through her friend Morgan which happened in the night, their romantic affairs went on till she eventually informed her dad. Her dad was a little skeptical about it but knowing that he has denied kattie any form of exposure since birth, he could not afford to stop her from seeing someone she loved but he gave her one condition that she has to inform Charlie about her genetic condition, she said she would but she didn't because she did not want Charlie to see her like a disease or abomination.
Their love story became tragic when Charlie took kattie out on a date at night, to see the world. They traveled around different neighbourhood by train and eventually end up at the beach to swim. While they were at the beach they slept off, Charlie woke up and teased kattie by saying You will experience the greatest sunrise in history he was not aware of Katie's condition, kattie hurriedly check the time it was 4:50am already. She hurriedly stood up and informed Charlie to drive her home, Charlie was confused. By the time they got home while she was on the stairs racing towards the door, few rays of sunlight touched her before she could open the door and that was it.
The situation eventually led to Katie's death but the part that touched me the most was during her last moment, she knew she does not have much time left so she begged her dad to allow Charlie take her out on a boat, she wanted to experience the sun rise with Charlie one last time before she dies, her dad knew that was suicide. He hesitated but it was Katie's dying wish and he also knew her death is just few days away, so he allowed her to have her wish. I guess she died in Charlie's arms, it was not really shown but Katie being on the boat with Charlie was the last scene I saw kattie and the next scene everyone was mourning her death.
I find myself watching this movie repeatedly due to few lessons learnt from it, firstly despite the movie being fictional I kept watching the movie to find the answer to this question, does love worth that much sacrifice? seeing how kattie was willing to sacrifice it all. secondly whenever I'm having a tough time I watch this movie to remind myself there are others having harder tough time than I'm.
And lastly Katie's dad said something to her doctor {Dr. paula Fleming} he said I did everything possible to keep her alive, I sacrificed all I could to ensure she never lacked anything but then this happened, then Dr. paula replied him "The situation might look sad but Katie lived and was loved throughout her time on earth which is more than what anyone could ask for and it is all that matters". This statement got me thinking, if being loved is the essence of being alive then why are we so obsessed about materialism.
This write-up was inspired by Indiaunited contest titled "What is your favourite movie?" in indiaunited community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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