Last Holiday
© 2006 Paramount
Shy, innocent, and humble Miss Georgia Byrd is content with living only for the possibilities of her dreams, until one day her life’s timeline was shortened to only three more weeks. After the doctor presents the devastating results of her CAT-scan, Georgia adopts the worldview of a fellow co-worker who reprimanded her, saying that “life is too short to live the way you do.” The film follows Miss Byrd as she spends her next few weeks as if she were dying, fulfilling her desires by traveling and indulging herself to the extreme. The places she visits and the people with whom she interacts are all impacted by her newfound zeal for life and happiness.
After receiving her diagnosis, Georgia breaks out of her reserved nature, quits her job, and cashes in her life’s savings with the intent of blowing it all. The hard-working, quiet choir member is soon replaced by a confident, outspoken woman who feels she has been robbed of her life. Tears turn to “I should have’s,” regrets turn to anger at God, moving quickly into determination to live right.
Her reaction to what she feels is God’s injustice is to list off any and all of her good works, and remind Him of how she refused many of the sinful pleasures she could have entertained. Her foundational question is “Why me? I’m a good person.” The worldview is one based on effort; working hard to make a place for oneself in the world as a good person. Because she was not given the life she desired, Georgia takes matters into her own hands, giving herself everything for which she had been waiting.
Although indulging herself, Miss Byrd’s character maintains the role of heroine by doling out acts of charity and pleasantly blunt words of advice to others on what life should be like. Her honest nature is contrasted with the other hotel guests who are characterized by greed and selfishness. Greed and arrogance are condemned, yet a real solution is never presented. According to the script, to live life to the fullest means indulging yourself in the things you desire, while trying to get along with everyone else in the process. What you choose to invest in may be worthless to others, yet valuable for you to believe. The film loses some credibility when the majority of venues the characters, good or bad, choose for their high-end lifestyles could only be financed by those with extensive bank accounts or credit.
While God is depicted as a real, transcendent, and ultimately good, He is still held responsible for the unfortunate events that follow Georgia. The question of why bad things happen to good people is never really answered. Georgia only forgives God for taking her life from her when she finds out she gets to keep it. Up until this point, while being selfless and mostly positive toward other humans, God is still in the wrong as far as Georgia is concerned. The viewer is left with the thought that happiness is still based on circumstance; one must choose to live for the things that make one happy and work hard to get them. While this view is closer to theism, a spiritualistic element of reincarnation is suggested when Georgia admonishes herself for not living life to its greatest extent, “Next time we’ll do things better, different. We won’t be afraid to live.”
Georgia Byrd is praised by the resident Chef Didier for her vivacious appetite for food and life. “You and I,” he states, “understand the secret of life: butter.” He contrasts this appreciation of indulgence with the condemned attitude of the health- and wealth-conscious characters that “look for everlasting life in a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil.” Life is short; live it up
After receiving her diagnosis, Georgia breaks out of her reserved nature, quits her job, and cashes in her life’s savings with the intent of blowing it all. The hard-working, quiet choir member is soon replaced by a confident, outspoken woman who feels she has been robbed of her life. Tears turn to “I should have’s,” regrets turn to anger at God, moving quickly into determination to live right.
Her reaction to what she feels is God’s injustice is to list off any and all of her good works, and remind Him of how she refused many of the sinful pleasures she could have entertained. Her foundational question is “Why me? I’m a good person.” The worldview is one based on effort; working hard to make a place for oneself in the world as a good person. Because she was not given the life she desired, Georgia takes matters into her own hands, giving herself everything for which she had been waiting.
Although indulging herself, Miss Byrd’s character maintains the role of heroine by doling out acts of charity and pleasantly blunt words of advice to others on what life should be like. Her honest nature is contrasted with the other hotel guests who are characterized by greed and selfishness. Greed and arrogance are condemned, yet a real solution is never presented. According to the script, to live life to the fullest means indulging yourself in the things you desire, while trying to get along with everyone else in the process. What you choose to invest in may be worthless to others, yet valuable for you to believe. The film loses some credibility when the majority of venues the characters, good or bad, choose for their high-end lifestyles could only be financed by those with extensive bank accounts or credit.
While God is depicted as a real, transcendent, and ultimately good, He is still held responsible for the unfortunate events that follow Georgia. The question of why bad things happen to good people is never really answered. Georgia only forgives God for taking her life from her when she finds out she gets to keep it. Up until this point, while being selfless and mostly positive toward other humans, God is still in the wrong as far as Georgia is concerned. The viewer is left with the thought that happiness is still based on circumstance; one must choose to live for the things that make one happy and work hard to get them. While this view is closer to theism, a spiritualistic element of reincarnation is suggested when Georgia admonishes herself for not living life to its greatest extent, “Next time we’ll do things better, different. We won’t be afraid to live.”
Georgia Byrd is praised by the resident Chef Didier for her vivacious appetite for food and life. “You and I,” he states, “understand the secret of life: butter.” He contrasts this appreciation of indulgence with the condemned attitude of the health- and wealth-conscious characters that “look for everlasting life in a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil.” Life is short; live it up
[written by] Kim
Comments (0)