Aug. 12, 2025
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) Why Living in the Present is Key to Self-Actualization | Becoming your True Self
Summary Aaron and Brash explore the themes of self-discovery and personal growth as depicted in the film 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.' They discuss the cinematography, character development, and the importance of connection and recognition in realizing one's true self. The conversation delves into the symbolism of dream sequences, the significance of taking risks, and the lessons learned from mistakes. Ultimately, the hosts reflect on the film's message that beautiful moments don't alway...
Summary
Aaron and Brash explore the themes of self-discovery and personal growth as depicted in the film 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.' They discuss the cinematography, character development, and the importance of connection and recognition in realizing one's true self. The conversation delves into the symbolism of dream sequences, the significance of taking risks, and the lessons learned from mistakes. Ultimately, the hosts reflect on the film's message that beautiful moments don't always need to be captured, and that true fulfilment comes from living authentically in the present.
Theme Arc: Becoming your True Self
Takeaways
- The film encourages viewers to step out of their comfort zones.
- Cinematography plays a crucial role in storytelling.
- Character development is key to understanding personal growth.
- Self-actualization requires engagement and authenticity.
- Overcoming fear is essential for personal transformation.
- Connection and recognition are vital for self-worth.
- Dream sequences symbolize inner desires and struggles.
- Moments of freedom can lead to self-discovery.
- Mistakes are opportunities for growth and learning.
- True fulfilment comes from living in the present.
Chapters
00:00 The Quest for True Self
02:05 Reflections on Walter Mitty
05:20 Cinematography and Visual Storytelling
08:55 Character Development and Relationships
12:32 The Journey of Self-Discovery
18:13 Themes of Connection and Purpose
22:50 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Authenticity
27:39 Favorite Scenes and Symbolism
35:06 The Journey of Self-Discovery
40:54 Embracing Vulnerability and Authenticity
48:07 The Climax of Transformation
54:11 Final Reflections and Takeaways
Sound Bites
"Life is about moving forward." - Aaron Davies
"Sometimes the answer happens by accident." - Aaron Davies
"Beautiful things don't ask for attention." - Sean O'Connell
Apple Tags
Walter Mitty, Self-discovery, Adventure, Cinematography, Ben Stiller, Imagination, Life Magazine, Personal Growth, Inner Potential, Iceland, Greenland, Sean O'Connell, Daydreams, Self-actualization, True Self
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Email: fandomportals@gmail.com
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/fandomportals
00:00 - Introduction to Walter Mitty
09:15 - Walter's Daydreams vs Reality
15:44 - The Photography Job and Life Magazine
26:12 - The Icelandic Adventure Begins
36:05 - The Himalayan Meeting with Sean
47:54 - Beautiful Things Don't Ask for Attention
54:12 - Final Takeaways and Ratings
WEBVTT
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What if the version of you that showed up every day isn't the real you at all, but the quite as safest version of you?
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How often do we hide behind safe routines instead of chasing the life we're truly meant to live?
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In this episode, you will learn how the Secret Life of Walter Mitty teaches us that realizing your potential in the real world is the first steps to becoming your true self.
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Welcome to the Fandom Portals podcast, the podcast that explores fandoms and films to help us learn and grow.
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I'm Aaron, a teacher and a lifelong film fan, and each week on the podcast, we explore the stories that we love to learn more about ourselves and the world that shapes us.
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Today, I'm joined by Brash.
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Hello everybody, I am Brash, I am me, we are he.
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And today we are doing the Secret Life of Walter Mitty Brash.
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What's this one about?
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This one is about Walter Mitty, a mild-mannered photograph.
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What would you call it a?
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producer I would say producer, producer for Life magazine who is being taken over by the corrupt business corporation and everything is going online.
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So everyone is losing their jobs.
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And as a last ditch effort to sort of his last hurrah, he sets on an adventure, which he never does, in search of the missing photograph that was sent to him by a famous photographer, and this sets him out on a journey of self-discovery, Absolutely.
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And in this episode we are going to be starting our multi-episode themed arc, which is all about becoming your true self, and we're going to be diving into stories about breaking free from expectations, from silence and smallness, and stepping into the people that we're always meant to be.
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So this is film number one of our journey into becoming a true self, and we're going to explore what happens when you finally realize your potential in the real world, Rash.
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Let's get into first of all what you thought of the film when you first watched it, because I've watched this a few times and my feelings about it has evolved over time.
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What did you think of it?
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Yeah, I think when I first watched it I was a lot younger and so I thought it was a fun movie and it was good, it was funny, it was fun, but, yeah, not much more than that.
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Watching it now, older, with a bit more life under my belt, I think it hits a little bit harder.
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It sort of made me feel bad Not in a bad way.
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But I look back and I'm like there's so many things I wish I had have stepped out of my comfort zone and did, or some things that I wish I'd have been a bit more aggressive about or more just spontaneous about.
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Not, that wasn't that spontaneous in my younger life, but it wasn't for anything decent it was more for parties, but yeah, it wasn't character building.
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It wasn't character building, it was just for the quick moments.
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But yeah, I have more appreciation of it now, definitely.
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Yeah, I can 100% relate to that because I also watched it at a younger age.
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I think I watched it when it first came out, which was 2013.
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So, yeah, like 23.
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And you're a very different person when you're 23 than you are when you're 35, that's for sure, and your priorities sort of change a little bit.
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And I'm the same as you.
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I kind of watched it and thought there's a bit of a deeper message here and it makes you be very retrospective of the things that you've done and the things that you could have done and the things that you could do in the future, I guess.
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But one thing that stood out to me, just sort of on a less sort of metaphorical, deeper meaning kind of level of this film, was it's actually like a really beautifully shot movie, like that's the first thing that I noticed straight away was it is absolutely beautiful in terms of cinematography.
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I know lots of people, when I sort of talked about this on our social medias, said that it made them want to visit iceland and greenland, which is countries that you're, like, not even on your radar to travel to.
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But the scenery in this movie was just top tier, phenomenal.
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Yeah, and that's it.
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Like you see, I think it must have been on purpose because, you see, whenever he's sort of at home, everything's sort of like the same and bland, because it's always just him at his house or it's him at the office and it's just four walls.
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Besides, like the life pictures which show these beautiful places, everything else is just bare bones.
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And as, just as the movie progresses, every time he goes back to office it's because it's all getting torn down, everything's getting taken on the walls, it's getting more bare bones, more bare bones and more just a depressing just four walls.
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And then every time he steps out of the office and steps into something, even when he's going on for a walk with Kristen Wiig's character, cheryl, you see, they go to the park and everything, and you can see that the more beauty around the place, there's more colour.
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But every time, even if it's at home or it's office, it's more dull.
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And then, as the movie progresses, even his house starts getting a bit more colorful.
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When his mom moves in with him and there's more people around him and he's not just by himself, it's a lot more colorful.
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And when he goes overseas and all the beautiful places and it's all colorful.
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So I think it's a message about we all have that jury nine to five.
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But you know, sometimes you need to really step out of that to see the beauty and everything like that yeah, and the brightness that the world has to offer.
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I agree, because the cinematography definitely tells a story.
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As you said, the blues and the grays that's the color palette in the office all the time.
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The life magazine is completely beautifully colored.
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The other thing that's really beautifully colored is his dream sequences, his imagination sort of sequences.
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They just get explosive, the color palette completely changes and it just goes to show the transition from the beginning of the movie to the end of the movie, where the only brightness he finds and sees is in his imagination.
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But then as he grows out of his comfort zone and moves into a truer version of himself and it's not almost, it's not like he's pulling things out that were never there he always saw that he had the potential to be this kind of person that he wants to be, because it always only just lived in his imagination.
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But it's becoming more realized and more into the present and into the moments of his every day.
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And the color palette and the cinematography mimic that, especially when he starts to go into Iceland and goes on his adventure through there.
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And I think we'll jump into that a little bit later when we talk about the scene specifically.
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But there's definitely a turning point in this movie where that starts to shift and change.
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Which I liked Ben Stiller in this movie and he directed it as well and starred in it.
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Yep, so this one actually was.
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It was bouncing around the studios, so to speak, and they couldn't lock in a director and they couldn't lock in a leading actor and eventually it fell to Ben Stiller and he was cast as Walter Mitty before he decided to direct it.
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And then eventually, once a few other directors sort of fell through, he sort of stepped up to the plate to take on the reins.
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And before this he'd done the Cable Guy, he'd done Zoolander and Tropic Thunder three comedy movies definitely not like this at all.
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So I think there was a bit of skepticism, but I think he pulled it off.
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He played a really nuanced character, especially in the way that he expressed himself non-verbally, because I think there was a lot of bombastic ways that you could show him sort of snapping in and out of reality.
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But it's really just a couple of blinks here and there and a slight head turn that you see, and it fully takes you into and out of his imagination, dream sequences and it's almost portrayed as a real life person, which is not really what I used to from Ben Stiller.
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Yeah, and I like the dream sequences because it's realistically the only thing that ties it back into the original Walter Miltie comics, back from the papers, from the New York Times, because that whole run was of Guy Walter Miltie who got on these massive adventures.
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But the Walter Miltie in the New York Times was always very depressing because it always ended his dream sequence right just before the good ending or the climax, or end up with him just before he dies.
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So like he never.
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He never gets, he never gets fulfillment from these dating because he always gets what taken out of it either too soon or from the fact that he's just about to die.
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Yeah, yeah, but I do, and they do the same thing in this, which is probably the only tie to what's the actual original ultimate.
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But I do like how they created a whole world for what's media instead of just like the from the comics was just every week.
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That's different.
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Eventually he'd go on in his head and they created an actual like ben still created an actual person with actual law, with like like a world around him not there and I I appreciate that, yeah, and I think ben stiller, once he jumped onto this role, he really saw the potential in it, you could say, because he was in an interview with tiff, which was a press conference that was held in 2013 for this movie, and he said the idea that the most seemingly average person might have a rich inner life and heroic potential really appealed to him.
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So the archetype of the Walter Mitty is actually something that's really well known through American culture at least, because it foregrounds this dreamer mentality usually a guy who's this dreamer that doesn't live in the real world and it's derived as well from those comics that you were talking about.
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But also there's a literature short story where, basically, this guy's driving his wife around to run errands and as he's doing that, he's envisioning himself as like an Air Force pilot and going on these heroic and adventurous things and ordeals in his head and then retreating back to the everyday.
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So they took that little seed.
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Ben Stiller took that little seed and turned it into this larger than life masterpiece.
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It also has a lot of sort of hidden gems and messages in it as well.
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This is probably one of the first times I also saw Adam Scott on film as well, adam Scott being Ted Hendricks.
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That beard, yeah, everybody comments on the beard man.
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I don't know if it's real, is it?
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real?
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I don't think so.
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I really don't.
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It's probably real, but it's probably like they've got the spray on there to make it really like, just like a brick colour.
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It's, yeah, completely darkened and, yeah, just puts out his sort of jawline there.
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And obviously these two collaborate again when they do Severance in 2020, a very critically acclaimed series.
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And yeah, I think he's the instigator, obviously, because he's that force of tension in this movie that forces Ben Stiller to then go on this sort of journey to find the frame 25, as it were, that Sean sort of sent him and always trusted him with his work, and I liked the message that this seemingly unassuming man, this average guy, as Ben Stiller sort of said, was his potential, was seen not only by himself through his imaginatory experiences, but also from Sean, the photographer, who he always had seen really bringing to life the work that he had shot and taking that care to present the everyday world in such beauty to everybody else through his magazine.
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So I liked that he was seen by another character and it was that quiet sort of acknowledgement and recognition between those two relationships, between Sean and Walter.
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That was a really awesome part of the movie for me that I enjoyed too yeah, the fact that he has sean and him have never actually met face to face the only time.
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The only thing they've actually like ties them together is the fact that walter has been publishing his photographs.
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For what was it like the nine years or 10 years or something, or however long it was?
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Yeah and that that.
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But the fact that sean could just see the end product and be like, wow, it's a guy who sees things differently to everyone else and he's like that's my guy, just how he goes on this big adventure and at the end there was never really any need to, because of what happens, and I was, I I sort of like that, and it brings us back to our sort of mvt of this, this movie, as well, because the the fact that he had to go around the world to try and find frame 25 is a big and massive metaphor for the fact that he didn't need to go on these massive adventures to be this version of himself.
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He always had it in him to start with, just like he always had frame 25 in his wallet to start with.
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That's the, that's the tying key for it all together, which I loved perfectly.
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But you know, on a first viewing, when I watched that at 23, I was like what a pointless experience.
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Why the heck did he go on?
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That is like check your wallet, dude, come on.
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Like it completely went over my, my head, because when I give you a wallet, I always have a look at all the pockets.
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You got it.
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And then if you had to put anything.
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But the thing is I think that's the other thing you see, he doesn't actually put.
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The only thing he puts in his wallet is in the big pocket.
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I think he puts some money in it.
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Yeah, cash, I think Cash.
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That's the only thing he.
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He put some money in, yeah, cash, I think.
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Yeah, that's the only thing.
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Like he has.
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No, he doesn't have anything else, he has no other.
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Like he doesn't have a coffee card or anything else that to put in that, to put in that wallet, for him to actually look through that wallet with like, and I think that's another showing of like how, at that time, how like boring and dull his life was, he had nothing to transfer from one wallet to another yeah, that that's very true as well.
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So I think that that wallet, and the quote on it as well from Life Magazine, is really sort of poignant for the story as well, because it's almost like that through line that occurs.
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Let's jump into what our most valuable takeaway of this movie is.
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So for me, the most valuable takeaway of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty was that sometimes your fullest self isn't found in fantasy, but uncovered through experience, and that Walter's journey reminds us that we don't need to be someone that's extraordinary.
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We only need to let go of fear and live boldly as we already are.
00:14:00.758 --> 00:14:14.948
So, as we were talking about before the fact he he began as someone that people really overlooked and he knew that he could be more through his imagination, sequences there, but he sort of had that belief as well that he was a little bit unworthy.
00:14:14.948 --> 00:14:20.851
Did you get that sort of impression that he he didn't think very highly of himself or didn't have much self-esteem?
00:14:20.851 --> 00:14:21.133
Brash?
00:14:22.341 --> 00:14:48.291
oh, 100, like, like, how he'd like, and I honestly I saw a lot like I still see a lot of walter in me as well like, um, like, just always thinking like that I'm going to, like I'm not good enough or I'm going to annoy people with my attempts of friendship, or like it's always just, that's like that it's always sad to see, because, you see it, you're like, oh man, that's really sad.
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Then you're like, wait a minute, shit, I do that, yeah, and so like.
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And how he like sees kristen wick's character cheryl at like a distance and he's sort of like wishing he could, he like in his fantasy he's this big macho hero man who saves the day and a dog as well from a burning building that has three legs, like he.
00:15:11.894 --> 00:15:33.601
Yeah, he just has to, because that's the kind of person he thinks that they want yeah they want some big, showy, flashy hero can do anything, and then in reality, they just, they just want guy man, that's, that's one, that's one dude, it's gonna be, it's gonna be, and he doesn't need to be so self-conscious.
00:15:34.224 --> 00:15:41.062
Yeah he he is enough, absolutely, and I think he he always had that little inkling that he, he was enough.
00:15:41.062 --> 00:15:56.390
But I feel like those imagination sequences, as you said, they sort of play into some insecurities, but it also reveals a lot of what he desires in terms of who he would like to outwardly portray and yes, it's like a larger than life version of that.
00:15:56.390 --> 00:16:02.721
But really, if you break it down, there's sort of those three symbolizing characteristics that are in a lot of his fantasies.
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To start with, there's the connection that he's always seeking, which is through Cheryl.
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Every time Cheryl appears in one of his imagination sequences, he sees her as this attainable and somebody he wants to be close to, to form connection.
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That's number one.
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And number two is purpose.
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So that's symbolized through his acts of heroism, whether it's him climbing up all the mountains to try and be with her or jumping through the building to save her dog from the burning space.
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He wants that sort of purpose, but he also wants that recognition through those acts of service.
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So that's number three.
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He's always seeking, through those dream sequences, those three things connection, purpose and recognition.
00:16:38.581 --> 00:16:45.779
And you see it change after a while, at the very start, because we get a fair few of those sequences at the start, yeah.
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But then when he starts going on that adventure, the next time Cheryl's in one of his imaginations it's he when he jumps in that helicopter, but it wasn't him being all heroic or anything, it was just Cheryl cheering him on with a song that they both really like.
00:17:02.852 --> 00:17:03.052
Yeah.
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Which was Rocket man no Ground Control to Major Tom Ground Control, both really like yeah.
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Which was?
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Was it Rocket man no Ground Control to Major Tom Ground Control to?
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Major Tom, yeah, by David Bowie, great song.
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But yeah, I completely agree.
00:17:11.765 --> 00:17:18.884
And it's even externalized when he's talking to Patton Oswalt who plays the eHarmony guy and I love that guy too.
00:17:18.884 --> 00:17:28.373
Yeah, he's got some good lines, but I loved it when he he was just like you've got nothing here under like places you've been or things you've done, and he goes.
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I haven't really done or seen anything.
00:17:29.478 --> 00:17:39.885
And then as that list on his e-harmony profile expands, his imaginatory sequences decrease and he even asks him patten oswald's character even asked him.
00:17:39.885 --> 00:17:43.082
He's just like how that, how's that daydreaming sort of going and he goes.
00:17:43.082 --> 00:17:44.285
You know a lot less lately.
00:17:44.285 --> 00:17:50.507
So I think that's that's very true to point out that he starts off wanting those three things connection, purpose, recognition.
00:17:50.507 --> 00:18:03.212
But as he goes further along he kind of becomes more comfortable with himself and the things that he's doing outwardly, expressing those traits and it's less of a dream and more of a reality, but always resided inside of him, to start with you.
00:18:03.252 --> 00:18:19.666
But there's this thing called self-actualization, which is realizing one's full potential and it comes from engagement, growth, risk and authenticity, which is the four things that Walter definitely does through this story and he eventually, we'll say, becomes himself.
00:18:19.727 --> 00:18:21.531
But he was always himself to start with.
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And we sort of talk about this a little bit in schools, because one thing that you learn about is called Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and it's a needs system where the things at the tippy top of this pyramid are things that you need to be self-actualized and the things at the bottom of the pyramid are things that you need for survival.
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So an example is like food, water, shelter those are the things you need for survival and if you have them you can start to build your self-actualization.
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But if you don't have those things, that's what you need to fix in order to feel like your needs are met, basically.
00:18:52.949 --> 00:19:00.771
So in the start of this movie, walter Mitty obviously has those things enabling him to survive, but he's not thriving.
00:19:00.771 --> 00:19:08.921
So he's surviving but he's not thriving, and he begins to live with intention a little bit more, and that's when he starts to do those things where he's engaging in the real world.
00:19:08.921 --> 00:19:12.212
He's taking risks by jumping out of helicopters.
00:19:12.212 --> 00:19:16.628
I'm not recommending our viewers and listeners do that to find who you really are, but-.
00:19:17.260 --> 00:19:19.789
No, if you do do it safely and with professionals.
00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:21.340
Yeah, absolutely.
00:19:21.340 --> 00:19:56.343
And yeah, I think that was definitely just a big metaphor for jumping out of your comfortability and embracing that authenticity that makes you who you are, and that's sort of one thing that you could do that's purposeful to you, that's something that you love, something that you're sort of passionate about, and aligning your inner and your outer self, because we all have that idea of who we are and who we want to present on the inside.
00:19:56.343 --> 00:19:58.448
But is that who we're presenting on the outside?
00:19:58.448 --> 00:20:12.393
And for me personally I'm trying to get better at that, because it's definitely something that I've sort of struggled with as well, just like Walter Mitty has is trying to bring the inside me to the outer world, and the more I do it, the more I realize that it's.
00:20:12.393 --> 00:20:17.185
It's kind of okay, but I'm definitely not all the way there yet oh yeah, 100.
00:20:17.385 --> 00:20:19.730
Like I kind of blame me.
00:20:19.730 --> 00:20:36.846
Anyway, I blame my teenage years and, yeah, cool, like we were always trying or I know, for me at least, always trying to like join in and be a part of the bigger group, as much as and I don't think anyone in that bigger group actually really knew who they were we were all just trying to pretend to be something.
00:20:36.846 --> 00:20:42.067
We were to try and pretend to fit in and then as soon as, like, high school was over, it's like what was the point?
00:20:42.569 --> 00:20:44.282
Yeah, it didn't even really matter.
00:20:44.443 --> 00:20:47.250
that's that recognition as well yeah, it didn't matter at all and then.
00:20:47.250 --> 00:21:12.970
But now I think because of that it sort of left, like it sort of ingrains it in you a little bit and because I don't think it was until like I was 24, 25, yeah, when, no, maybe like 25, 26, when I started, like when I really was like I don't like doing any of the things I was doing and I'm like I, that's just not who I am.
00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:17.460
Like that's when I started like playing dnd again and and then we met.
00:21:17.460 --> 00:21:25.164
And then we met and like I like I stopped drinking and like I stopped drinking as much as I used to, because I used to think that was because I was a teenager.
00:21:25.164 --> 00:21:28.803
That's all we do Friday night and we get on the piss, go out.
00:21:28.803 --> 00:21:35.701
I do that Friday, saturday and Sunday and then sleep off Sunday night and hope that I wasn't too bad on Monday for work.
00:21:36.876 --> 00:21:45.765
I think as I've gotten older, I've started shedding off of the whole persona that I was pretending to be and started being more comfortable in who I am.
00:21:45.765 --> 00:22:00.925
And unfortunately, it did take a lot longer than I was hoping for and if any young people take anything out of this episode, it's like high school is great, high school, you meet some friends for life, but don't let high school define you.
00:22:00.925 --> 00:22:04.423
Yeah, like high school is going to end.
00:22:04.423 --> 00:22:09.865
You're going to become an adult and everything that happens in high school define you.
00:22:09.865 --> 00:22:10.480
Yeah, like high school's going to end.
00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:12.426
You're going to become an adult and everything that happens in high school, besides what you learn, is not going to matter.
00:22:12.383 --> 00:22:18.615
I like that, I think that's really good and it sort of falls into some of the themes of this movie too, where you're looking at demonstrating action and overcoming fear.
00:22:18.615 --> 00:22:36.820
So his moment is obviously jumping out of the helicopter but for us might be, you know, stopping some habits that we used to have that don't serve us anymore, like we don't want to do x, y and z because we want to change our life and make our color palette go from blues and grays to beautiful colors, like like walter middy's was.
00:22:36.820 --> 00:22:44.905
But I like at the end of this movie how he'd always sought that recognition and I think that's what that we can relate that back to teenage life as well.
00:22:44.905 --> 00:22:50.676
You're always seeking that recognition, you want to fit in, you want to be part of the group and part of the collective and he's seeking connection as well through Cheryl.
00:22:50.676 --> 00:22:59.223
But I think through this at the very end of it, walter Mitty does get that recognition because Sean does actually put him on the last cover of Life magazine.
00:22:59.285 --> 00:23:09.585
But it's not really about fame at that point for me, for Walter and his reaction to that is absolutely perfectly exemplified by the fact that he's okay with being himself.
00:23:09.585 --> 00:23:10.607
Now it's understated.
00:23:10.607 --> 00:23:29.636
There's a quiet acknowledgement, there's a worthiness that sits within him and even though it's externally validated through that magazine cover, that isn't really what matters to him anymore, because at the end of the movie it doesn't focus on the fact that he is now on the cover of this Life magazine and he's immortalized forever in a photograph.
00:23:29.636 --> 00:23:35.820
What we focus on is the colorful, beautiful palette of him walking down the street with Cheryl, sharing a beautiful human connection.
00:23:35.820 --> 00:23:37.023
That's completely natural.
00:23:37.565 --> 00:23:51.835
Conversation isn't grandiose, it's just a simple sort of human interaction at the end of it, talking about the things that they enjoy, and eventually they agree to meet each other again, you know, and the relationship and the connection flourishes there.
00:23:51.835 --> 00:23:59.409
So it's this movie that's full of all of these brilliant and amazing and big impactful adventure pieces.
00:23:59.409 --> 00:24:06.056
Core of it.
00:24:06.056 --> 00:24:21.446
There's also the small human interaction moments that really sort of matter, that make walter come out of his shell a little bit and realize his potential through the journey that he went on, but also through realizing the things that are inside him are good enough to show people outside as well yeah, I, I know I love that because I forgot about that until I watched it.
00:24:21.527 --> 00:24:23.718
That's last time that the final photo was him.
00:24:23.718 --> 00:24:27.787
I forgot all about that, it's one of the most poignant parts, but when I watched it I was young and didn't give a shit.
00:24:30.255 --> 00:24:36.183
I think that says a lot about the movie, though is the fact that it was so understated that it wasn't really the point of the movie that he was the very end picture on it.
00:24:36.183 --> 00:24:44.366
The point of the movie was that he overcame that sense of needing external recognition, being on the front of the cover that it didn't really matter to him anymore.
00:24:44.366 --> 00:24:50.021
And the fact that it didn't matter to you as an audience member was like well, that's just art meeting real life yeah, I think.
00:24:50.061 --> 00:24:53.536
I think, though, it was a little bit more poignant this time around.
00:24:53.536 --> 00:25:04.407
That was when I first watched it, when I was younger, because this time I saw it and like, because the photo, the photo is him sitting on steps looking at two different photos.
00:25:04.407 --> 00:25:06.422
Was he having lunch?
00:25:06.422 --> 00:25:07.698
No, he's having, he's looking at photos.
00:25:07.738 --> 00:25:30.964
Yeah, he was looking through the, the spectacles that he sort of and looking at, looking at photos and like, and it showed, and it just shows that, like the last episode of time magazine, which every, every cover of time magazine is something large and or something beautiful, something thing, and then the very final thing is this is what, like all those things, this is what life is.
00:25:31.125 --> 00:25:36.829
It's yeah the quintessence of life, it's just us, yeah yeah, that's really awesome.
00:25:36.849 --> 00:25:38.557
All right, let's get into some of our favorite scenes here.
00:25:38.557 --> 00:25:38.999
All right.
00:25:38.999 --> 00:25:41.912
So I want to start off with the first daydream sequence.
00:25:41.912 --> 00:25:44.378
When we looked at that, we already sort of talked a little bit about it.
00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:50.561
But we're introduced to this scene where walter's sort of sitting in the middle of the train station and he's very isolated.
00:25:50.561 --> 00:25:56.905
Through medium and wide shots and you can see that there there's not very many people around him and the connections that he's having really aren't there.
00:25:56.905 --> 00:26:05.567
And the fact that he's so small and positioned so small around all these really big buildings and structures just shows how much of a small piece of the machine he is.
00:26:05.567 --> 00:26:11.366
And when he's sort of traveling in the train and to work, you can see him moving with the herds of people.
00:26:11.366 --> 00:26:14.057
So it shows that he's not really an individual in this space.
00:26:14.057 --> 00:26:18.611
He's moving through the crowds, he's trying to get through the day.
00:26:18.611 --> 00:26:35.371
The palette is cool and desaturated and it's grays and blues, as we talked about before but then jumps into this daydreaming sequence where he literally does a double flip off the bridge, enters this burning building that is completely engulfed in flames and then comes out the back of it.
00:26:35.592 --> 00:26:58.167
A real hero, and that was like the first instance where I saw ben stiller acting like the ben stiller I see in the movies and he comes out and he's got this completely silly-looking robotic leg for the dog and you notice in that small instance that he's obviously sort of wanting these sort of connections and he's wanting that recognition and he's also a bit of a dreamer as well.
00:26:58.167 --> 00:27:01.565
But I just really liked how his daydreams are not rooted in selfish fantasies.
00:27:01.565 --> 00:27:04.160
Here it's like a longing to be valued.
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:12.124
It was a of it was a bit out of left field for me because I didn't know what to expect when I watched this movie whether it was a comedy, whether it was a drama, I don't know.
00:27:12.234 --> 00:27:18.223
So when I was watching this and I saw this lonely guy sitting at the train station that snapped into that dream sequence, I was like, oh, what's this?
00:27:18.223 --> 00:27:18.944
What's happening here?
00:27:19.467 --> 00:27:27.424
So yeah, yeah, and there was a few of those going through the the movie brush those dream sequences as well.
00:27:27.424 --> 00:27:30.753
Yeah, like I, I really enjoyed the uh stretch armstrong sequence dream sequence.
00:27:30.753 --> 00:27:41.688
That was probably my favorite dream sequence because I was fighting in the elevator yeah, fighting in the elevator with, uh, adam scott's character and they're fighting over the stretch armstrong.
00:27:41.688 --> 00:27:48.807
It ends up spilling out into the streets, but they're like earth bender rock sliding across like the bitumen.
00:27:48.826 --> 00:27:49.208
Yeah.
00:27:49.769 --> 00:28:01.221
It's just just like this huge production and I like that to me, like watching that scene, but like, and it was just how, how much he wanted to sort of, why does it stick up for himself?
00:28:01.221 --> 00:28:02.776
Cause he's, he always just takes it.
00:28:02.776 --> 00:28:12.826
And this, this was his dream of him being able to stand up to the bigger boss, the bigger man, and try and win, but sort of doesn't.
00:28:12.826 --> 00:28:17.951
But that was probably my favorite dream sequence of this movie.
00:28:23.255 --> 00:28:30.722
I really liked when they'd snap into and out of the dream sequences because it would always have this soundtrack swell when he got into the dream sequence and it'd be cinematic because obviously it's imaginatory.
00:28:31.154 --> 00:28:34.486
But then there would also be like it almost fades to near silence.
00:28:34.615 --> 00:28:40.424
It's almost like a distortion and a fade and it's a sharp contrast between his imagination and the real world.
00:28:40.535 --> 00:28:47.099
And then obviously, coupled with Ben Stiller's subtle reaction like the, the snap back into the reality in the slow blink.
00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:48.343
It's like who hasn't done that before?
00:28:48.343 --> 00:28:59.845
But yeah, I just love how like that's a really artful way to to portray that kind of transition, because otherwise I think it would be a little bit more sort of confusing for us to to watch.
00:28:59.845 --> 00:29:04.136
But in the end he sort of reclaims his imagination as part of action.
00:29:04.136 --> 00:29:22.548
But to to go back to what you were saying about Adam Scott and how he always sees himself against him as almost like a victim against an antagonist, they do that as well by they sort of lower the camera angles slightly when they're looking at him as well, to show the distortion of power, time and you know, work, the workplace framing also.
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