Their eyes were watching God

It is another day and with another day, comes another movie that I have passed the day watching. I am off timetable at university due to my exams so I have been very bored with little to do to pass the time. I can’t even seem to find the motivation to catch up on work that I have missed. This is bad, I know. But today I watched two movies. The first of which was called their eyes are watching God.

It follows the story of a young , free spirited African American girl who lives in the early twentieth century and dreams of finding love and living life. It follows her through the ups and down of her life and relationships as she tries to find happiness. It is based on the 1937 novel by Zora Neale Hurston.

This is a romantic story which leaves you thinking about love and life long after watching it. Set in the late 1920s, it highlights a lot of the social issues that were significant at the time, most importantly the expectations that were held of women and the way that they behaved in society. I studied a module on African American History back in lower Secondary School and found it extremely eye opening and humbling. Since then it has been one of my favourite topics of history partly due to the wonderful cultural and musical heritage which has stemmed from the events and experiences of the people. Music in particular has heavily influenced much of popular music in the Western World today. The sound track to this film is fantastic. It’s so soulful and beautiful in its rawness.

This film really makes you think about what is important in life and has made me think about my ideas of love and living life. I have always had dreams of living life. I hoped that I would take life by the horns and seize the day but I haven’t found the courage to do that. I have fears of putting myself out there. I feel right now that I am simply existing and not quite living. Yes I am doing the degree I want which will hopefully lead to a great new life of opportunity but what about university itself? They say that it’s the ‘best time of your life.’ That’s not how I would describe it. It’s a means to an end for me. In other words, I am here to get my degree and hopefully make some friends for life but it’s to give me a foundation for life. It’s a place where I can gain the skills that I would need to build a career and then I would live my life. Maybe I am putting off the ‘living’? Maybe I should be living now. Maybe I should be like the main character of this film and just ‘live.’ But a life of upset and disappointment has engrained a fear that is quite deep rooted and will take a very skilled gardener to remove.

There is a wonderful quote from this film that I love.

‘Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing and it’s different on every shore…’

I have even written this quote on a piece of paper and blue-tacked it to my wall. I guess I identify with the main character. I too want to live life and find love. The latter has yet to materialise and it’s something you can’t quite look for. But the former – hmmm…..until I gain the confidence to seize the day I will have to continue to just exist.