Up! (The mind in paradise, the body still on earth)

Up!I have watched Up! in the cinema today (it has just started in Germany) and it has instantly become my most favorite movie, surpassing The Matrix and Over the Hedge. I have never seen a movie that moved me that much while still being full of funny scenes and dramatic action. Of course, the young kids in the theatre were amused by the slapstick scenes with the giant bird Kevin and the dog Dug. But they lacked the life experience to see the beauty in the heartrending scenes with Carl and his former wife Ellie and were rather confused by them instead. Nevertheless it was interesting to experience their carefree laughter at the next funny scene while still having a tear in the eye after the slideshow of Carl and Ellie’s life.

If you think about it, the movie does not offer a happy ending in the strict meaning of the word. You can regret many things in life, but you only have so much power over all the things that happen in your life and so you might never get the chance to achieve the goal you desire the most. Carl only achieved the main goal of his (and Ellie’s) life after the death of his beloved wife. And when he finally did he had to find out that it was, after all, a goal whose achievement bore no meaning in itself. The moment of his biggest triumph was also the moment of one of his biggest letdowns. “The journey (of life) is the reward.” Is that the main statement of the movie? I don’t really know. I just know that in moments like these life seems quite cruel as physical reality can supposably never satisfy the demands of the mind. I seriously wonder if man has gotten too intelligent too fast; the mind in paradise, the body still on earth.

What bothers me the most is how recklessly people are throwing away love. I don’t necessarily mean the love between lovers, but also the love towards your children or the love between best friends. The father of Russel who didn’t show up during the Wilderness Explorer award show at the end of the movie is a good example for this. Being successful at work can certainly be a rewarding experience, but no soul has yet experienced salvation because some arrows are pointing upwards. It’s usually not needed to turn everything upside down to make the world a slightly better place. For example by helping your clumsy sister when she messed up something again instead of making fun of her.

I dunno, just some random thoughts of a troubled mind.

I think I have now drawn enough strips for the time being to make my points about certain political topics (except one that will be published on Halloween). So in the following months you can expect to see more comics dealing with the inner life of my characters. The current story arc is an example for this.


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