Living in 2023 and Beyond Like it's La La Land
what La La Land taught me about being a dreamer and how I hope to live by it in the New Year
“And here's to the fools who dream. Crazy as they may seem.”
-Mia (La La Land)
I kicked off my New Year with a rewatch of La La Land ,and it was a transformative decision. I had been begging my mom to watch the film since I thought it would be perfect for her, but little would I anticipate how beautiful a film La La Land is for a New Year celebration. And yes, my mom really did like the film! We had insightful discussions during the film about what it means to be a dreamer, the sacrifices it takes to achieve our dreams, being an artist, passion and love. I was a little starstruck and this experience reminded me of why I love film so much : its ability to connect people and inspire us.
La La Land (2016) directed by Damien Chazelle, who won Best Director at 2017 Oscars for the film, is a story that follows “Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), an aspiring jazz musician, and Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. But as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.” (Google Movies) La La Land is a vibrant, rich and melodramatic film with a moving versatile soundtrack and musical pieces, dreamy cinematography of purple hues, powerhouse emotional performances from Gosling and Stone and a story about daring to dream amongst love. La La Land is an inspiring and timeless story about what it means to dream and the little things in the journey to achieve them and make it a reality. And with every New Year, there are many dreams that we want to fulfill. 2023 for me is a little different with how I want to view my dreams.
Going into the New Year, I love setting new goals (dreams) for myself that I hope to achieve from the next 365 days from personal, professional, mental, social etc. I view the New Year as a fresh start to be bigger and better than before and achieve all these dreams we have. However, while I have these big dreams, I don’t account about the complex journey it takes to achieve them. I have my head “stuck in the clouds' ' living in this fantastical land where all my dreams will magically come true, but that isn’t reality. Unfortunately, life isn’t some magical fairytale where we can wave a wand and all our wishes will happen. Life is rough! La La Land reminds of this by being realistic all the way till the end.
When we follow Mia and Sebastian’s journey, the first half of the film is very nostalgic, fantastical and dreamy. Mia and Sebastian are working toward their dreams but falling in love with each other and believe that they can have it all. The purple cinematography, bright colors and tracks like City of Stars, the Griffith Exploratory dance sequence throughout the first half brilliantly captures the fairytale feeling and watching it you believe Mia and Sebastian will be endgame. That they can have it all. Unfortunately, fairytales aren’t reality, and the second half is a stark reminder when you see Mia and Sebastian taking their own leaps to live and be able to achieve their dreams. They support each other in this fantastical journey and believe “we are in this together” , but real life hits at the end of the day to show that they are different in what they want. Mia is a dreamer throughout and through and will do anything to get the goal that she so believes in ,and Sebastian eventually comes to a place where he is satisfied with a job that “pays the bills”. When the rift between them happens, its a painful reminder that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows unlike our dreams. We can’t always have it all and sacrifices are to be made.
I loved how La La Land balanced the fantasy vs reality in the movie and the ending was the straw in the cake. Mia and Sebastian not being together is heartbreaking but it's realistic. When we achieve our dreams, we unfortunately cant have it all, but we continue to dare to dream and be grateful for the journey we take. At the end of La La Land, I am happy for Mia and Sebastian finding success in their own way, and I love that they recognize that between them.
As the New Year has started, I hope to live my life like Mia and Sebastian. I want to delve on my aspirations for the New Year and see this fantasy of mine come true, but also recognize that some things may not work out as intended. I will dream big and work hard, but most of all I will be grateful for the journey I go on this year. With my goals, I hope to live between the realm of fantasy and reality and find pleasure in both. Like Mia and Sebastian who are the fools who dreamed and may seem crazy for aspiring what they wanted, I want to be that fool. Here’s to dreaming big and reaching those dreams in 2023 (and beyond!)