Over the weekend, I watched an old Japanese movie titled "Tony Takitani." You may have already guessed, Tony Takitani is the main character in the movie. Tony is an artist, an illustrator to be exact. His mother passed away three days after he was born, leaving him with his father, a freelance musician.
As a child, Tony was a loner. His father, rarely home, spent most of his time traveling to and performing at various night clubs. Tony did not have any friends. Many people were suspicious of him because of his American name, an uncommon occurrence in post-Word War II Japan. It's no wonder then that Tony grew up all alone. However, Tony never thought about his loneliness, it just never occurred to him. And why should it, he's living like he's always lived. He was satisfied.
One day, Tony met a beautiful woman who was 15 years younger than him. He instantly fell in love with her and for the first time in his life, he realized how incredibly lonely he was. He was no longer satisfied with his life; he wanted her, he needed her. Although the woman was hesitant at first, Tony's persistence prevailed. They got married and were very happy together. Life was beautiful.
Unfortunately, Tony discovered that his wife was addicted to shopping for high end couture fashion. Tony's wife relishes in the presence of expensive clothes and accessories. Every day, she goes shopping and buys new outfits. Before long, they had to convert an entire room to a wardrobe for his wife. Finally, Tony approached his wife and asked if she could possibly stop shopping this frequently.
Tony's wife promised to control her addiction. For an entire week, she stayed at home, fearing that she would be tempted to buy things if she were to go out. She started spending more and more time in her wardrobe, staring at her large collection of clothes, shoes, and accessories. The more she stared, the more she yearned to buy new outfits. Finally, she could not take it any longer; she went shopping. She bought more clothes and returned home, satisfied.
Then, the guilt weighed in. She did love her husband. Did she love her husband more or her clothes? Of course she loves her husband more. She headed back to the store to return the purchased items and proceeded to drive back home. But alas, there she was stuck at the red traffic light. Why did it so long for the light to turn green? Why was it that all she could think about was the clothes that she had just returned? She was suffocating and could think of only one solution, to return to the store. Without further thought, she made a U-turn. The car hit something. She died.
As time passed, Tony learned to forget the entire episode. He never had a wife, he never fell in love.
The movie is a tragedy, or is it? True, Tony experienced a tragic loss at the end, but in exchange, he lived the happiest days of his life with his wife. Is Tony better off being a loner and never achieving bliss? Is it better to live a balanced life with ups and downs or is it better to live a flat life?
Perhaps the best answer to the first question comes from the answer to this question: is Tony dwelling on the past by repressing memories of his deceased wife?
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