Smiley Face (2007)

dir Gregg Araki

How did you get here?

The place where you are right now at this very moment.

What series of events brought you to this place at this specific point in time?

Where are you in life?

Are things turning out the way you had planned?

And by the way, when was the last time you spoke with your parents?

Don’t you think you want to give them a call?

•••

I have been watching nostalgic movies as an attempt at running from my own life and avoiding my emotions and it’s! Not! Working!

You know tarot cards, right? There’s no magic to it really. It’s basically a Rorschach test, but a lot of the times we see what we need to see so freaking clearly that it feels like absolute magic. Movies are the same apparently

Okay, everybody. Raise your hand if you’re feeling lost in life and avoiding your parents efforts at communication and smoking alarming amounts of weed!

Gregg Araki comforts me like no other. There’s something about how he can tell stories about people who are kind of hopeless but leave you feeling light and airy and free. It’s almost like once you’ve let go you can just enjoy the free fall… This film should absolutely stress me out but instead I’m sitting here feeling encouraged for the first time in a while. Maybe even grateful. Fuck perfection and high expectations. Would it really be so bad to fuck up every once in a while? Things are rarely as scary as they feel. And we’re all just people after all. All we can do is act in good faith and hope the rest falls into place.

•••

Jane knew what she had to do.

Jane was no schemer, no conniver, no thief.

Jane knew that deep down she was pure of heart.

And that she did not want to contribute to the toll of human misery and suffering in the world.

She knew the time had come to take responsibility for what she had done and to return the book to its rightful owner.

That her intentions were honorable, there would be no doubt.