Bright Young Things
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—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
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There are those who seem to believe that the rules don't apply to them, or at least that they are governed by different rules than most people. It's not just those who end up in the celebrity “trials of the century� that seem to come along once or twice a year, or those whose money give them access to the halls of power. Sometimes it is those who are just raised to believe that they are a privileged class.
Evelyn Waugh wrote a series of satirical novels about the British upper class in the 1920s and 1930s. With great wit he exposed the vapidity of their world. Stephen Fry has adapted one of those novels (Vile Bodies) into Bright Young Things.
A group of rich and titled young adults party their way through life. They relish the celebrity they gain through the gossip columns. They don't care about scandal: that is what makes life interesting.
On the edge of this crowd is Adam Symes, a penniless writer who is trying to get enough money to marry Nina Blount. Adam's luck runs hot and cold. One minute he wins £1000, the next he has given it away on a bet and it is likely gone forever. Each time he gets money, he tells Nina they can get married, but shortly, he has to tell her “not yet.� Certainly Adam would like to be just like the others, but there is just something missing from his personality.
What we see as we watch this crowd is that they are totally self-absorbed. They really know nothing about what the world is like or what things are important. They care only about their own egoistic hedonism. They seek, not a greater good, only their own pleasure. It is this narcissism that is missing from Adam. Even as he takes part in their world, he also exhibits a bit of unease about the excessiveness of their lifestyle.
At one point later in the film, one of this group of hedonists, now in a mental hospital, tells of a dream where they are all driving cars in a circle having to go faster and faster. This is what their world has become -- constantly having to do more and more for excitement, but getting nowhere in the process.
Of course, stories like this make it easy for us to point fingers at the rich and privileged and how they do so little with their lives. Waugh certainly had easy targets for his wit in the upper class of his day. But what makes the stories enduring is not how they poke fun at the privileged, but the ways in which the stories are more universal -- shedding light on our lives as well.
It is always easy to be lured into the seeking of pleasure. We all enjoy having a bit of fun and excitement. And we should treasure such experiences when we have them. Jesus’ first miracle was creating wine from water. He was accused by his opponents of being a wine-bibber and friend to sinners. Jesus enjoyed life; we should as well.
But when that kind of enjoyment becomes the focus of life -- if we become obsessed only with that which serves our desires -- we run the risk of becoming as empty and meaningless as the people in this film, who, for all their searching for fun, never find happiness.
Fry does make some changes in Waugh’s story, including tacking on a happy ending. The happy ending is a good addition, not just because it leaves a better taste in our mouths, but because it reinforces the idea that real happiness is not to be found in drugs or money or excitement, but in the sharing of life with others.
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
There are those who seem to believe that the rules don't apply to them, or at least that they are governed by different rules than most people. It's not just those who end up in the celebrity “trials of the century� that seem to come along once or twice a year, or those whose money give them access to the halls of power. Sometimes it is those who are just raised to believe that they are a privileged class.Evelyn Waugh wrote a series of satirical novels about the British upper class in the 1920s and 1930s. With great wit he exposed the vapidity of their world. Stephen Fry has adapted one of those novels (Vile Bodies) into Bright Young Things.
A group of rich and titled young adults party their way through life. They relish the celebrity they gain through the gossip columns. They don't care about scandal: that is what makes life interesting.
On the edge of this crowd is Adam Symes, a penniless writer who is trying to get enough money to marry Nina Blount. Adam's luck runs hot and cold. One minute he wins £1000, the next he has given it away on a bet and it is likely gone forever. Each time he gets money, he tells Nina they can get married, but shortly, he has to tell her “not yet.� Certainly Adam would like to be just like the others, but there is just something missing from his personality.What we see as we watch this crowd is that they are totally self-absorbed. They really know nothing about what the world is like or what things are important. They care only about their own egoistic hedonism. They seek, not a greater good, only their own pleasure. It is this narcissism that is missing from Adam. Even as he takes part in their world, he also exhibits a bit of unease about the excessiveness of their lifestyle.
At one point later in the film, one of this group of hedonists, now in a mental hospital, tells of a dream where they are all driving cars in a circle having to go faster and faster. This is what their world has become -- constantly having to do more and more for excitement, but getting nowhere in the process.
Of course, stories like this make it easy for us to point fingers at the rich and privileged and how they do so little with their lives. Waugh certainly had easy targets for his wit in the upper class of his day. But what makes the stories enduring is not how they poke fun at the privileged, but the ways in which the stories are more universal -- shedding light on our lives as well.
It is always easy to be lured into the seeking of pleasure. We all enjoy having a bit of fun and excitement. And we should treasure such experiences when we have them. Jesus’ first miracle was creating wine from water. He was accused by his opponents of being a wine-bibber and friend to sinners. Jesus enjoyed life; we should as well.
But when that kind of enjoyment becomes the focus of life -- if we become obsessed only with that which serves our desires -- we run the risk of becoming as empty and meaningless as the people in this film, who, for all their searching for fun, never find happiness.
Fry does make some changes in Waugh’s story, including tacking on a happy ending. The happy ending is a good addition, not just because it leaves a better taste in our mouths, but because it reinforces the idea that real happiness is not to be found in drugs or money or excitement, but in the sharing of life with others.
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