Which film has impacted you the most on a personal level?

There is little in life that is within the control of our will and abilities. This concept is easily overlooked in daily life. We move forward, ignorant of our vulnerability and sensitivity. We feel empowered by our tools and understanding but are efforts our eventually eclipsed by the overwhelming nature of reality. 

This perspective presents us with two choices. One is to submit to the irrational and omnipotent decay of effort and reason and simply give up. The alternative is to resist this powerful force with a silent persistence until our goals, however insignificant in the grand scheme of it all, are obtained to our humble satisfaction. 

Cast Away, the 2000 film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt, places these thoughts into my mind each time I think of this film or watch it. A normal man who is leading a mediocre but comfortable life is suddenly beset by a tragedy while traveling for business over the Pacific ocean. As an employee of FedEx, he was aboard a cargo plane as it met a storm and crashes into the sea. 

After witnessing the demise of the other members of the crew and spending a night adrift on some wreckage, Chuck Noland, the character played by Tom Hanks, fortunately washes ashore on a deserted island. His time on the island is marked by challenges of all kinds. Isolation, hunger, and the elements wear away at the ill-prepared man. 

Looking beyond the literal interpretation of the film, several key dynamics are presented and explored over the duration of the film. These dynamics are archetypical representations of the challenges that we face each day, whether grand in scale like those found in Cast Away, or menial day-to-day difficulties. The film creates an environment for personal meditation, which I have experienced directly. For this reason, Cast Away, among all the other films I have see over the course of my life, has left the most distinct imprint on my mind. 

Resilience vs Fragility

Throw from a plane, drifting at see, no heat, pure water, or food, Noland is stuck without any visible signs of hope. The demands of his former life have given him little reason to maintain strength physically, mentally, or emotionally. All of his needs and wants are provided for him inside the abridged reality of suburban middle class society. 

While he was not living a sparse life, he was not also a man of particular importance, power, or strong financial standing. This shows that is his past life, he was privileged enough to earn the chubby physique but not strong enough to be very successful in his life. In shorter terms, Noland represents  a fragile persona that is only a result of his weakness and privilege. 

This is expressed in detail during his experiences on the island. The sequence from the plane crash to his waking up on the island shows how powerless he is in the face of nature. He is literally tossed around at the whim of the waves; small and insignificant. When he attempts to breach the breakers on his crude raft, he fails and is stabbed by a piece of coral. His leg is punctured and he bleeds profusely into the stinging salt water that surrounds him. This is another example of his fragile state. Noland succumbs to an infection while on the island. From lack of shelter, clean water or malnutrition, a tooth becomes impacted and infected. Again, Noland is delicate enough to be negatively effected by his surroundings and situation. 

Despite these painful and difficult events, Noland endures them. Not comfortably, or effortlessly, but he endures them nonetheless. While the surroundings may take advantage of his fragility, he responds with resilience. The wound from the coral is tended to and eventually heals, the tooth is smashed out with the end of an ice stake, and too heals. After several attempts, Noland creates a successful raft and is able to evade the raw power of the ocean. Human resilience, it seems has the potential to overcome the challenges faced in life. 

As a personal response to this fragility-resilience dichotomy, I think often of the challenges that I have met and either failed or succeeded. Sometimes, my situation or surroundings best my efforts and I am at the mercy of what is to come. Other times, I apply myself and endure the hardships. Cast Away offers material for reflection on my life and Noland's situation. The conclusion that I most often come upon is this: I am not on a island fighting for my life, whatever I face can be handled if I am resilient and hardworking enough. 

Rational vs Irrational 

Sometimes reality is thought of as a reasonable and sensible place, full of reasonable and sensible people. If I explain something rationally, or have a sound solution to a problem, then the problem is dealt with and no longer exists. This is the rational side of reality. 

This 'sensible' side is balanced or accompanied the raw irrational situations and forces in the world. Decisions are not only influenced by methodical and logical choices, but emotions and fears weigh-in just as much. 

Again, the ocean offers material for this dynamic between rationality and irrationality and the interaction between the two. The plane is a rational machine, designed to perform a rational function. It transports goods across the ocean. It's cargo manifest is organized and every object that is onboard is accounted for. The crew members have been selected carefully for the positions that they serve within FedEx. The pilot, the navigatior, and Noland are all qualified enough to complete the task ahead. The pre-flight checks are performed systematically. All these show that the plane is a rational, willed machine that exists for a reason. 

The ocean and the sky form into a tropical storm. Powerful and natural, the storm does not have intention or directives, it simply exists because the conditions were right for it to develop. The storm just is, it does not pose a inherent malicious force or a benevolent force. This irrational, mindless power  juxtaposes the precise and rational nature of the cargo plane and crew members. In this case, the ocean overpowered the plane and destroyed the life of two of the crew, and the plans of the survivor, Noland. 

Isolation drives Noland into psychological territory that he has never experienced before. This process into the unknown regions of the interaction between his mind and his environment, creates a situation in which Noland exemplifies both the rational and the irrational. While irrational forces killed his crew members and forced him onto this island, the irrational befriending of a volleyball saved his life. 

When Noland's hand is punctured by a fire-starter stick he grabs a volleyball and kicks it out of frustration. Later, he draws a crude face in the blood. As it dries, it stains the surface of the ball. Noland names the ball Wilson, after the company that manufactured it. Wilson becomes his friend and companion. Noland talks to Wilson about daily task, and also about emotional challenges like missing his wife or thoughts of suicide. The human desire to not be alone drives Noland to take on irrational actions. In this case, they saved him from insanity. 

On a personal level, I have learned many lessons from these examples and other examples of this kind that are in Cast Away. I have learned to accept that neither pure rationality or pure irrationality are the solution for all problems that I face. The trick is to balance the two, and use them in combination in the best ways that I can in order to deal with the challenges that I may face. 

Cast Away is rich in relationships and dynamics. It is human nature to relate to others in a struggle and learn from them. These lessons are offered to us and we may choose to take them or leave them behind. I chose to take them. As a result, this film has left a persistent mark on my mind and I would reference Cast Away as one of the most personally influential films that I have ever been privileged to see.