Submitted by The_Lone_Apple t3_102ffpb in movies
I’m fond of settling in for a movie on New Year’s Eve and this year the choice was Licorice Pizza. I’d wanted to see this film since I first viewed the trailer - prompted by the use of one of my favorite songs, David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” When a director makes a choice, I’m always left to try to figure out for myself why. The best art is created with the expectation that every person experiencing it will do so in a completely different way and for their own reasons.
Starting with the song, I’ve always interpreted “Life on Mars?” from the point of view of the writer sitting in front of a television set with all these images constantly changing in front of them. From the girl with the mousy hair to whether there’s life on mars, it’s all a cacophony inundating us. This is the modern world just battering us with image after image and emotion on top of other emotions. Where are we? What is real and where do we fit into all of this? Do we fit in at all or are we just along for the ride? More on this later.
Then there’s Alana and Gary. She is the yin to his yang. Gary is older than his age or wants to be. Regardless, he’s an operator. He’s a person who sees the world as something he can mold into what he wants. He’s not satisfied with just being, he craves success. Alana acts younger than she is. She wants to belong and is desperate to belong. She goes from job to job with no real direction - carried along by life and sitting in front of the TV with all the images battering her. She is susceptible to anyone who shows her any affection because she longs to be in a place where she is wanted for being Alana. You feel she’s been hurt a lot in life and it’s made her develop a tough skin even though it’s a veneer. Alana gets roped in by every man who is self-absorbed but says the right things in the moment. However, with Gary she’s suspicious. She falls for him pretty much the way she falls for everyone who pays attention to her, but there’s something. Maybe his age gives her the ability to stand up for herself this one time at least on the surface. However, the feelings are there and they’re genuine and I think she’s afraid because she feels Gary is being sincere. It’s real rather than a fantasy.
This brings me to Paul Thomas Anderson’s choice to have the two characters shown running towards each other the whole movie. Is it heavy-handed? Yeah, but it’s a good choice to never show them running away from anything - it’s always towards something. It’s the embodiment of their longing to succeed in life and personally and that they’re made for each other.
My personal conceit is that the song came first or at least was instrumental in prompting some of the ideas for this film especially its meaning in a modern context. For me, Alana is us, washed over by wave after wave of social media that creates in us a constant unease for belonging and fame and success and love. We see it all and we want it as well. It’s just that life constantly frustrates most people. We’re Alana getting hurt time after time and yet we keep looking - keep wanting. We hope that maybe this time will be the time.
In the end, a very good and deeper film than I thought it would be. It touched me quite a bit. Of course these are the thoughts of one viewer seeing it from one perspective. The mileage of others is just as valid for them.