The Magnificent Obsession

Though it has been quite a while since my last official post on the Greenville Forward Thinking Blog, rest assured that I have still been thinking and now have some thoughts to share. Now in my last term of my senior year at Furman, I have become quite introspective as my friends and I experience all of our "lasts" together and fret about life post graduation.

However, one of the most interesting things I have thought about lately came from one of my classes I am taking this term. I am enrolled in a film studies course called Stardom and Identity. It is truly one of my favorites in my four years at Furman because it is so different. We screen movies weekly and this week's movie was The Magnificent Obsession featuring Rock Hudson.

For those of you who may have not watched an old movie in a while and could use a dose of 1950s melodrama, this is a great one. But, what I found most inspiring about the film was the message of simplistic self-sacrifice instead of pursuing wealth and over-indulgence. While this may seem trite if you have not watched the film, I found it to be a refreshing reminder of the benefit of helping someone and not wanting something in return.

Though this philosophy may be something simple that is taught to children at a young age as a sort of golden rule mantra, the film changed it into something that could produce power and become an obsession, a magnificent one at that (thus the title). The plot portrays the transformation of a wasteful playboy with too much money for his own good who changes into a man living his life according to a philosophy of helping others without recognition or repayment.

In this day of a struggling economy and heightened poverty, I think the way of describing such a life philosophy as a "magnificent obsession" is incredible. It reminds me of the theory behind Pay it Forward and the way humanity can step up to take care of its own if in the right mindset. Though it may seem shocking to gain a valuable lesson about humanity from Hollywood, the notion of helping others as a lifestyle or dedicated philosophy is a powerful message.