Freedom in Difficulties——Comment on Spielberg's "The End of Happiness" (Part 1)

there will be difficulties in life

Recently, like most people in China, I am also living under restrictions. I have to wear a mask when I go out of the house, I have to bring an access card when I go out of the community, and I have to take my temperature; I don’t know how to go to further places. Because I have never walked out of the radius of 300 meters with my home as a dot. In the past two days, I watched Spielberg's movie "The End of Happiness", and found that the life of the protagonist in it is very similar to our current life. Of course, he is better than us in some aspects, and his life is not in danger; Worse than us, everyone is free, only he is in trouble.

Victor Navorski is an Eastern European. In order to avoid international disputes, the director named the country Crosia. When he flew to New York, USA, a military coup took place in his home country. So, all of a sudden, he was a discitizen who could neither enter the United States nor fly back home, but just wait in the terminal. What's worse, he has no US dollars, and he can't speak English. Later, the meal coupons given to him by the airport officials for a few days were unfortunately swept into the trash can. How can he survive?

hopeful waiting

There was no other way but to wait. But instead of waiting passively and doing nothing, he waited actively with hope. First, starting with the simplest, he has to eat to survive. There is a one-dollar deposit for the trolleys used to transport luggage at the airport, but many passengers cannot get the deposit back because they are in a hurry and have not delivered the trolleys to a fixed location. Victor found a silver lining in this link, and he survived at least the first few days by pushing the trolley to the finish line. It can be said that there is no unparalleled road. As long as you use your brain, observe carefully, and work diligently, you can always find opportunities.

One of Victor's great strengths is that he abides by the law and does not cross the threshold. Frank, the manager of the airport, thinks that he is troublesome for staying in the terminal for a long time, so he does everything possible to drive him out. Frank first adds a trolley pusher, which cuts off Victor's livelihood; Kedo: There was a five-minute gap when the guards changed today, and he just had to go through that glass door to enter New York. A large group of them stood in front of the surveillance screen, trying to watch him go out, and then be taken away by the police and imprisoned somewhere. As soon as Victor leaves the terminal, Frank's heart disease goes away. But Victor saw through their trick, and when he reached the glass door, he stopped moving forward and turned his head to make a face at the camera: I am not fooled. Although his own country was in chaos, he still did as the Romans did in other people's territory and did not give others a handle.

His diligence and kindness also helped him a lot. In the terminal building, he went door-to-door to find a job, and he agreed to all the demands of the employer. He even used the phone in the terminal hall as his own calling number, and he was always there. Although he did not get the job in the end, he got a lot of information, especially his honesty and kindness left a deep impression on people. He never stays idle wherever he goes, and when he sees a job he can do, he takes the initiative to do it. For example, when he found a wall to be painted, he began to paint it. Because of his excellent workmanship, he was really hired by that company; and because people suspected that he was sent by a competing company, he was also given a high salary. He also helped the Spanish chef Cruz go through the needles, and finally let Cruz win the heart of the black customs officer Torres. The couple finally got married, and he himself has three meals a day since then. When going through the formalities, he said to Torres: "You have a red badge and a green badge in your hand, so I have a 50% chance every time." He is a person who never gives up hope. In this way, he gradually became good friends with several service personnel at the airport, including the old cleaner Gupta who had always suspected him of being a spy.