Films and Opportunity

I just finished watching The Social Network. It was an engaging film--and it is this point that has motivated to write. I don't watch very many films, but I have to admit that the feeling of being absorbed in a life other than your own is quite spectacular. I feel like I gain a great deal from having this experience with films with intellectual content. I'm not about to create nuanced criteria for what does and what doesn't fall under this category. There is a spectrum. Roughly, films centered around car chases and explosions most likely won't make the cut. As for the rest, that's where one has to do the mental work to determine that for oneself. It should be a an enjoyable activity. Well at least it is for someone with my cognitive disposition.

After finishing The Social Network life felt so grand. Living that world for two hours filled my mind with endless possibilities for my life. And this possibility is true, but only because of the privileged position I find myself in. Though I don't have large financial assets to draw from, I'm an American citizen attending a relatively elite college in New York City. If I was born to a poor family in Venezuela or Bangladesh it would be a very different story unfortunately. Maybe my intrinsic talent could have pulled me out of that dire situation and allowed me to succeed; but maybe not. Thus, I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity I have, and also feel an incredible obligation to make sure that as many people in the world as possible are given the same (or hopefully an even better) opportunity.

It saddens me to think of what someone my age living in poverty in some underdeveloped country would be thinking at the end of this same film. They certainly could not feel the same sense possibility I felt. Would they instead feel resentment? Or would they feel a different set of positive emotions? I could see how they might be inspired by a rags to riches story, as many poor Americans have been throughout our country's history. But this isn't a rags to riches story, it's the story of a group of talented a privileged young men making it big. Well I don't know. All I do know is that I have to do all in my power to create equal opportunity on this planet.