(This post may contain minor spoilers for the films Godzilla Minus One and Arrival, if that sort of thing bothers you.)
I keep coming back to a couple of moments in Godzilla Minus One — Noriko’s plea to Shikishima that “Those of us who survived the war are meant to live,” and Tachibana’s plea to Shikishima at the climax: “Live.”
Perhaps I am silly to read so much into a Godzilla movie, but some days I look myself in the eye in the mirror and repeat that command in all seriousness: “Live.”
My other favorite 21st century movie, Arrival, asks the question, if you knew without a doubt it would end sadly, would you make the choice to be happy for a few years — but that is the choice we make every day in the pursuit of happiness.
Of course if we catch some happiness, it will last for a finite period of time and then end in sadness and loss.
But of course, we make the choice, and if we’re wise we savor that happy time, and those who survive are meant to live.
Relish your happiness.
And if the happy time is over, and you’re coping with the loss, savor those memories, look in the mirror, and command the person you see there: Live.
