Girls' Night Out: Eat Pray Love

I would be lying if I said that I was expecting any depth to the movie Eat Pray Love, I thought it would be a typical chick flick and went just to spend more time with my sister. Having never read the book, I had no idea what to expect (admittedly I own the book and did plan on reading it). Since Julia Roberts is one of my favorite actresses, I went without a fight, even though generally I avoid chick flicks. Eat Pray Love is not what I consider a chick flick (I'm not sure where I picked that idea up), especially when one considers the visual effects, the plot, and the depth of confusion woven into the movie.

Eat Pray Love was visually magical. Since the story had Liz Gilbert (played by Roberts) travel from Italy to India to Bali in four month increments, the montage was not only a beautiful tour, but a way to tell Gilbert's story without having the audience sit through a six-hour long movie. The music only added to the color and journey, allowing us a real glance of her story.

Her story, what is her story? Much of the background was left unexplained, and some of it was alluded to by tastefully done flashbacks, but much of it was left to the imagination. (Is it like that in the book?) The plot synapses on imdb.com says "While trying to get pregnant, a happily married woman realizes her life needs to go in a different direction, and after a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey." I was not under the impression that they were trying to have a baby. There was a conversation between Liz Gilbert and Delia Shiraz (played by Viola Davis) about when the latter realized she wanted a baby. Despite the ambiguity of why she wanted to leave, her decision to divorce her husband did not make her happy. Her traveling the world did not make her happy, nor did food, prayer, or men. Her happiness came from inside, it came from her meditations in which she was to smile with her whole body. This is a story of finding happiness and balance, and of course, love.

After the movie, I decided that although I enjoyed the movie, I do not necessarily agree with Gilbert's method of finding happiness. Theoretically there are two ways to become happy, changing one's surroundings, or changing one's insides. Eat Pray Love seems to suggest that the only way to find happiness is to run away from your life, and try to 'find' yourself in other cultures. I have always believed that this is the immature way of finding happiness. There is a strength in keeping one's support group and continuing life, and acknowledging the wonderful gifts that one has. To go on vacation to be able to see that is not a bad thing, but leaving everyone important to you, giving up on family, friends, and work for a year, is not anything I would be able to do, as it seems cowardly.

Am I wrong?