MovieChat Forums > The Big Year (2011) Discussion > A tragic tale

A tragic tale

posted 10 years ago by shambat
3 replies | jump to latest

*SOME SPOILERS HEREIN*

This story is a pretty sad story about 3 guys who have a great passion for birding and birds, but are for some reason not pursuing their passions because of external forces.

Brad Harris (Black), hates his job as a programmer. Stu Preissler (Martin), is a successful businessman with a big family and is too busy. Kenny Bostick (Wilson) owns a contruction company, and has a strained family life with several ex-wivs/girlfriends.

They can discern hundreds of birds not just by sight, but by how they sound, and yet have not tried to make a career out of this knowledge. They should all be zoology or ornithology professors, environmental consultants, or even park rangers.

Brad basically has to choose between birding and a job he hates. He also has an ex-wife, which he mentions left him because of his birding. He does end up lucking out by finding a girlfriend that is just as passionate as him in the end.

Stu gets a grandson, which makes him think about the time he has left. Even though he has worked hard his whole life and is finally affording himself some time to do what he loves, he still decides to feel guilty about it because of his family growing.

Bostick is probably the one that is most gung-ho about birding out of all of them, and chooses birding over almost any other activity or person in his life. The problem he has is that his lifestyle is not compatible with people that don't share his love for birding and that think that he can just drop it at any time.

The way I read the message of this film, was that if you are passionate about something, and choose to pursue it, you will have to sacrifice other things that you shouldn't be sacrificing.

I feel that this is a tragedy of these people's lives. Sure, the movie ends on a somewhat happy note, but only for the people that give it up, or find supportive people in their lives. Bostick gives the small family in the park in China a longing look as if to say that he wanted what they have. You know, I don't think he does want what they have. I think he wants to see all the world's birds, and that's what he should do. Having this kind of love for something is rare, and should be celebrated instead of seen as a weight holding people down.

Anyone feel the same way?

[–] hka-3 10 years ago

Bostick gives the small family in the park in China a longing look as if to say that he wanted what they have. You know, I don't think he does want what they have. I think he wants to see all the world's birds, and that's what he should do.

Yeah, I think he's okay with how things turned out, but it's possible he wishes he had it both ways -- in which he was the winner of the Big Year and had a successful marriage and subsequent fatherhood.

It seemed like Bostick's wife had an idea that this could happen with him and took a chance that that he would generally be there enough for her in their relationship. She found out the hard way that he would miss major events and that she didn't want a relationship like that. In the future Bostick could find a relationship with a woman who is more patient with him and who has enough going on in her life that she would be able to accept his absences.

As for the rest of your post, I wouldn't exactly put it the same way, but I see where you're coming from with your assessments. There are a lot of people in the world who don't get to pursue their passions full time because they allow other responsibilities and/or other people to get in the way. They may feel they have no other choice. Sometimes they put their true passions on the back burner permanently and live to regret it. With Brad, Stu and Bostick, they each got the satisfaction of knowing they fought hard enough to be in the top of the list. With Bostick that feeling is probably temporary and he will do a Big Year again, which is his prerogative.

Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.

[–] otter 10 years ago

"The way I read the message of this film, was that if you are passionate about something, and choose to pursue it, you will have to sacrifice other things that you shouldn't be sacrificing. "

I don't quite agree, IMHO the film was about what could be gained or lost by passionately pursuing something, not just about what is sacrificed. I also don't agree that these guys should be academic ornithologists, more about that below.

As to what the characters gained: Stu broke himself of his lifelong workaholism and ended up improving his relationships with his family, and at the end of the film he's happier than he was at the beginning. Brad gained a girlfrend who likes his hobby, he gained some approval from a father who'd always been unimpressed with him, and he gained the ability to see a difficult project through, at the end of the film he had gone from an unhappy, self-doubting quitter to a happy and confident man. Kenny was the only one who sacrificed more than he gained, although as he's also failed to gain any self-knowlege it's not clear that he realizes that.

As to whether anyone who passionate about a hobby should turn pro, no, not everyone should. Yes, it's great to do something you love for a living, but making your hobby your job can ruin your enjoyment of it. I know musicians who've decided that they don't want the constant touring that turning pro would require, artists who don't want to worry about what will sell; hobbies offer the chance to do something for the love of it, rather than to pay the rent or advance in the career. I don't know of another film about the value of hobbies.

“Seventy-seven courses and a regicide, never a wedding like it!

[–] Reedmalloy 9 years ago

the wife of Sandy Komito, the real-life personality on whom the Bostick character was based, was fully supportive of both of his record-setting Big Years.

Of course he was 67 when he made the second record-setter and very wealthy... :-)