The 2022 drama comedy film, “A Man Called Otto,” is currently the talk of the town since its release. It tells the story of the cranky retiree Otto Anderson played by the American icon Tom Hanks as he plots to take his own life, only to be repeatedly interrupted by his new neighbors. The story is based on the 2012 Swedish novel by Fredrik Backman entitled, “A Man Called Ove.” Many people admired and celebrated the show, and why not? “A Man Called Otto” is for the ones who lost, loved, and lived, with which we can glean learnings from about almost anything in life.
Be yourself
Otto is a man of discipline. He strictly follows the rules and reminds everyone around him to do so. With the world we live in now, it often gets annoying to be around a person like Otto. But perhaps, this is what made us and those around Otto love him. He is a man who stayed true to himself and never cared if people liked him or not, because why should we? So, just be yourself, regardless of anything. You will never know when you will meet people that will bring something different to your life again, and they will appreciate you for you.
Life is, indeed, unfair
Otto and Sonya’s relationship has had everyone in awe. It is simple, but you see how real the love is. Their romantic dinner scene will forever be in our hearts, and so is how Otto described Sonya—bringing color to his life, his everything, and not having anything after her. But, life is unfair. No matter how perfect their relationship was, they weren’t blessed to have another child and Sonya had to go first. That is how life goes, and unfortunately, we just have to live with it. Love goes beyond life and death, and that is what makes this unfair world a little bit better.
Just keep living
We love to live. Crazy as how it may sound, but we do. So, when we go through something painful, we question everything around us because why can’t we just live? When our loved ones go, we could not find it to ourselves to continue living. But know that they only want one thing—for us to keep living. Grief is something that one cannot fully understand. No one is really sure what it is and how to deal with it. But, I guess, grief is just love. It is love that just has nowhere to go. We wonder where to give that love now that we have no one to give it to. But maybe, you can give that to yourself, and you will feel like it wasn’t as if the person you love is gone. Maybe, after all, love DOES keep us alive, just like how Otto lived for Sonya.
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