A review on the film adaptation of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Approximately eighty-two years ago, James Thurber wrote the classic short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Now to many of you, this title will remind you of the 2013 film by Ben Stiller as the modern adaptation of Thurber’s book.
If you have watched the movie then you already know that Walter Mitty has a pretty overly active imagination. He is constantly daydreaming and fantasizing alternate fictional worlds where he is the hero or the main character in the events that he creates for himself. In the movie, this causes Walter Mitty to struggle socially with his co-workers, family, his love interest, strangers, and even his boss.
What is different about the movie and book is that Walter Mitty overcomes his overactive imagination by the end of the story and becomes a more confident person overall. He conquers his fears by acting on them rather than standing back and visualizing what could have happened.
Now, of course, the movie is great and displays Walter’s inner thoughts quite well, however, the book uses a second character to enact as a representation of “the world” and what “normal” means.
In Thurber’s book, Walter Mitty is in the city to run some errands with his wife, referred to as Mrs. Mitty, who is constantly pulling Walter out of his daydreams. She is deeply bothered by his obliviousness to his surroundings but never seems to go out of her way to help Walter with this problem, and instead only criticizes him.
Later on in the book, Walter does end up speaking aloud by accident while he is in one of his daydreams, and of course, is judged by strangers passing by. Sadly that would be “the world’s” reaction to such a scenario because they would assume him to be quite peculiar and possibly crazy since people tend to be quite judgemental to anyone who isn’t remotely “normal”.
This an entirely different matter of discussion, but Thurber’s work is a great example of what needs to change in society. Yes, it is important to notice that if someone is crazy and needs help or care, but it is not society’s place to judge them. In Walter’s case, he is just like anyone else but he prefers to be lost in his thoughts since his duties and responsibilities in his current reality do not give him the satisfaction as his dreams.
In my opinion, Walter’s daydreams are little projections of his insecurities and desires of what he wishes he could have done with his life. In a way, Walter’s imagination maybe some sort of coping mechanism that allows for him to “live” out his life in his daydreaming past-times because he missed out on opportunities that have now caused him to live a more plain and “normal” life. This use of daydreaming might as well be a way for Walter to cover up the sense of regret he has from not going on the adventures he now is stuck dwelling on.
While the movie shows that Walter Mitty is still judged by others, like his boss, his love interest actually finds his dazed and awkward interactions to be both attractive and admirable; unlike Mrs. Mitty in the book.
I found that the movie is a great representation of self-forgiveness and the acceptance of following your heart. The movie showed how Walter Mitty found his self-worth through his death-defying adventures, as well as learning to find what he truly was looking for.
The book and movie both carry great illustrations of the struggles of Walter Mitty and they both show their audiences that they should follow their dreams because it is better to live without regretting to live a “normal” life.
Citation
Thurber, James. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 1939, Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.
