Julia Roberts Teaches Us How To “Eat, Pray, Love” (2010) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The first time I watched Eat, Pray, Love, directed by Ryan Murphy, was when I was just ten years old. I didn’t really care about the movie or the book, I was simply watching it because my dad’s side of the family is Balinese. I didn’t know Julia Roberts has been acting in Hollywood ever since 1987 or the fact she was basically a Hollywood A-lister. Julia Roberts has been cast in some well-known movies such as Pretty Woman and Nothing Hill. In comparison to Eat, Pray, Love, Julia Roberts has taken some acting roles that are very similar compared to Pretty Woman and Nothing Hill. In all of those three movies, Julia Roberts played a character that is rather lost in defining her true self and thus met a guy, fell in love, and is much a happier person thanks to the support of her love interests. For instance, in Pretty Woman, Roberts was lost in the world and ended up being a prostitute due to her lack of direction in life. Until she met Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) who fell in love with her and helped her see the beauty in the world through the power of love. Then again, in Nothing Hill, Roberts was unhappy in the Hollywood industry and went to England and met Will Thacker (Hugh Grant) who knew nothing about her existence as a famous celebrity. Through time, with the help of Will Thacker, Julia Roberts’s characters found happiness thanks to the love and normality Will showed her. To sum it up, Eat, Pray, Love, Pretty Woman, and Nothing Hill proved that Julia Roberts typical choice to not step out of her comfort zone as an actor. But then again, these movies are what makes Roberts so popular in the movie industry. Maybe Julia Roberts doesn’t want to step out of her comfort zone because she doesn’t have the ability or desire to do so (which is fine). If these romantic comedy movies are what makes Julia Roberts, Julia Roberts, then why bother criticizing it. If the rom-com fans are happy, it’ll make Roberts happy because these boring characters are what put food on the dining table for Julia Roberts.
Let’s get back to Eat, Pray, Love. I think what makes this movie so valuable, after watching it for the second time, is the elements of beautiful travel images, and the meaningful theme showed throughout the movie. This film was based on a real story from the author of the book herself, Elizabeth Gilbert. The main character in the movie was also named Elizabeth, Liz, Gilbert (Julia Roberts). Eat, Pray, Love starts off its scene showing the oceanic and green scenery of Bali. Liz Gilbert visited Bali for the first time to complete her article. During her first visit to Bali, she met with the 9th generation medicine man, Ketut Liyer (Hadi Subiyanto). This man with no teeth and dry humor personality gave Liz a life-changing prophesy that will change Liz’s life within the next six months.
“You are a world traveler. You will live a long time. Have many friends, many experiences. You will have 2 marriages. One long one short. Also, you will lose all your money. I think in the next 6 to 10 months”.
Eat, Pray, Love has a meaningful message that many viewers can relate to, or even experience the struggle of finding the perfect balance in life. Back in New York, Liz experienced a big drop in her life. She feels like she is not in a happy marriage, she hates her job, and basically life in general. At this point, Liz started to pray to God for the first time. This shows her desperation to once again, feel a sense of happiness in life. From then on, Liz filed for divorce, lost all of her money in the process, and left New York to start a year-long journey to Italy, India, and end it in Bali. Little did Liz know, this year-long trip is going to change her life completely.
There is this weird sensation that you get from eating amazing, delicious food. The mix of spices slowly disperse into your tastes buds, and before you know it, you’ll feel happy. That is exactly what Liz is experiencing in Italy. All she does is eat, sleep, and repeat. In the middle of the trip, she is starting to feel guilty. Then her Italian friend shut her off.
“You feel guilty because you’re American. You don’t know how to enjoy yourself”.
So what did Liz do to prove her friend wrong? She ordered the most basic Italian food: Spaghetti. Liz devoured this spaghetti without a single guilt shown. In particular, the way Ryan Murphy showed Liz’s improvement to feel happy again is exceptional. While Liz is eating, the technical element of cinematography is shown. The camera only centered itself on the spaghetti and blurred the background. Ryan Murphy blurred the background, so the audience would only be focused on Liz and the spaghetti. The combination of detailed imaging of the spaghetti and the song “The Magic Flute” by Mozart playing in the background makes this scene very captivating to watch. This scene is also very important to analyze because this is when she truly feels happy for the first time in a long time. At the end of the stay, Liz is starting to let loose and get her happiness back through the power of spaghetti.
In India, Liz found her happiness though living spiritually. She was able to feel her inner peace though a continues routine of meditation. Although I believe her time in India was very boring and uneventful, Liz reaches the highest milestone when she was in India. Liz found inner happiness though controlling her inner-self. At this point, Liz is halfway through her soul-searching. She found happiness through living without guilt in Italy, she found her spiritual side and inner happiness in India. The last thing Liz is missing is the ability to open and believe in love again. Liz returned to Bali with the intention to meet up with Ketut to complete her last soul-finding. One afternoon, she fell off her bike during a minor car crash with another foreigner, Felipe (Javier Bardem). The next day, they stumble across each other again at a beach party and this is where the spark begins. I mean, it almost seems like they were destined to be together after the accidental meeting. Over time, they start to get closer and then a relationship begins while in Bali. When the viewer thought their relationship is going somewhere serious, Liz decided to stop it all. Why? Well, Liz still struggles to let people, especially someone romantic, into her life. Liz said to Felipe,
“I do not need to love you, to prove that I love myself,”
Liz is afraid that after all these months that she works very hard to find balance in life, she is going to lose it all if this relationship is going somewhere serious. But when Ketut says,
“Sometimes to lose balance for life is part of living balance life”
Liz realized that if she walks away from Felipe, she might never find someone like him again. This is when Liz learned to find happiness through inner peace and balance of true love.
The settings of Eat, Pray, Love are considered very typical. In Italy, India, and Bali, Ryan Murphy decides to include common settings in Italy, India, and Bali that many American viewers recognize. Meaning, look at Bali for an example. Ryan Murphy includes setting like the street vendors and the wild forest into the movie because that’s what many Americans think of when they hear anything about Southeast Asia. Eat, Pray, Love never shows the audience the true Indonesia and the urbanization this country has become over time. Cities continue to build high skyscrapers full of offices and apartments due to the increase of population. Let’s look at two Indonesian movies that show great examples of a modern setting. In Refrain, and Single both movies show the realistic and modern life of the Indonesian. Refrain tells a story of two childhood best friend that never realized their romantic feeling towards one another until they went off to college. The setting of Refrain, takes place in the capital city of Jakarta. Some nightlife in the city are also shown throughout the first half of Refrain and the movie end their scene in the country of Hungary, where one of them was studying music. The setting of Single also takes place in the city of Jakarta, but this time the movie emphasize of showing the rich neighborhood more than the the night life. Refrain and Single sums up the current trend in Indonesian Movies, which is big city, rich lifestyle. The local film won’t show a set from the rural area because it won’t attract viewers. Let’s be honest here, no one uses bicycles to go place to place. The locals use cars, motorcycles, just like normal people. The only reason why Eat, Pray, Love is very popular in the Indonesian market is the fact that it is a Hollywood film with Julia Roberts in it. I just wish Ryan Murphy would use the big platform given the success of Eat, Pray, Love to clarify misconceptions when Americans think of Southeast Asia.
If you love to travel and struggle to find your identity, Eat, Pray, Love is for you. When I was young, I didn’t realize the message behind this movie, but as I mature, I found Eat, Pray, Love to be very inspirational and relatable. There is a moment in everyone’s life where they just feel lost and unhappy. They don’t know what to do, but something’s got to change. Well, this movie will demonstrate that for you. Yes, Liz travels abroad to find happiness, but you don’t have to. Like Liz, she surrounds herself with good people that inspire her to do good things. If you want to change, don’t be afraid to change. Let loose and live life to the fullest. From this, you will find happiness. Also, it is important to point out that something materialistic will not guarantee happiness. Look at Liz for example, she lives this perfect life in New York City, but there comes a point where nothing is going to buy you happiness. Really take the time to find balance, for however long that might be. Because if you lose balance, you lose power.
