Dean DeGroot
Eng. 102
Laura Cline
29 April, 2010
Up
in the Air
The novel, Up in the Air, is a story about a self-absorbed jet setting
businessman by the name of Ryan Bingham [I]. Ryan has a shallow existence but
claims to like it; he has accepted it anyway, and calls it home.
The movie, Up in the Air, is a story about a self-absorbed jet setting
businessman by the name of Ryan Bingham [II]. Ryan’s existence in the movie is
not quit as shallow as in the book, but it is obvious that it is an isolated
one.
The novel, written in 2001, is
indicative of society during affluent times and how easy we can get caught up
in our pursuit of a “Holy Grail” while neglecting our relationships. The movie,
which came out 8 years later, portrays a more emotional side to Ryan [II]’s
character. 2009 was a much different world than 2001. We as a society were
still recovering from 9-11 and in the middle of a recession unlike we had
experienced since the great depression. Times of great loss can have a huge
impact on the soul. Whether that loss is physical, or materialistic, makes us
step back and take stock in what’s important. Jason Reitman, the director of
the movie, recognized this and added a softer side to the storyline by focusing
more on the relationships of the characters.
Walter Kirn, the author of the novel,
has a unique style of writing that was, at times, hard to follow. His witty
satire, however, did a great job making fun of the corporate business man while
also hitting on societies infatuation with modern technology. Kirn’s desire to
ridicule the silly achievements that society, or individuals, deem important
was evident in a C-span interview. Kirn revealed that he was a rural farm boy
from Minnesota that went to an Ivy League school on scholarship. In the
interview he stated,
I grew to suspect that certain
professors were on to us, and I wondered if they, too, were
fakes…to thinkers of this school, great
literature was an incoherent con, and I, a born con
man who knew little about great
literature, had every reason to agree with them…but I
craved acceptance into, my perception of,
American hierarchy that I didn’t have a key to
and whose presence and power I
resented…I thought that at the end of getting A’s and
gold stars there was going to be a
celebration of Walter Kirn; it never happened…My
motivation ,I think, was a need for
approval/love. ("Q and A with Walter Kirn")
This is Ryan Bingham [I], who was a con man;
he fired people and told them it was an opportunity. His greatest fear was
running into someone he had talked to about “free agency and self-directed
professional enhancement” (Kirn 23)
Ryan
was pursuing a million airline miles for no reason, but dreamed of the
celebration and the perceived status in acquiring his “Holy Grail”. He desires
approval and love, but fears commitment. This makes his shallow existence in
air world a convenient façade. Air world is an endless stream of airports and
random encounters with other travelers that Ryan views as friends and casual
lovers. “Fast friends aren’t my only friends, but they are my best friends.” (Kirn
6) He is a successful, well dressed transient. His only real contact with
people on the ground is his family. He views their existence as a boring
structured life that requires commitment. Through Ryan’s view of people on the
ground is Kirn’s way of ridiculing American’s tendency to overindulge in pursuit
of our American Dream. That pursuit can be so consuming when times are good,
that we lose sight of what is important; our relationships.
Ryan travels alone
in the novel, but travels with a female business partner in the movie. Alex, a
casual love interest in the book, has a bigger role in the movie and Ryan’s
life. The movie has more relationship type emotions while spending a great deal
more time with what Ryan actually does for a living. Firing people. This was a
conscious decision by the director because of the current state of our economy.
Knowing that loss of employment was taking such a huge toll on the American
psyche Reitman made Ryan’s profession a larger part of the plot. He was still
able to poke at Ryan’s silly status symbols of air world while compassionately
dealing with the realities of his profession, a reality that Ryan himself is
facing. Ryan is being grounded because; “spreading the gospel of successful
outplacement” (Kirn 27) is being automated. An automation process that is being
implemented by a young female counterpart. Ryan’s counterpart, Natalie, sees no
problem with firing people via an internet teleconference. Ryan realizes that
losing your job is very personal and feels it should be dealt with in person.
This shows Ryan has compassion and feelings, but in his backpack speech he
claims, “Relationships as our heaviest loads” (Reitman). He recognizes this
shallow existence in his life and decides to come down and give Alex a chance, only
to find out she already has a life on the ground. Ryan was her escape. He
decides to go back to air world, but hits it at a slower pace. Ryan [I] would
have liked to stay in air world but was grounded for health reasons.
The author of the book satirically
portrayed life that isn’t fast paced, with immediate gratification, as drab and
a way of settling. Everything has to be new and shiny, but nothing is real. The
director of the movie recognized how relationships can be warm, comforting, and
give depth to our lives. The comments by real life people, who had been
recently fired, added a very real feel to the movie. They all were thankful for
the support of their loved ones during the hard times. How sad it would be if,
when someone fell, there would be no one there to help them back up.
Works Cited:
Kirn,
Walter. Up in the Air. 1st Ed. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 2002. 1-303.
Print.
"Q
and A with Walter Kirn." C-span: Web. 29 Apr 2012. <
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/287039-1 >
Reitman,
Jason, dir. Up In the Air. Paramount Pictures, 2010. Film.
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