The story of “Room” (Room 2015) is not complicated, but the political metaphor behind the story is quite interesting when you think about it. “Room” is a space that is not free in a free world, but it is used by the film’s writer and director to observe the importance of freedom for people, and the object of observation is the 5-year-old boy Jack in this story. Jack’s mother, Joy Newsome, was tricked by a con man seven years ago into a room that had only a skylight and a door that only the con man could open, and the room became, in effect, Joy’s prison. During her imprisonment, Joy gave birth to her son Jack; Jack never saw the outside world until he was five years old. This special upbringing makes Jack the best candidate for observation, because he is like a pure blank slate compared to people in the outside world, and the humanity thus observed should be the most natural and credible. So how does 5-year-old Jack react in the face of the free world?
Never seen freedom will be afraid of freedom. In this room, Joy is originally a visitor to the free world, once imprisoned, of course, all the time thinking about fighting to get out of the cage, inspired by her son reading the story “Alice in Wonderland”, she intends not to wait any longer, she thinks about planning to save herself, but she needs help. However, her son Jack had been living in the fairy tale world she had woven for him, and did not even know that there was a world beyond the walled room, so she changed her previous strategy of teaching her son and told him that the world outside the wall was wonderful, thus guiding him to yearn for the free world outside. However, what happened? When she told her son the truth about the free world, he answered “no way” and even called her a “liar”; when she said her son was 5 years old and should help her to change his current situation, he said “I want to go back to 4 years old! “When she told her son about her tragic abduction experience, he yelled that the story was too boring; when she said it was a stinky room, he didn’t agree at all. She had no choice but to engage in a “cold war” with her son. It’s easy to think of this outcome, isn’t it? When people who know about freedom tell people who never knew what freedom is the truth about freedom, instead of telling the “truth”, it causes “panic” because human nature has an instinctive fear of the unknown; if the act of telling If the act of telling the “truth” is pushed too hard, it can easily be considered a “liar” because people are instinctively suspicious of things they cannot see or touch; between “not getting” and “having” Between “can’t get” and “already have”, people will value the latter more. Therefore, we understand why people sometimes fear freedom.
Freedom is important only when it is compared. After Jack and his mother escaped from the “room” into the free world, they mentioned the “room” many times during their communication with others, and even asked to go back to see it, while his mother, Joy, had long kept the place a secret. Joy’s reaction is very understandable, because the “room” is her lifelong nightmare; but Jack’s reaction also shows that the suddenly free man still misses the world that once made him not free? Obviously not. Because before this, he had never felt unfree, and he was well protected by his mother, there were no painful memories of him there, instead, it was the place where he felt the most concentrated happiness and love for his mother, Jack wanted to go back to the “room” to see again, and we want to go back to his hometown to see the same emotions, his reaction is an indication of his mental His reaction shows that his mental development is normal. But after returning to the Room, it is clear that Jack begins to appreciate the importance of freedom. He felt that the room had shrunk and did not want to close the door to the room anymore. The change in Jack’s attitude towards the room shows that he feels the benefits of “freedom”, and even though he is emotionally attached to every object in the “room”, he will not give up the benefits of the free world outside. Although it is a child’s story, it reflects the universality of human characteristics and provides an experimental first-hand account of some of the issues we think about in freedom. As a result, we finally understand: in today’s world, why the rulers of certain countries are so afraid of the people learning about freedom, so afraid of the spread of the free world’s things in the country, because behind closed doors he can call himself the boss, and once the doors are opened he is no one’s ass. At this point, you may also believe the political metaphor of this film, it is clearly to warn some people who want to spread the idea of freedom how to properly spread freedom.
Freedom is not one of the most pressing human needs. Obviously, the film is not only about the importance of freedom, but also about the fact that freedom is never the most urgent human need. This can be seen in the episode of “Freedom vs. Joey is interviewed and the host of the show asks her if she ever wanted to send Jack away after he was born so that he would be “free”. It is conceivable that in the eyes of Americans, who cherish freedom, freedom is rooted in the bones, and without freedom there is nothing, without freedom, it is impossible for little Jack to “have a childhood”. Although Joy replied, “But he has me,” she meant that motherhood is more important than freedom for a child, but the host then asked, “But is that what’s best for him?” but made Joy feel painful, even certain that this stimulus was the main reason for her attempted suicide. In a country where freedom is celebrated, the host’s question, which represents the majority view, is actually a condemnation: while no one denies the importance of a mother’s love, a mother who does not think of her child’s freedom is selfish. Apparently, the public believes that “freedom is more important than motherhood!” The fact that she wanted to kill herself proves that she more or less recognized this point. Joey and the public debate, which is right and which is wrong, in fact, we outsiders are not easy to judge, but if we consider the behavior of the subject Jack after returning to the free world, we seem to be able to side with Joey. For example, Jack quickly adapted to the free world, he even said he knew everything after the age of 5, indicating that his “plasticity is not affected”; his grandmother gave him strands of hair to wash his hair, he knew to be grateful, indicating that his emotional development is very normal; children looking for him to play, he can quickly play up, indicating that he has no barriers to interaction. Importantly, when his mother apologized to him after her suicide attempt, saying, “I’m not a good mother,” he replied, “But you’re a mother! This seems to indicate that mother’s love is far more important than freedom for children; moreover, the idea of freedom is externalized, and apart from that, human nature must be more inclined to “love”.