Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday by Ian Mclellan Hunter http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/09/one-of-realini-best-100-movies-100-out.html

10 out of 10

 

 

This is a fabulous story on many counts, but let me say that it proves once again that to have wealth and an important position does not mean one is happy, for the main character in the motion picture is a princess and has all the money in the world (if not that, then quite enough) and she abandons all that…

 

There was no need for a spoiler alert, she just runs away from the very beginning, and let me just state my opinion, and underline that I liked this tale, even when seen again, I do not know how many times was it on television before, and it was even rated among my favorite 100, before I start on other subjects

Having established that this is a classic, with scenes that are iconic (such a cliché, I know) and part of the History of Cinema http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-movie-book-big-ideas-simply.html let us mention some scenes that are so familiar to cinephiles (let us check if you are one, if you know it, you have the pass)

 

La Bocca della Verita is the moment when we have a ‘lie detector test’ – what comes to mind is another famous, similar moment, in Meet the Parents, when Focker aka Ben Stiller is tested by ex-CIA agent aka Robert De Niro – but according to legend, consequences can be severe, the Bocca will take your hand if you lie

Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/stumbling-on-happiness-by-david-gilbert.html has written a classic of psychology, Stumbling on Happiness, which explains how we believe in myths, we say for instance that we would be happy, if only we could move to California, a Caribbean island

 

In reality, when they have tested these theories on those who made the move, they found that once the novelty of the change wears off – however, let me insist here and say that change is essential, and you find this explained in the splendid http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-science-of-happiness-how-our-brains.html the Science of Happiness by Stefan Klein – people stop enjoying the wonders of the new home

Hedonic Adaptation is the name of the phenomenon that has some disadvantages – we can buy wondrous cars, watches, clothes and then forget about them soon – and is wonderful when something bad happens, but we get used with it and then we can adapt, which is Happiness Activity No 6: Developing Strategies for Coping-practicing ways to endure or surmount hardship or trauma in another quientessential work, The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky, one Strategy we can gather is just wait to adapt…

 

Research has focused on lottery winners, who came into more than a million dollars, and it was found that they did experience a boost in their happiness levels, which lasted for some months after winning the big price, but then, they would return to their base level of wellbeing, thus confirming again the validity of the Hedonic Adaptation principle

The princess in the Roman Holiday confirms the same theory, in that she is suffocating in her golden nest, and wants to escape, running away to experience freedom – indeed, the possibility to choose has a great impact on our happiness, and this was tested in Switzerland, where the canton which had greater say in referendums (they are taking place all the time there) was happier on the whole than the one which could only determine expenses of more than some hundred thousands, the details are not key for now…

 

In other words, we have the confirmation of another incredible finding, that the happiest people In the world do not have great fortunes in common, what they share is a close, strong connection with family and friends

We have another example, a testimony to the fact that power, and money do not bring happiness – although he does not have the fortune he boasts about – and that is Donald Trump, a fellow that has become the most powerful man in the world, while pretending to be a billionaire -even if he is not, still, he has many millions, and therefore qualifies as rich, just as he is a fraud and a cheap bastard who does not pay for services, a Confidence Man http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-trump-tapes-by-bob-woodward-author.html that has accumulated wealth by cheating, using charity for his own good…

 

He was –still is – unhappy, whining and complaining, always in a  delirium of claims that he is the ‘very stable genius’ that is the victim, pretending he is the best, has magic powers, will fix everything, end the war in Ukraine (by the way, when asked about the preferred winner in the conflict, this villain does not have one, at least he did not choose a side, but if we look at his statements and actions, he is all for the Kremlin monster, the trumps of this world like each other, they want absolute power, suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and other ailments) but overall the perfect proof that you can have all the material goods and power, and still be a lost cause

The Economist of the week July 13 -20 has the idiot on the cover and warns us that the MAGA crowd is much better organized this time, and if we have avoided Armageddon the first time, because of the chaos, the revolving door of some sane, and mostly crazy aides, if the fool wins next year, we might not be so lucky – they have a contingent of goonies that will take over – for example, they vet candidates by asking about January 6, what do they think of the folks that took Congress – if they say they are heroes, they get in…

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world    – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html