Point Break starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze is one of my favourite movies of all time, it's a top 5 action movie (with one of the greatest chase scenes in history) and I've seen it probably over 30 times at this point in my life. It also came out over 30 years ago so no point in breaking down what the movie is about, if you clicked this link clearly you already know and probably love the movie too.
But just recently something finally clicked about the movie, and more specifically about Bodhi (Patrick Swayze's character). And perhaps this is something that's known, since it's a 30 year old movie, or perhaps I'm just way out there with this, but let's see...
As much as I love the movie it was always a bit weird how far Bodhi went to befriend and help Johnny Utah (Reeves). He helps him fight off the guys that attack him, teaches him to surf, sets off Utah's relationship with the woman he falls in love with, and even after learning of Utah's true identity he still maintains the friendship, takes him skydiving, and once things fall apart he makes Utah tag along rather than kill him, in fact he never even has plans to kill Utah. Bodhi always puts Utah first even against the advice of his friends/partners and at his own detriment.
But I just took that as something to make the plot move forward, or we're supposed to think originally it's because Bodhi is enamoured by Utah because he was a former NCAA QB, and later just because Bodhi is a good, but erratic, dude who doesn't kill.
But then through some happenstance I stumbled into something while googling around.
At one point early on Tyler (Lori Petty) first tells Utah about Bodhi, she says "That's Bodhi....they call him the Bodhisattva. He's a modern savage, a real searcher."
For years I took it as a way to describe Bodhi as being a free spirit, all about nature, kind of a hippie. But recently I was randomly googling about Buddhism and one way or another it led me to "Bodhisattvas". And now I think we're supposed to take that line as a literal description of who Bodhi is.
"Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have put off entering paradise in order to help others attain enlightenment."
That's who Bodhi is and what his journey in the film is about. He's searching for people he can help attain enlightenment, which is his goal with Utah. He sees that in him and he shows him all the beauty and pain and joys and heartbreaks of life, he teaches him about humanity and people's natures, tells him to become his own master instead of a servant of the law of man.
"You can do what you want, and make up your own rules. Why be a servant to the law, when you can be its master?"
This eventually leads to Utah, as a literal servant of the law, catching up to Bodhi and after finally having a physical confrontation with him Utah is able to best Bodhi and put him in cuffs. Bodhi pleads with him to allow him to experience this once in a lifetime natural phenomenon, something that is bigger than the law or either of them.
And that's when Utah finally achieves enlightenment. He sees the world like Bodhi does. He uncuffs Bodhi to let him paddle out to the one thing he's truly wanted to experience in life.
Utah's final lines to Bodhi are "Vaya con dios"....Go with God. Normally a phrase only used in religious contexts.
The final shots of the film are Utah throwing away his badge, ending his time as a servant of the law, and Bodhi crashing and falling off his board into the wave, ending his time on earth as he enters paradise having helped Utah achieve enlightenment.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
No comments:
Post a Comment