Short Cuts

Short Cuts
By Peter John Gardner

Fate and choice are two opposing forces that have been explored to death in the arts, yet we always return to these themes because they're something mankind will most likely never figure out. How much of our life is dictated by fate, and how much is through our own choice? Was it fate to make certain choices in life? Is it a choice to believe in fate? What happens when fate and choice collide? Is your head ready to explode yet?

Short Cuts is a very long film based on short stories that explore these themes. Some of the stories run parallel to each, some characters meet characters from other stories, but everything and everyone is not intertwined and connected into one larger story like Magnolia. There are 22 principal characters in the film, yet director Robert Altman paces the film properly so that the viewer never loses track of what's happening to whom. There's a story involving Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Fred Ward, Anne Archer, and Huey Lewis (of all people!) that explores failing marriages and a dead body. Concurrently, we've got Lily Tomlin and Tom Waits playing a dysfunctional couple who accidentally hit the child of Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell. Bruce and Andie are already knee deep in problems of their own including an irate Lyle Lovett as a baker and Jack Lemmon giving advice on infidelity. Meanwhile, Lily Tomlin's daughter is married to Robert Downey Jr. who plays an odd man that is aroused by sadism. Downey also has the distinction of being the first time I've seen a character in a movie awakened by his own fart. Finally, there's a story of Tim Robbins as a bad cop whose oblivious wife is friends with Moore's character. It sounds like a lot to keep up with, but the movie gives everyone enough breathing space, and ties the stories together

Was it luck or fate that these characters cross each others' paths? Short Cuts leaves it up to the viewer to decide. With this in mind, and as a man that doesn't believe in fate, I tried looking back on my own life to figure out if fate did indeed play a role or if everything is just the result of luck, choice, and coincidence. If I had never left Texas when my parents divorced, I would have never met the beautiful people that I consider my friends now. Was that fate or just trying to adapt and survive?

With romantic relationships, the phrase "meant to be" pops up in the more serious ones. Was it really meant to be or are the two people involved just really good at compromise and decency? When the relationship ends, was it because it "wasn't meant to be" or is it because one or the other made some bad decisions? Who decides what exactly is "meant to be"?

A phrase that I loathe is "every thing happens for a reason". As a staunch atheist that doesn't believe in fate, the phrase itself makes me sigh, yet there is truth to it. I don't think that some outside force whether it be fate or a deity makes things happen to a person, but I do believe that the reason things happen is to teach something. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I've tried to walk away from each one of life's fuckups and disasters having learned something through the experience. That something may not become apparent until long after the fact. Am I a wise man? Fuck no. Am I wiser than I was ten years ago? Certainly.

Am I wiser after writing this article? Doubtful.