6 Valuable Life Lessons We Can Learn from #Alive
Setting a goal that scares and excites you at the same time brings a purpose to life. My goal for years to come is to watch movies and dramas filled with romance, and aliens and zombies. Fits the criteria. Good enough.
Movies, dramas and books on romance and/or featuring aliens and zombies taught me much more than value education classes and actual life experiences did. So much for my parents paying exorbitant amounts to drill sense into my head.
A good example of this is the recently released Korean movie #Alive. When I watched the movie, there were several moments when a life lesson flashed right before my eyes. So I thought it would only be appropriate to don the role of a preacher and share some of these lessons with you.
Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye
Director: Cho Il-hyung
Screenplay by: Cho Il-hyung, Matt Naylor
Based on: Alone by Matt Naylor
Running time: 98 minutes
Streaming on: Netflix
Plot
Joon-woo (played by Yoo Ah-in) is a gamer who lives with his parents and sister. One morning, when his parents and sister go out, he wakes up to find out that a mysterious disease is rapidly spreading throughout Korea and is getting out of control. People are infected when they are bitten, a la vampire-style. Without food, water, phone network, internet access, and human contact, his emotional, mental and physical strength starts dwindling.
When he is about to commit suicide, he is saved by another survivor, Yoo-bin (played by Park Shin hye), who lives across his building. They decide to get through the crisis together. Do they cross all hurdles and manage to make it through alive?
Spoiler Alert: The following text may contain a few spoilers. If you haven’t watched the movie, I highly recommend you do!
Life Lessons 101
#Alive shows the struggle of two individuals who want to live and are willing to go all out to survive. Joon-woo and Yoo-bin have their weak moments but they stay strong and fight till the end. The option of staying in their respective homes for a few days would have been a temporary solution. However, they step out and face their fears in order to move to a safer place.
#LifeLesson 1: Where there’s a will there’s a way.
Yoo-bin saves Joon-woo when he tries to hang himself. Her own battles do not deter her from helping him. It is shown that Yoo-bin tries to end her life but the will power to live saves her.
#LifeLesson 2: Everyone you meet is fighting a battle. Be kind always.
The movie shows how living in a clustered apartment complex increases the probability of being affected during an outbreak. You can’t help but draw comparison to the current real life COVID-19 situation.
The buildings Joon-woo and Yoo-bin reside in are filled with infected people. The number of infected individuals are shown to increase manifolds.
Joon-woo and Yoo-bin hope for the best even though basic amenities are scarce, and zombies are everywhere waiting for their next prey. Their determination to live overtakes fear and exhaustion. Whenever they contemplate on giving up, they find a way to survive.
#LifeLesson 3: Giving up is not an option.
Despite being short on essential supplies, Yoo-bin shares what she has with Joon-woo. On the other hand, Joon-woo returns the favour by sharing the food he finds in an abandoned unit in his building with Yoo-bin.
Compassion is to look beyond your own pain, to see the pain of others.
— Yasmin Mogahed
Yoo-bin also uses some of her limited water resource to ensure the plant in her house also survives.
#LifeLesson 4: A little compassion and thought for others makes a difference.
Yoo-bin is scared of heights but her determination to live pushes her to face this fear. She climbs out of the window and lands on the road, which is filled with zombies. She fights them with a goal of reaching a safer place.
#LifeLesson 5: Just take the leap. The perfect moment is now.
Ask for help. Not because you are weak. But because you want to remain strong.
– Les Brown
Joon-woo posts a picture of himself with details hoping to be rescued. He makes good use of social media to let the rescue team know that there is a survivor. Even though the ending is predictable, it shows that asking for help is not a bad thing after all.
