Be free like the Free Guy: movie lessons

For many of us, movies serve as an escape from the real world and a way to relax after a very stressful day. I only recently started watching movies again after several months of break and even now I don't have a lot of time to watch movies for long, considering I have been watching a particular movie for the past 2 days and I'm still not done (it's just a 2 hours movie). But a couple of years ago, I was a movie freak and could watch up to 2 seasons of a TV series in just a day (especially during the COVID-19 period).

My favourite movie genre is horror, closely followed by comedy. Some of my friends keep asking me what I like about horror movies and one even said the genre doesn't make much sense to her because there's nothing to learn from it and I kinda agree with her in some way. But to me, I love horror because it keeps me on my toes and it's hard to predict what happens next, which is different from most movies in other genres. Comedy is also a favourite because I love to laugh (who doesn't?) and it's only comedy movies and series I can watch multiple times without getting bored (I have watched the 12 seasons of Big Bang Theory over 4 times).

New Guy

That's why the movie I will be talking about today is a 2021 action comedy film titled New Guy and it starred Ryan Reynolds who is one of my favourite comedy actors (I loved his work in Deadpool). Ryan Reynolds is the protagonist of the movie and he is simply known as Guy. The whole plot of the movie takes place inside a movie game where Guy is a non-playable character (NPC) who suddenly becomes self-aware which eventually leads him to strive to make a difference in his virtual world. He got tired of the same daily routine and he embarked on a journey to move from a background character to a hero.

I wouldn't want to spoil the movie in case someone would love to watch it but there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this movie and for me, the most important one is to embrace change and growth. Guy was an NPC in a video game which meant he was programmed to follow a specific daily routine which revolved around waking up in the morning, getting ready for work, going to a coffee shop to order the same type of coffee, heading to his job at a bank, then returning home after work is over and the next day he repeats the same thing. Sounds familiar?

Other NPCs around him also had a similar routine to him and they were all happy because that was their comfort zone and they saw no reason to change it. That was also Guy's comfort zone but he wasn't happy with it because if there's one thing I have realized about comfort zones it's that you will never grow if you remain in it. Guy was destined for the same boring daily routine for the rest of his life and unfortunately, that's the same thing many people in the world today are doing. That's one of the reasons why some people end up with lots of regrets on their deathbed.

Change is constant in life and it exists in all aspects of our life, even down to the cells that make up our body. One major reason why many people fear change is due to the fear of the unknown. "If I start a new business now, will it be profitable?" Not knowing what lies ahead makes a lot of people to remain in their comfort zone because it is familiar and they already know the result of their decisions. But this way of living leads to stagnation; the person remains in one place without any growth.

Leaving one's comfort zone indeed comes with challenges but the way I see it, challenges are what force us to adapt, learn and grow. This is something I learned in my journey of becoming a software engineer, the absence of challenges probably means you're not moving forward because if you're indeed moving forward and growing, then you will definitely come across challenges, be it small or big. Guy’s story reminds us that no matter how stagnant our lives may seem, we have the power to change our story and grow beyond our wildest dreams.

One thing about change is that it's not always easy, and that can be seen in the movie when Guy decides to take control of his life and is met with a lot of challenges. Even though change isn't easy, it's still an essential part of growth and by welcoming it with an open mind and a positive attitude, we can transform our lives in meaningful ways. It is through change that we discover our true potential and become the best versions of ourselves, just like how Guy discovered his strengths and became a hero in his virtual world.

Thanks for reading

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