If Only

“If Only” is a romantic love story happening in London, UK, between an American girl Samantha and a British boy Ian. Interestingly, the movie demonstrates two scenarios which touches and teaches people what love is.

In scenario 1, Ian seemed not in love with Samantha though he claimed he did. For example, he forgot her graduate concert, bought her flowers after being reminded, behaved impatiently in front of her favorite student. He refused to get on the cab Samantha was taking after a huge fight with her. In the end, he witnessed the death of Samantha in the car accident.

Scenario 1 turned out to be Ian’s dream. He realized he has been taking for granted for her love. So Ian intended to show his affection to Samantha in a tangible way in scenario 2. He took Samantha to his hometown and told her his family and childhood. He helped Samantha to get rid of the fear of riding the big roller coaster above the Thames River. He encouraged Samantha to play their song in her graduate concert. In the end, when a coming car hit the cab they were taking, he sacrificed himself to save the life of his beloved. Although Ian died, his love supported Samantha to live her life with confidence and courage.

I haven’t watched romantic movies for a long while for I am becoming losing the interest in this kind while I am aging. Though I saw it for fun on weekend, still it taught me something. People usually can do a better job when being given the second opportunity for we are constantly in a process of making decisions which we can’t predict the consequences. For example, I could have held an American degree now rather than just getting into a program. I could be more confident if I had have trained my oral English a little earlier, and as a result, I could have stronger interpersonal/communication skills now. However, we can’t live our lives as described in the movie. Life doesn’t give us the second chance. So wasting time to cry for the spilled milk is useless. Why don’t simply move forward. Admittedly, wisdom comes with experience. And the experience is highly dependent on how much, when and what people have been through. Back to the movie, if Ian never had the nightmare, he could have not been aware his ignorance/carelessness. This is the process of learning, in a hard way though. We all do.