First, the disaster caused by separation anxiety
1900 had no parents, and her adoptive father died at an early age. He has never been able to form a relatively stable and lasting attachment relationship with others. John Bauer uses the word "attachment" to describe the strong emotional connection between us and a specific person in our life. A few months after birth, individuals gradually form close feelings with caregivers to practice. After many babies form a basic company, they will also show obvious anxiety when their mothers or attached objects leave. For example, 15-month-old children cry when they see their mothers going out shopping, and even want to go with their mothers. This reaction of children is called separation anxiety. Generally, separation anxiety appears in 6-8 months, and reaches its peak in 14- 18 months, and then the intensity and frequency will gradually decrease in infancy and childhood. However, school-age children and even teenagers will also show anxiety and depression when they have to be separated from their relatives for a long time.
So, why do children feel anxious because they are separated from their attachment objects? From an ecological point of view, in fact, many situations faced by babies actually contain natural danger signals; In the process of human evolution, these environments are so frequently associated with danger that human fear of them has become a spontaneous reaction with biological basis. Once the baby has the ability to distinguish the familiar from the unfamiliar, and the familiar guards the separation, the baby will instinctively be afraid of strange faces (probably wild animals in ancient times) and strange environments.
And 1900 is afraid of the landing site position instead of landing. When he was about to get off the boat for the beautiful girl, she stopped halfway. I saw the skyscrapers in new york City in the distance, with endless smoke. He got lost and finally returned to the boat. As 1900 himself said, "The city is so big that there is no end in sight. Where is it? May I have a look? I can't even count the streets. Find a woman, build a house, buy a piece of land, open up a landscape, and then go to a dead end together. Too many choices and complicated judgments, aren't you afraid of mental breakdown? The land is too big. It's like a big ship, a woman and a long route. I would rather give up my life than live in an endless world. Anyway, no one in this world knows me now. I stopped halfway, not because I could see, but because I couldn't see ... "So, even though I was worried about this beautiful girl, he still didn't dare to get out of the boat, because in the process of walking through the countryside, he was at a loss and backed down in the face of cities and thousands of streets that were countless times bigger than the boat.
When he was a child, his adoptive father once said to him, "There are big sharks on land that will eat people." Although this sounds ridiculous, 1900 does feel that there are "sharks" on land, and the location is dangerous, so there are too many choices. Although the ship is also very big, it can only carry 2000 passengers at a time. This ship has a head and a tail. The key is the same, with a head and a tail. But the place at 1900 seems endless, and it's a long route, too strong perfume and too beautiful women. All this is beyond the expectation and control of 1900.
At the end of the film, Max finds him and tries to persuade him to get off the boat and start over. However, 1900 is anxious and uneasy about the implementation of land. He said that if there are too many unknowns and too many choices, he will have a nervous breakdown that day, and he would rather give up his life. And he has no identity. He was born in the sea, grew up in the sea and died in the sea. Nobody remembers him except Max. His life ended on the boat.
1900 never thought about getting off the boat? Except that time as a girl, deep down, he was looking forward to landing. He got the land of a big country countless times in his imagination and dreams. When he first met Max, he described New Orleans as if he had lived there for a long time. In fact, he only got this information by calling strangers and talking to others. However, his desire only stays at the level of consciousness, without courage, he can't go to land.
Second, be unconventional but self-disciplined.
1900 in the film is mild in appearance, but sometimes likes to challenge convention. . After Danny died unexpectedly, he accidentally came to the first-class ballroom and played the piano without a teacher, attracting countless surprised and curious passengers. The captain stepped forward in surprise and said, "1900, according to the regulations, you shouldn't play the piano here!" " "Young, 1900 said," Fuck the rules! "Shelley, the originator of jazz, boarded the ship to challenge 1900. 1900 after being ashamed of his superb piano skills, he stood on the boat and said, "Fuck jazz! "Moreover, in his usual performance, he often improvises, and the rest of the band should always remind him:" 1900, please play according to the tune! "Unfortunately, this reminder can only last for a short time. With the inspiration of 1900 flashing, moving music flowed out of his hands at will. One night when Max first boarded the Virginia, the wind was very strong and the waves were very big, and the whole ship kept shaking. Max got seasick and staggered to vomit. At this time, 1900 appeared, and they sat in front of the piano, released the foot brake and began to play the piano. The two of them glided with the sound of the piano like running water, so carefree and free and easy, as if flying freely. They glided across the corridor to moving music and crashed into the captain's cabin.
It can be seen that 1900 page is a person who likes to break the routine and is not afraid of it. But on the question of whether to go ashore, he turned the boat into a big cage and turned himself into a prisoner. Developmental psychology tells us that when young individuals explore the outside world, they initially take their attachment objects (usually parents or other feeders) as the axis and move within a certain range. After exceeding a certain range, individuals will feel uneasy. But with the secure foundation of attachment, individuals will gradually get rid of anxiety and actively explore the external environment. And 1900 lacks a strong security foundation, which is beyond the scope of the spacecraft, and he can't clearly control his inner anxiety. She doesn't want to succumb to the authority and conventional development of the outside world, but she has to succumb to her inner limitations.
Third, lack of identity.
Apart from the fear of the unknown, the biggest sorrow of 1900 is that it has no sense of identity. It is mentioned many times in the film: 1900 has no birth certificate, no birthday and no identity on land. It seems that this person has never been born. God will feel strange when he goes to heaven after death. This man was born on a boat, grew up on a boat, died on a boat and never set foot on land. According to Eriksson's theory, the most important obstacle to teenagers' development is to gain a sense of self-identity-a stable and coherent perception of who they are, where they are going and where they are in society. Self-identity is formed by dealing with many choices: what kind of career I want, where I belong in the world, and so on. Eriksson used the identity crisis to describe the confusion and even anxiety that these adolescent individuals will experience when they think about who they are now and decide "what kind of self I can (should) be". If teenagers can successfully survive this crisis, they will move towards a mature life path. 1900 in the film seems to have been thinking about this problem all his life, but it has never been solved satisfactorily. He doesn't know where to go, what kind of person he should be if he can live, and where he is in the world. Therefore, he can only stay on the boat and keep repeating the bumpy journey.
Fourth, imagine another ending.
We can imagine what would happen if 1900 really landed for girls? The end of the fairy tale is that he will find a girl, then fall in love, get married and live happily for a lifetime. But rational thinking, he has an identity on the ship, a piano player; He is valuable and tourists get pleasure from his music; He has friends and the piano is his friend. Listen to his heart. Without all this, he will encounter a series of maladjustment problems. He has no identity, no relatives, and only knows the girl and his father. He is used to the bumpy life on the ship, and I'm afraid he can't adapt to the stability of the land after landing. He may suffer from insomnia at night, and it is difficult to sleep in a house on land. He has no other skills but playing the piano. However, he plays the piano casually, just out of interest, not utility. He is used to loneliness and is not good at greeting people, so he only has one friend, Max. He may be afraid to go out, because there are too many strangers and the streets are too complicated and chaotic, and he will be at a loss. He may be flustered and unable to maintain a basic life.
I'm afraid 1900 decided never to get off the boat again after considering all this. He has been integrated with the spacecraft and cannot be separated. His inspiration for playing the piano often comes from the guests on board. All kinds of people at the first-class dance, such as the old woman who murdered her husband, the middle-aged man who indulged in the past, the prostitute who saw through the world of mortals, and the third-class guest who stole the dress to expect an affair, all became the inexhaustible inspiration for 1900 to play the piano, and 1900 also used these inspirations to interpret the inner world of all beings. Everything in the world is like half the passengers on the Virginia. Get on, get off, get on and get off. It kept jumping back and forth between the bow and the stern. For 1900, the whole world has passed him by, and any disguise and mask are so vulnerable to the flowing music. With 1900 aunt Xu's hand stroking the keys, a person's life can be spiritually enjoyable in music, so although he is at sea, he has seen the prosperity and loneliness, glory and desolation of the world on the road.
There is a clip in the film of a third-class passenger happily listening to him improvise at around 1900. Just then, someone suddenly shouted: America! Everyone ran away with a bang, leaving 1900 lonely faces. Yes, all the passengers on board have ideals and ambitions, and everyone has their own home. But 1900 didn't, he didn't have a destination, he just drifted around like a leaf. He also has a desire to communicate with others. He will call strangers and chat casually. Maybe he wants to form some kind of contact with the outside world by phone! He was free and generous at the lively and rich dance. However, more often, his figure is particularly lonely. Fortunately, he met Max, a true friend in music and soul.
At the end of the film, 1900 resolutely chooses to live and die with the giant ship * * *, but Max's persuasion can't make him change his mind. Therefore, Max respected the decision of 1900 and let him stay on the ship, which truly realized "born in the sea, grew up in the sea and died in the sea". The fairy who fell into the earth is finally going back to heaven. Is there a piano in heaven? There must be, because heaven is where there is a piano. Although from the psychological point of view 1900, he should be a person with specific psychological problems, at least a person with unhealthy psychology and imperfect personality, but I prefer to regard him as a person who guards his ideals. When the Virginia was about to be dismantled, people were scrambling to leave the sea, but 1900 calmly faced the crowd and the Virginia, which was about to sink to the bottom of the sea. Finally, in the whole life of Boom, the soaring flames rose, and 1900 and Virginia disappeared together in the blue, clear and swallowed sea. Like an idealist, he walked into heaven with his illusory utopia, and calmness and calmness were his last emotions. Joy and pain, sadness and despair have nothing to do with these feelings that plague human beings. In the sea, 1900 fulfilled his mission and ideal. From then on, 1900 spread all over the world, only the mysterious record template that Max hid in the piano and was glued together by the owner of the musical instrument store.
In fact, there is still hope, as 1900 said: "As long as you have a good story and someone listens to you, there is still hope." At the end of the film, Max's figure drifted away. He also has his trumpet, his story and his hope. I believe that at this time, 1900 is playing the piano in heaven, thinking about this romantic and sad legend!