“La La Land”: Letting Go of Love

Elizabeth Smith ’29

“La La Land” — one of the most popular romance films. Or is it really just a romance film? This movie so perfectly describes the truth of love. Or even the idea of the “right person, wrong time.” At first glance, it looks like a dreamy, “perfect” love story full of color, but under the color lies a deeper meaning, the raw reality of love.

The movie starts off as any typical romance film. Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a passionate jazz musician, are drawn together by their desire to follow their dreams: his to own a jazz club and hers to become an actress. Soon, they were faced with a challenge, they didn’t want to follow the same dream. Their undivided love was creating a wall that couldn’t help them reach their own personal success. And their commitment to impress each other with their accomplishments was holding them back from actually pursuing their goals. They realized that their lives were going in different directions and in order to reach success, they had to let each other go. Despite them not having the same dream, they both wanted one thing: to follow their passions. Even with the cost of their relationship, they owed it to each other to let them follow their own path.

“La La Land” shines a light on an idea that many are scared to face: sometimes, love and personal fulfillment don’t coexist. But that's the beautiful thing, the film doesn’t portray this idea as selfishness, it shows love in a new form — the willingness to let someone go so they can become who they’re meant to be.

Towards the end of the film, they cross paths once again. Not together, and not planning on it. Their lives have moved in different directions. Mia, creating her own family and future, while Sebastian has fulfilled his dreams with his jazz club. In the last scene, they share a glance that is emotional, but says everything. It shows a quiet acknowledgement of what they lost: a relationship that had its flaws, but could have worked out. They could have set aside their dreams and stayed together. But then a realization that their love was never lost. And that sometimes losing the person, doesn’t always mean losing the feelings.

“La La Land” reminds us that not all great love stories end happily ever after. Sometimes, the truest and most meaningful love stories are the ones that end in understanding.