Van C
LA-5
July 15, 1995
Sometimes in life you meet someone who may be closer to you than you thought. I recall one incident when I moved to Seattle from California and the first person I met at my new school was also from California from the same city as me. Although I never met him in California before, I felt like I knew him all this time. We shared the same interests and discovered that we had more in common that we thought. This concept can be defined as "Six Degrees of Separation", which basically means that in this world we are separated between another person by six other people. Recently, we watched a movie called "Six Degrees of Separation" which portrays the concept of being separated by six people. The movie centers around characters wanting a new experience.
The main character, Paul Kitridge-Portier, is the boy who manipulates all his victims into thinking he is Sidney Portier's son. Behind all his schemes, though, he is just looking for a sense of family. Paul wanted to experience how it felt to be loved and cared for by a family. I comparison, Rick, another character in the movie, also wanted a new experience with his girlfriend when they moved to New York. As if by fate, both characters meet and find that they both wanted the same experience; they wanted the luxurious lifestyle of the rich. Paul wanted to be rich, but at the same time, have a family who cares for him and offers him their support. On the other hand, Rick wanted to experience this rich lifestyle with his girlfriend.
Paul and Rick eventually fulfull their wishes for one night when they go off and "pretend" to be rich. As the story goes, Paul rents some tuxes for himself and Rick and they go to the Rainbow Room where all their problems disappeared as if by magic. The Rainbow Room is significant because it is the place where Paul and Rick really escape from reality and enter their own little world. Rick stops pretending when Paul's character falls apart in the carriage. When Rick enters into reality again, he is shocked, but is kind of happy and amazed of his experience he got through Paul. Paul never really enters reality because he seems to be pretending throughout the whole movie. When Louisa Kitridge asked Paul what his name really was, he replied, "Paul Kitr idge-Portier. "The audience is not sure if he is kidding or if he really thinks that he is Sidney Portiere's son and also part of the Kitridges.
Unfortunately, people are hurt in the end because of Paul and Rick's decision to experience the world in a different way. In Paul's case, he unintentionally breaks the parents and their children's relationship. Even though the children and the parents of the three families weren't getting along well in the first place, Paul just made it worst because the children felt embarrassed by their parents' actions. Like the Kitridge's daughter said about Paul, she thought his whole scheme was a "conspiracy," but her parents did not listen to her. Paul not only hurt the relationships between the parents and their children, but he also hurts Flan and Louisa Kitridge's relationship as a couple. He points out indirectly to Louisa that money isn't everything. Louisa realized that she had been pretending to like this perfect life with all the money and luxury when all she really wanted was her children to love her. Rick's case was different, though, he hurt his girlfriend and, not to mention, himself. After being in the Rainbow Room and the carriage with Paul and his girlfriend's money, Rick believes he has had a fascinating adventure, but his girlfriend views the experience in a different, more realistic way. She is upset because he used her money that she saved up, and the fact that he was seduced by Paul was too much. Rick finds himself in a predicament and ends up jumping off a building and killing himself which hurts his girlfriend even more. Ironically, Paul reads about the incident and is also hurt because he didn't really wanted to hurt Rick and his girlfriend in that way.
Although many people were hurt by Paul and Rick's actions, they were both influenced and manipulated into finding a new experience. Paul would have never known about the families had it not been for Trent Davis, the gay student. Sure Paul wanted to be rich like everyone else, but he desired to be rich and loved even more because he liked what he saw when he met Trent. Trent wanted so bad to reveal his sexual side to all the rich families.
Paul and Trent's relationship became a two-way street; Paul needed the information and Trent needed the satisfaction. He did not know the consequences until everything fell together. As for Rick, he would have still been alive if he did not meet Paul. Paul manipulated him into going to the Rainbow Room and using his girlfriend's money. When we trace back to where all the trouble started from, Trent was the one who triggered Paul into doing all the bad things he did. That's how Paul and Rick met in t he first place.
As you can see, the idea of six degrees of separation connected Paul and Rick together. They were complete strangers, but they end up having similarities like my friend and I. It was interesting that we can be so similar, yet so different. Sometimes I wonder if we are similar by coincidence or is it really the concepts of six degrees of separation?