Nomadland--frontier spirit.

It was a rare holiday for me, I went to see the movie named Nomadland. I was checking the information of recent movies and found the promo of this movie. After that, I couldn't sit still and went to the cinema to buy the ticket straight.

NOMADLAND | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures:

Main story:
After losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American woman in her sixties and West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

It's been a while since I've been to the cinema. I've been studying anthropology for a while and was surprised found my viewpoint has become more tolerant to look objectively at people whose way of life is completely different from my own.

In the old days, I might have had difficulty in pondering over the positive aspects of Nomadland culture. The desire to live more and more conveniently, the dependence on urban housing, infrastructure, various rich social services, the expanding material desires in competition, the fear of the unknown, the doubts about the ability to survive on one's own.

Nowadays I have a longing for the life of Nomadland, when their RVs are running on the road the wind is free and their life is vibrant, when they are lying in the creek or running in the valley one's life is part of nature, when they do not say goodbye to each other they believe that they will always meet on the road.

I am not here to advocate that people should abandon their sedentary lives and go far away, but I always hope that the world should become diverse and accept a variety of lifestyles.

With the ever-changing information technology that allows people to do less work than machines, as the Amazon warehouses that appear so many times in the movies where people's work becomes more and more monotonous, it is not hard to imagine that human labor will soon be replaced. So what can people actually do, what can people do with their free time, and their extra wealth? I think Nomadland's lifestyle and values are worth rethinking for us.

Even though the film shows some problems that reflect on society, such as annuities that cannot be lived on, older people who cannot find jobs, and the difficulties they will encounter in moving around.

Nomadland does not complain, but instead accepts the reality of capitalist society, works responsibly for their own lives, and lives optimism. At the same time, even though they were allowed to accept help from those around them to lead a stable life, they refused. They sleep peacefully in their RV, they don't own a house, but the RV is their home.

Anyone who has seen the film will love the line--

” See you down the road!”

I also see the communitas in their lives, as if there is never a parting, knowing that there will always be a reunion. The uncertainty of life and the fear of death in a time of epidemics make Nomadland’s story more touching.

I loved Swankie's line most, and it was this line that completely convinced me why Nomadland exists, their romantic life makes me envious too. 

Life is short and only comes once, we all have to take responsibility for our own lives and keep looking for a life we won't regret.

SWANKIE (CONT'D) : I had it a while back. They removed it from my lung. But it came back. Small cell carcinoma. They told me its spread to my brain and they’ve only given me seven or eight months to live. Something like that. I didn’t get the lucky gene. No, sir.

I’m gonna take my trip. Gonna go back to Alaska. I’ve had some good memories there kayaking. I have this book called Final Exit by Dr. Kevorkian, some people call him ‘Doctor Death’. It shows you various ways to end your life if you need to. It’s kinda like a recipe.I have it if I have to fall back on it for some ideas, but I’m not going to spend any more time indoors in a hospital. No thanks.

I’m gonna be seventy-five this year and I think I’ve had a pretty good life. I’ve seen some really neat things kayaking all over the country... A moose family on a river in Idaho. Big white pelicans landing just six feet over my kayak on a lake in Colorado. Or... coming round a bend of a cliff and finding hundreds and hundreds of swallow nests on the wall of the cliff. And the swallows flying all around, reflecting in the water so it looks like I’m flying with the swallows. And little babies are hatching out. Eggshells are falling out of the nest and landing on the water right next to me, these little white shells. And... it was just so awesome, Fern! I felt I had done enough. My life was complete. I felt like if I were to die right then, it would be OK. How many people can say that?

There no final goodbye. I'll see you again.

Nomadland Script:

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Nomadland-Screenplay.pdf