5 Great Movies to Help You Survive Your Failure

Image from Daily Mail UK

I was out of the house on the day that I found out that I had failed the bar exams. I'm not sure why exactly, but I had a hunch that my name would not be on the list of successful takers when it came out. I had deliberately chosen to attend a seminar about graphic design rather than staying home and waiting for the results there because I wanted to reassure myself of 2 things:

1) That there was a world bigger and more vibrant than the legal bubble that I had been in for the past six years.
2) That I had it in me to take bad news alone and not fall apart (at least not in public).

As two very fabulous graphic artists from Spain spoke about the bright futures one could have in advertising and magazine publishing, I sat alone in the back end of the Ayala Museum, refreshing the Supreme Court website on my phone to find out if the list had been released yet. I did not expect any congratulatory texts from anyone; and though I was incredibly disappointed when my worst fears were confirmed, I held my composure and finished the event without tearing up or breaking down. (I cried finally in a secluded corner of Sala Bistro when my mom called to ask where we were having dinner. My parents had never thought it possible that I would fail and so they had called to congratulate me without actually checking the results. It was only after I had to vocalize it that I broke down. Having to say "I failed" to two people who had never comprehended failure for themselves was one of the hardest things I have ever done. That time was also the first and last time that I let myself cry over failing the bar.)

I was very lucky to have a friend who promised to be with me after the results came out, regardless of whether they were good or bad. Because we both knew that there were no words that could make me feel any better, we (she) decided that we would watch a DVD at her house instead. All I knew at that time was that I did not want to go home and face my parents; at least, not yet.

1. Morning Glory (2010)

Image from worldandfilm

In some sort of happy (not at the time, but now that I think about it) accident, Z chose the movie Morning Glory, a movie about a girl who dreamt of working for The Today Show since she was a child. After being laid off from her local cable news job, her mother tells her to give up her dream before it becomes an embarrassment (after which scene my friend paused the movie and asked if I wanted to continue watching). The story is about how she recovers from her lay-off and how she manages to turn a failing morning news show into one of the highest rating national morning shows.

It didn't magically make me feel ready to take on the world, but it was comforting to watch other people giving life another try. After I saw it, I felt I had enough courage to go home, face my parents, go to sleep, and get out of bed the next day.

----The next films are ones I've seen in the past. They're not all box-office greats or even Oscar-buzz worthy, but I find that they hit the spot for when you feel like you lack the will to try again.

Best I-Will-Get-Through-This Quote:

Jerry Barnes: Day break is under staffed, under funded and whoever works there will be publicly ridiculed, under paid, overworked. Awful.

Becky: I will take it.

2. Elizabethtown (2005)

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Elizabethtown tells the tale of Drew Baylor, the designer of a world-famously hyped but flawed new shoe that lose his company $972 million dollars. Unable to deal with his failure, Drew attempts to commit suicide but is interrupted by a call informing him that his father passed away while visiting relatives in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Tasked with the responsibility of bringing his father's body back home, Drew flies to Elizabethtown where he meets the perky flight attendant Claire who changes the way he sees himself. Watch if you feel like you can no longer recover from the catastrophe that is your life.

*Please do not judge the movie by my blah synopsis! I really really really cannot love this movie more. The premise is quite realistic (who doesn't have crazy family members) and the dialogue is simple but lovely. I would watch this movie again and again and again. 

One of the nicest scenes for me was when Drew tried to convince Claire of how big a loser he was. I loved the way she responded, and I keep reminding myself to return to that scene whenever I feel inadequate myself. 

Best I-Will-Get-Through-This Quote:

Claire Colburn: So you failed. Alright you really failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You think I care about that? I do understand. You wanna be really great? Then have the courage to fail big and stick around. Make them wonder why you're still smiling.

3. A Lot Like Love (2005)

Image from Entertainment Wallpaper

A Lot Like Love is not really a movie about failure, but what I like about it is how it shows how people deal with failure in life. The movie is about two people meet each other at different points in their lives. Oliver didn't want to fall in love until he had "all his ducks in a row". But, as one character in the movie says, "(T)his is your life. It doesn't wait for you to get back on your feet." Good for those who are always saying "I'll be happy when..."

Best I-Will-Get-Through-This Quote:

Graham Martin: [pointing to his son] You should get one.
Oliver Martin: That was the plan. Instead I'm almost 30, unemployed, and living with mom and dad.
Graham Martin : Oliver. This is your life. Right now. It doesn't wait for you to get back on your feet.

4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Image from CoverDude

Okay, so My Big Fat Greek Wedding is not a failure movie per se. It's about a Greek woman who falls in love with a non-Greek WASP and the hilarity that ensues when she tells her orthodox Greek family that they are getting married. But it is also a story of a woman who dares to imagine a life that is so incredibly different from the one she has. Watch if you feel trapped in the mundaneness of your own small little world.

Best I-Will-Get-Through-This Quote:

Nick Portokalos: Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become.
Toula Portokalos: Nick that's beautiful.
Nick Portokalos: Yeah that dear Abby really knows what she's talking about.

5. Music and Lyrics (2007)

Music and Lyrics is about Alex Fletcher, a has-been pop icon who is struggling to make a comeback. He's given the shot of a lifetime when the reigning pop diva asks him to come up with lyrics for a love song. After an unsuccessful attempt to collaborate with a hit lyricist, Alex discovers that Sophie, the girl who waters his plants, has a knack for writing lyrics. Together, they attempt to write the perfect love song and fall in love somewhere along the way.

While the movie is admittedly more love story than anything else, I really related to both major character's struggles to get past their own personal demons. Great for getting over a former lover, or for getting over the sting of your own mediocrity.

Best I-Will-Get-Through-This Quite:

(After learning that the love song they wrote was going to be an Indian-inspired dance song instead)

Sophie:You didn't actually like that orgasm set to the Gandhi soundtrack, did you?

Alex:  Well, I thought it was, you know, horrible. I mean, it simultaneously 

destroyed two musical cultures in under a minute.

Sophie: We have to tell her.

Alex: No, no. I don't think we do. Honestly, if she wants to dance, let her dance.

Sophie:  I don't understand. Wait. I'm sorry. I don't understand. Your heroes, 

the Beatles, Smokey, they would never let this happen.

Alex: That's a completely different thing. They were geniuses. They wrote dinner. 

I write dessert.
 

Sophie: No. You're better than dessert.

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Admittedly, a lot (or all) of these movies are romantic comedies. But don't let 

the "chick flick" stigma dissuade you from watching them! Though I've seen 

most of them countless times already, they never fail to perk me up when 

I need the extra dose of inspiration. :) 

What movies do you watch when you want to feel better?