The whole time I viewed this film I thought "why should I care about a man who I don't know tell his life to me?" And actually, most of the time I was thinking "why do I care about this man who I don't know?" This answer was most likely brought up in the post-discussion. He is connecting with our story. I think that's what the most powerful films do, they connect with the viewer.
Even though we heard so much about this man's life, including very intimate details, I felt like I really never got in his head. What makes him tick? Why is he so compelled to do this? I found his quote "I like telling life more than I like living it" very interesting.
I almost think that his storytelling was a wall for him. Even though he was very open about his life, I felt like he may have been hiding more. It's something I can't place my finger on.
Was he addicted to the laughter? Was telling his struggles his only way to cope? He obviously had some very deep issues. His life had some tragedy, but when I think about other stories I've heard it's not the worst life in the world. But without Christ, I guess that was enough to kill yourself. I've seen Christ transform people's lives and give them hope where they had none. It fills in the gap we're all born with.
What's most tragic to me is how much Gray really didn't get life. He found suicide almost poetic. With Christ I believe he would have seen the world very differently. It's also sad that near the end of his life he began to be the happiest. For all the stories about life he told, I don't think he was able to put it all together. Maybe that's why he told stories. To make sense of it all. He said he liked telling life more than living it. But not to say that he was completely lost, I think there's a lot to be learned from his story.
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