02/10/2024 19:16:14
The TV series 1883 chronicles the experiences, or rather trials and struggles, of a wagon train traveling from Texas to Oregon. They took their time with this; being 1 season with 10 episodes; properly bringing the story to a conclusion; one that left me staring at the wall for a bit.
The group consists primarily of individuals coming from overseas, seeking a better life; implying the life they had was so pitiful they were willing to brave the nothingness of the Oregon trail (of course ignorance in this case was pure bliss in that they had no idea what they were, in reality, going to experience). The show is, simply put, brutally forthcoming about the dangers that existed in, what was then, mostly no-mans-land. Much like in Game of Thrones, no one is safe. At the start of each episode, I cringed in anticipation of who I was going to lose next.
As in all stories, we find fundamental themes mirrored in the story arch of our personal lives; and of all the themes presented there are two worth mentioning -
The first is the call to release our attachments so we can truly move forward, the alternative being death or stagnation (which in my view is much worse than death). The show presented this in the form of a river crossing... something that sounds simple and relatively straightforward, is everything except such. In a perfectly timed alignment from nature, rains flowed from upstream, and the waters deepened as the wagon leader (Shea) commanded everyone to lighten their load or drown. I say commanded because Shea used a strong masculine force to cut thru the illusions held by those in his charge. All hopes and dreams of the immigrants are shattered as they abandoned their musical instruments, tools, and home goods to move forward. Fundamentally, they had to let go of the identity they planned for their new lives to get there. Using the river is a profound and clear metaphor which presents the reality of crossing the great divide between who we think we are and who we are to become, achievable but not without sacrifice, courage, and togetherness.
The second is Living Life fully alive. This is most apparent in a young woman coming into womanhood on the journey. As a man, I can only partially relate, yet this was enlightening since Elsa narrates her inner thoughts and views throughout the story. Event as I write, words fail me to describe the depth of life shown by her character as she breaks social boundaries, comments on her shifting view/understanding of her mother, experiments, and expresses her love boldy. Fundamentally, she faced everything with courage and curiosity, a combination I found quite magical for moving through life. Rather than trying to fail with words I'll just share a few quotes and leave you to watch the series -
"It seems the farther we get from civilization, the more of its rules we leave behind. Its traditions. Its inhibitions. The farther west we travel, the more those rules and customs become a burden."
"There are few things that focuses one solely on the present. Terror's one, Grief is another; but nothing washes the world away like the lips of another. It seems an odd custom; strangers putting their mouths together and exploring each other with their tongues. When you think about it, kissing makes no sense at all. What a silly thing, kissing, what a pointless purposeless thing; and I couldn't wait for another."
Many-many more themes are present in this show - a few being including honor between men, holding ones word, flight and fight, the mind boggling complexities of severity and mercy (proving the need to balance them in the heart center rather than our mental bodies).
Perhaps I'll watch it again, with the second round being less painful since I know what is coming. Definitely 6 out of 5 stars.