The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, was released in 2012, with an all-star cast, including Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. I think it is a wonderful movie, full of humanity and soul. There’s also a sequel, which came out in 2015 and is almost as good. As we saw in the clip, the movie is about a group of seniors who go to Jaipur, India to live out their years in what is described as a luxury hotel for the elderly and beautiful. Each of them is at a crossroads and needs to make a change in order to survive and hopefully thrive. Evelyn’s husband has just died, and his debts wiped out their life savings, so her flat has to be sold. Her son invites her to live with him and his family, but she doesn’t want that. After 40 years with an overbearing husband who made all the decisions, she wants some independence and a chance to make her own decisions. Graham is a London high court judge who dreads being put out to pasture as he has seen happen to his colleagues. Douglas and Jean have been disappointed in their search for assisted living, because they can’t afford what they would like to have. Muriel, a former live-in housekeeper, needs a new hip, but there is a 6-month waiting list and it is very expensive. Her doctor tells her about a partnership they have where she can have it done in India immediately for an affordable price. Of course, when they get to Jaipur, they find that the actual Best Exotic Marigold Hotel bears little resemblance to what was advertised. But after meeting the always positive manager, Sonny, they decide to stay and try to make it work. The movie could have easily become a farce here, “The misadventures of old people on a romp through India,” But it doesn’t. It doesn’t stereotype its characters. It shows them as real, imperfect people facing disappointment, finding romance, growing, and changing. It has so many great themes. The primary one, I think, is the different ways that people in their 70s and 80s approach and deal with a new, unfamiliar life change, country, and culture. India, where most of the movie was filmed, is its own character in the movie, a magical, modern place that is a riot of noise and color. Evelyn, who has never held a job, is the one who embraces her new life the fastest. She has to get a job to make ends meet, so she applies for one at a call center. Initially disappointed when her interviewer tells her that it is a place for ambitious young people, she gets hired as a cultural adviser, teaching the young callers how to talk to old people on the phone. She loves the noise and the crowds of the city. She even writes a daily blog about it, saying shortly after they arrived, “Old habits die easier than you think, and new ones form. Initially you are overwhelmed, but gradually you realize it’s like a wave. Dive into it, and you’ll swim out the other side. This is a new world. The challenge is not just to cope, but thrive.” Two others embrace the culture of India very quickly. Douglas visits temples and palaces and indulges in the cuisine. Graham, who grew up in India, plays cricket with the children in the street, and when he’s asked what he finds so wonderful about Jaipur, he replies, “All life is here.” Attitude and willingness to grow and change make all the difference. These three thrive here. It becomes their home more than England ever was. For Muriel, the change was difficult. She was the oldest of the group, and openly xenophobic. As soon as she got her new hip, she wanted to go back to England. But she had no one there. Her change in attitude started when, unaware of the rules and traditions of the caste system, she began to talk with the woman who brought her food, who was an untouchable. The woman was so grateful for her acknowledgement, she invited her to meet her family, and she and Muriel became friends. Jean, Douglas’s wife, barely tries to embrace India and its culture. To her, it is poverty and squalor. She sits at the hotel all day, becoming more and more negative. And she is the one of the group who goes back to England. One of them dies, and the rest become a family. Before, like many old people, they had been made to feel like they had nothing left to contribute to society. But here, they find purpose and community. These characters speak to me and inspire me as a newish senior. You all inspire me too. I agree that attitude is everything. We can be angry and negative and refuse to grow, or we can be positive and see the possibilities for new adventure, friends, and purpose. I hope to follow that way, going forward and grabbing all the life and purpose I can. The movie ends with Evelyn narrating a blog entry about what they have learned on their journey so far. She says, “The only real failure is the failure to try. The measure of success is how we cope with disappointment, as we always must. But it is also true that the person that risks nothing does nothing, has nothing. We came here and we tried. All of us in our different ways. We get up in the morning. We do our best. All we know about the future is that it will be different. Perhaps what we fear is that it will be the same. So we must celebrate the changes every day.
Namaste!
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