Why Mia left Seb?

La La Land was not any different from the mundane land and times we live in! The cliched theme of love lilted with melodious music and weaved with lyrical dialogues bestowed a novelty to the movie. However, one question haunted me throughout. Why is it that from Allahabad to Venice it is generally the male lover who is always poverty stricken? Poor Seb, fully absorbed in his creative pursuit, went out of his way to convince Mia to have faith in her abilities. He himself took different routes to sustain his dream of doing what he really liked. This detour, however, did not make him forget about his love-bound duties towards Mia. Oh gosh! It might seem too syrupy for the cynics of love. But those who have ever been stung by it, for good or bad, can easily relate to all the efforts made by Seb towards making Mia the superstar she ultimately turned out to be.

No one is ordinary in this world. The whole scheme of human existence ordained by nature is extraordinary. It’s just that we settle with things less ordinary owing to our inertia. This inertia can be disturbed for good by the environment we build for ourselves. Here arises the need of likes of Mias and Sebs. The ending might not always be to your liking, yet it provides plausible reasons for your survival. This is what makes us subject to relationships despite knowing that they would end someday, either by a quirk of fate or ultimately by the death.

Mia’s elegance while dancing under the sky of the City of Stars was not only because of her acting skills. It was the outpouring of emotions that needed a vent in her failure-ridden presence. The yellowish Mia symbolised Sun in the dark. Her smile dispelled the darkness in Seb’s life too who forgot that he owns a much cheaper car than her.

However, the climax of the movie is quite disheartening. It followed the never-ending custom of a man being duped by woman owing to change in her fortunes. It reminds me of several jilted Allahabadi lovers who never harmed their counterparts but might be living their lives full of dissatisfaction even today. Not getting what you want and living life normally is not an easy game to master. Of what use is the lover-designed name of music cafe, if she comes with her husband (who you could never become?) to listen to your music. An apostrophe replaced by a musical note might ache your heart more than the pleasure of following your dreams. Each and every key that you press on the piano is not only your genius but the reflection of the emotional repository within you.

Oh, Mia! Why didn’t you come back to Seb who was by your side when you were in your ruins? That lyrical dialogue that you spoke impromptu was because of the confidence that Seb instilled in you. Of what use is love if it does not lead to the fulfilment of emotions in form of a meaningful union. Or, am I being too paternalistic in my interpretations of life by equating love with lifetime bodily union. If it’s different humans still need to figure that else a life of separation is what exists as reality!

Till then, we will keep witnessing Mia leaving Seb and true love occurring only in chhayavaadi poems of Allahabad.

– Prashant