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Throughout the movie, it was evident that the main theme the director was depicting was that the smallest details in our everyday lives could end up making the biggest differences. The movie clearly elucidated this idea by stressing that though we may see ourselves as just regular, ordinary people living in a bustling metropolis such as New York City, we have more of an impact on the city as a whole than we really think. Take a play for example; when you’re enraptured by the live action before your eyes, your entire focus is on the passion of the actors and the engaging plot of the story. What you seem to overlook is that everything happening behind the scenes meticulously allows for everything to meld together flawlessly; if there wasn’t a stage crew to move props onto set in the blink of an eye, or a lighting crew to perfectly highlight the characters and set the scene, everything would fall apart. Similarly, New York is the perfect example of how essential things that make New York New York often go unnoticed, and Smoke portrays this point effectively.
Auggie’s photo project clearly emphasizes the importance of looking deeper into life and especially New York. Paul, at first, doesn’t realize what the big fuss is over Auggie’s photos, because to him, they’re all the same picture from the same angle from the same street. It isn’t until Paul sees his wife passing by in one of Auggie’s photos that he realizes each part of the picture has an impact; it may not be striking enough for you to look at it twice, but to someone else, it could mean the world. Walking the streets of New York, you may come across more people than you can count. However, the main takeaway from the film for me was that each of them have their own story.
We often undermine ourselves and compare ourselves to others that we perceive have more of a lasting effect on the world. However, every action we take leads to a never-ending chain reaction comparable to something like The Butterfly Effect, no matter what our place in the world is. I believe the film emphasized this idea repeatedly. For example, Rashid saved Paul’s life and, in turn, Paul offered him a place to stay. Paul played an important role in helping Rashid come clean about his identity to his father, and Rashid helped Paul take his mind off of his late wife. They both established a mutually beneficial relationship that was simply based on a sixteen year old boy looking out for a stranger passing by, substantiating that the film highlights the importance of the little things in life.
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I appreciate how you connected New York City into your response. Yes, all the characters were interconnected, but you can contextualize that within NYC, where every individual’s actions can cause a chain reaction. And when Auggie shows Paul the photos, it seems that Auggie shows Paul the importance in the details and small mundane interactions in NYC. He reminds Paul to live in the present and “slow down” to appreciate his surroundings. I also agree with your point on The Butterfly Effect. Another mutually benefitting relationships was Auggie and Ethel. Auggie pretends to be Ethel’s grandson to bring her joy on her last Christmas, but Auggie also needs the company of Ethel to help his loneliness.
I also appreciate how you not only connected your response to New York, but Auggie’s photo project as a whole. It was personally one of my favorite elements of the film as a whole. I strongly believe that his photo project holds great magnitude to the story of Smoke thematically, as the movie is all about paying attention to the minute, smaller, less illustrious details and movement that take place set against a still, awesome backdrop. The movie, as you point out, also highlights the little things in life, as well as the little differences. For instance, in your example you have mutually beneficial relationships. I believe that Auggie not only received gratification for his good deed for Ethel in the form of a camera, but I believe that he also needed that Christmas as much as she did to cope with his own loneliness.
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