Crowds

They finally made this 1874 (yes it's over 141 years old) novel that was first read as a serial story in a magazine before it was published, into a big budget movie for May distribution in the US. The story (to me, when I read it as a teenager) was like a soap opera.

The title also intrigued me. The story seemed so advanced (or relevant) about human nature. It's really about sex although there are no sex scenes. Power and money are all part of the equation as always. 3 men, 2 women where the strongest character was the woman (I think). The crowd goes through a lot of strife and drama before the genuine attraction surfaces. Because it was first published in a serial monthly read, Thomas Hardy successfully tries to entice the reader along the way. Very advanced. I think TV dramas try to do the same with multiple plot lines guiding people to the story climax. Like, I said, it's about sex.

For me, the yearning for intimate fulfillment in relationship is universal. Intimate implies private, not public. Yet society want us to display the most important relationships in ceremony. Somehow a crowd of people demands us to validate love. But love is by nature how we treat each other when we are alone, at home, at work, at dinner, even sports.... For even the most public celebrity is just a man or a woman who need to love and be loved, in private.

Those moments must be far from the madding crowd.