first draft Essay #4

Kyle Audis

Essay #4

Professor Cline

22 April 2012

Up in the Air….Finding Hope

               

To know what having hope is, first takes losing something you value. This is what happened to America as our economy fell, as well as what created the vast differences between the book and film version of Up in the Air. The book, Up in the Air by Walter Kirn is a story about a businessman, Ryan Bingham, whose life in the air world, from hotel to hotel, city to city, firing people for companies who request such a skill, is dreary and void. His fascination and goals lie in reaching the 10 million mile frequent flier club, a feat only known to few. Although being fired is a less than a desirable space to occupy, the book was written during an economic high, gaining less sympathy from an ever critical reader, for such news.  Perhaps the book plays more on the sympathies for a man lost in a life of vacant human connection, disconnect from real emotion and empathy, and his ever growing unhealthy mental state, then it does for the victim behind the desk losing his job to a stranger in a tie. As Bingham finally begins to realize his need for human relationships, he finds out he has a brain tumor.  Eight years after Walter Kirn wrote Up in the Air, a movie version of the book was created. The year 2009, while only 8 short years later, is enormously different, in terms of economic rest and employment security. While the movie version  of Up in the Air has some similarities to the book, the changes made reflect a now broken America, a shattered spirit and a desperate need for hope once more. The movie version, although also takes on subtle cosmetic changes, (George Clooney is certainly not 35 and his home is in Omaha, not Denver) the more profound changes resurrect a different sympathy from the audience. George Clooney, who plays Ryan Bingham, is more focused on saving his ability to fire people face to face, where he can counsel and coddle grief stricken people, rather than on a cold online conversation. The movie plays on the sympathies for the loyal, hardworking and blindsided employees whose lives are shattered with such news, rather than the disconnected Bingham who, after an encounter with a fellow passenger and a daunting task of giving a pep talk to his less than enthusiastic future brother in law about marriage, realizes his need for “company” and companionship. The goal of changing such profound pieces of the book was to reflect an America whose job security, economic growth and prosperity are now deeply threatened, and to give a new kind of hope to viewers.

                Book version of Up in the Air by Walter Kirn is dripping with dark humor, satirical undertones and is very melodramatic concerning the dreary world of airlife, business and a superficial quest for frequent flyer miles.  Written during an economic high, compassion for a disgruntled employee whose just been terminated, was far more hard to come by, as jobs were easy to obtain and the outlook for a secure future was still not threatened. The whole plot of book version Up in the Air was to seek sympathy and hope for Ryan, the main character, rather than the persons who were now unemployed. In fact the book has very little to do with the Ryan’s job and the victims he is forced to let go. Kirn instead plays on sympathies for his main character, a businessman whose life has no internal fire, human connections or true happiness, as well as no need for such things until the very end when Ryan is told of a life threatening condition . Ryan’s  obsessive addiction to achieving frequent flyer miles, his inner struggle with building relationships with others, and his paranoid mental status after frequent encounters with never ending suspicious airport personell is a dark and cold life that, at that time in American culture, was more easily relatable then having pity for those no longer employed. Walter Kirn explains in an interview with David Riva, why he chose to write up in the air; “People thought they were going to get richer and richer, that the business (cycle) had ended forever and things were going to go up, up, up ... I wrote the book because everything that must go up must come down.” (Riva n.p.) In a sense, Walter Kirn was inviting his reader to feel compassion and sympathy for a man who seemed to have it all, from a birds view, the glamorous life of a businessman, yet in sharp contrast, was anything but. The main characters deep need for an exit out of air world and into a more grounded lifestyle shows the only vunerable side of Ryan in the book. Kirn writes; “My dream is to land a position in brand analysis, a benevolent field that involves less travel and can be done from home, over the wires” (Kirn pg 14).

                Jason Reitmen directed the movie version of Up in the Air, starring George Clooney, as a gentle and attractive glimmer of hope to a more broken America. As Walter Kirn downplayed the severity of becoming unemployed, especially at the hands of a cold and vacant career transition counselor, Jason Reitmen took the main character of Ryan and molded him into a cradle the fall advocate telling his now broken clients to lose the zombie like persona and chase the once very alive dreams that would bring more happiness and purpose. As George Clooney is sent to fire a group of employees at big company, he tells one man, who is struggling with what he will tell his kids; “I see guys who work at the same company their entire lives, guys like you. They clock in, they clock out, they never have a moment of happiness (Up in the Air, 2009). Jason Reitmen changed so much of the book for the movie to coddle the viewers, resurrect more empathy for Ryan’s now jobless clients and to not touch a nerve in the bleak outlook of the current economic recession. With little to cling to as far hope and optimism are concerned, America is in a state of emotional turmoil, economic unrest and a threatened idea of living the American Dream. This being said, Jason Reitmen had little to work with following the depiction of Kirn’s Ryan, and also the whole theme of the book. A more compassionate, suave, and charming Ryan was needed to coddle the blow of a termination left hook, as well as a likeable young female mirror to Ryan, to point out the negative aspects of his failing personal life.

With Clooney playing Ryan, charisma and charm are in high dose, as well as buckets of reasons why losing your job could be a good thing. Perhaps there is a reason why choosing Clooney to play the main character fit? Author of the novel version Walter Kirn calls Reitmen’s casting choice, “brilliant.” (Riva n.p.) Kirn goes on to say; “He just plays a guy in a suit,” he said. “And that gives him so many dimensions and such depth and subtlety that you almost don't notice it.”(Riva n.p.) And who would be more fitting then to serve a steaming pile of confidence to those thirsty for encouragement and hope in a broken America then oh so convincing Clooney?  Force feed 92 minutes of hope and charm to unemployed and dismal viewers, and you end up with a box office touchdown right in the middle of a recession.  Jason Reitmen wanted to instill a sense of hope that’s not lost in our current period of time, and a few reasons why, when all seems so unchanging, good things can still happen.

Although both the book and film Up in the Air, seek a response of hope and change, the stark contrast of ways in which it is obtained is vast. Walter Kirn sought hope for a man that had no real ties to life or people. His only world was lived in the air and in his mind. Readers sense, from deep within the main character, guilt and remorse for having chosen such a lifestyle, and a personal struggle to disconnect from it. Readers are asked to give sympathy for a man, for his lifestyle, and then his ever growing need to change it in time to enjoy his last few years on earth. Although written very coldly and without much sugar coating, it did not lessen the intent of Walter Kirn. Movie version of Up in the Air seeks hope and change in a different, perhaps more soothing light. The movie seeks hope for newly unemployed symbols of Americans, and their need to cling to something. Although main character Ryan is charming and relatable, the movie really focuses more on the tragedy of losing a job, the emotions it provokes and the economic distress that the country is in. Both versions give glimmers of hope where needed and provide insight to a world known by few. Given the different time periods of each, the sense of hope may be in a different light and may ask for a different response, the message in both is still the same, it is about finding hope, especially when it feels like there isn’t any at all.

Works Cited

Kirn, Walter.  Up in the Air.  New York:  Anchor Books, 2002.  Print.

Up in the Air.  Directed by Jason Reitman.  Paramount Pictures, 2009.  Film

Riva, David. "Walter Kirn, author of 'Up in the Air,' discusses his novel and the film adaptation process." Michigan Daily [Detroit] 09 FEB 2010, n. pag. Print. <http://www.michigandaily.com/content/interview-walter-kirn-author-air?page=0,0>.