a review of 她的马拉松

You changing your life and wanting to run this marathon was never about your weight. It was about you taking responsibility for yourself.

About a year ago I was in a pretty dark place. Like the titular Brittany I was living an unhealthy lifestyle while watching my friends move on to find relationships, great careers, and happy lives. I wanted that same kind of happiness, but it always seemed to elude me. So I got active. I've always suffered from low self-esteem due to my appearance and finally just decided to try and change that. I didn't start with running. Found that somewhere later on down the line. But long story short, trying to get in shape has really helped me out a lot. Not just physically either. My mental health is the best it has been in years. Just like Brittany, my quest to fix my body inadvertently led to a deeper exploration of myself that made me grow as a person. I still have a long way to go, but I have made many steps forward in just about every area of my life. Normally I'm not the kind of guy who would talk about himself like this, but I think it might help explain why I'm rating this so highly. Despite the protagonist being an overweight female and me being an extremely underweight male, we've had a very similar journey. I've felt and still feel all of her pain, embarrassment, and desire to have the same things everyone seems to obtain with ease. So that's why my score may seem a little inflated when compared the average. I also believe that telling my story could help show you the validity of the movie's message. This isn't some weight loss PSA that's trying to get you to workout. As a matter of fact, the whole exercising aspect isn't even really that important. Instead the significance of the story is that it reveals how attempting to improve even one area of your life can open up doors for change in others. The attempt doesn't need to be body related either. That's just the route this film chose to show. Many have found other ways achieving near-identical results. Be it seeking higher education, a change of scenery, or new relationships. It just takes identifying a problem and then making a conscious effort to fix it. This kind of thing isn't some cure-all that will give you a carefree existence. I personally still struggle every day and even in the movie Brittany goes through just as many low points as she does high ones. Yet, even though her life isn't perfect when all is said and done, she does end up in a much better place with more confidence and several of the things that she had been seeking. All because she decided to make a change. A beautiful and inspiring thing to behold. Especially since it can happen for any of us. I mean heck, I successfully completed my own marathon run December 7th, 2019 when the year prior I had planned on killing myself.