Walter Mitty: A Daydream Transforms to Reality

Walter Mitty: A Daydream Transforms to Reality I am not the type of person who daydreams about epic scenarios like saving people from an exploding building, but our main character Walter Mitty is. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a comedy adventure film about experiencing the beauty and fulfillment life can offer. Walter, the maladaptive daydreamer, has his world of scenarios that he wants to experience in his daydreams. But throughout the movie, his character develops as we see him take leaps of faith towards making his daydreams reality. Likewise, his newfound relationships with the other characters of the movie, Cheryl, Sean, and Todd, push him to make these leaps. I will argue that the concept of intersubjectivity is essential in understanding how these relationships enriched Walter’s personhood. Let us understand intersubjectivity by defining its two conjoined words. Subjectivity is the perception or experience of reality from within one’s own perspective (both conscious and unconscious) and is necessarily limited by the boundary or horizon of one’s own worldview (Cooper-White, 2014). The preposition inter means “between or among”. To put it together, intersubjectivity is a dialogue between people about their experiences of reality. Walter’s daydreams only allow him to illustrate his inner world with himself. Yet it is not a coincidence that as he is practicing intersubjectivity by experiencing and sharing his adventures with the people he is meeting, these daydreams slowly become less common. One of the first daydreams Walter has is about him as a mountain climber expressing attraction to his coworker Cheryl Melhoff; but as the movie progresses, we actually see him go to the Himalayas and date Cheryl in the end. Cheryl is the main relationship and influence Walter has in pursuing his adventures. They have learned and shared meaningful experiences throughout the movie. (e.g., Cheryl helping Walter in finding Sean and Walter gifting a skateboard to her son). As Walter points out to her in the latter part of the movie, his whole journey would have ended if his daydream of her singing Space Oddity (a song Cheryl says is about courage and going to the unknown) did not push him to get into the helicopter. We see Walter at the start of the film as a person who focuses more on his job and the financial security of his family than on partaking in new experiences like traveling. We do not blame Walter here because these circumstances were caused by the unfortunate death of his father when he was 17. When Sean O’ Connell, a nature photographer working close with Walter, gives him the wallet with LIFE’s motto: “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel.”, it makes him self-aware to finally do the things he hasn’t been able to do. Walter’s daydream of Sean beckoning him is his call to action to adventure. It inspires him to experience life as Sean and the people on the cover of LIFE magazine did. When he meets him in the Himalayas, he has a meaningful dialogue with him that strengthens their relationship. Sean shares his inner world of photography, and they play soccer together. In the end, we can say Walter has a lot to thank for Sean in helping him reach a new level of self-actualization. In his final cover for LIFE Magazine, Sean is also one of the only people who knows and captures the hidden beauty Walter already had, even before all the adventures. Besides Cheryl and Sean, Todd Maher from eHarmony is a close relationship Walter develops throughout the movie. Walter shares with him his struggles with approaching Cheryl as well as his adventures; Todd comforts and supports him, and even helps him get out of airplane prison. Walter’s phone calls with Todd help him realize the environment and culture around him, that he is doing these crazy things at the moment. Walter realizes how far he has come, and he wants to share his victories with Todd. Todd also did not have to contact Walter during those times, but he continues because he likes the relationship they were forming. At first, Walter contacts Todd for the sake of fixing his eHarmony profile; but in the end, they had an authentic dialogue about the future over a Cinnabon. Although his breathtaking travels and novel relationships might not be the cure to his maladaptive daydreaming, the audience sees that they at least help him ground himself to reality. Walter’s practice of intersubjectivity in choosing adventure after adventure makes him practice reason that separates himself from the fantasy of his reveries. Moreover, Walter’s self-awareness in his intersubjectivity results in a formation of culture around him, may it be the place or the people. Walter’s dialogue with Sean started his adventure; his dialogue with Cheryl pushed him to continue his adventure; his dialogue with Todd made him realize the developments he has throughout the adventure. By partaking in these adventures with these people (and I would also include his family and the people he met along with his adventures), he enriches himself through the intimacy of these relationships. I believe I already have enriching relationships, but I do want to experience the vivid daydreams Walter Mitty has. References Cooper-White P. (2014, January 1). Intersubjectivity. In: Leeming D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9182 IMDb. (2013, December 25). The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. IMDb. Retrieved November 26, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359950/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt.