The film “Jackie” takes a powerful stance on life’s hardest questions

Samantha Durham | Assistant Opinion Editor

Recently, I went to the movies. Of course, this is a pretty common thing for a twenty year old girl to do on a Saturday night, but I want to talk about the movie I saw that night. It was “Jackie,” a dramatic look at the life of Jackie Kennedy, moments, days and weeks after the assassination of her adored husband, President John F. Kennedy.

Please understand, this is not a movie review. I simply learned something valuable that I feel everyone should think about. I am not much of a history buff, but I have always had a slight interest in Jackie Kennedy. Not because of her title, but more so because of how she carried herself. She looked strong, proud, and elegant. She struck me as a woman that could captivate a room with a small smile, but also a woman that could bring together a suffering country following a significant loss. In my eyes, she was delicate and fierce all at one glance, something that can be hard to be.

In the film, Jackie meets with a priest to discuss her grieving over her husband’s murder. She discusses with him how desperately she misses her husband but also how angry she is that the world took him away from her. She demands answers to the timeless question we all ask; why do bad things happen to good people?

The priest answers her bitterness and anguish with an interesting explanation for life. He explains that sooner or later in a person’s life, they come to find there are no answers. Only unanswered questions that no one can answer. That very concept either drives them mad or they choose to accept it.

This idea is so inspiring and powerful to me. It speaks so much truth about life overall. His point to her, I felt was that life is full of questions and the ultimate desire for answers. As humans, we are naturally curious and interested in growth. We seek answers to the questions that keep us awake at night or ponder the reasons for various things. But, the truth of the matter is, no one has all the answers and no one ever will.

Why am I bringing this up? I promise there is a point to all of this. While Jackie was in a situation of grief, the priest’s wisdom stands for so much more than just her situation. No one knows why bad things happen to good people, or why things turn out how they do. But, that’s kind of the beauty of it all. No one knows, and no one ever will. Therefore, we all are in the same position of wonder. Wondering what our futures will look like, what is yet to come our way. We are truly all in this together, striving for answers that may never come.

But, that is okay. It is okay to not have all the answers. It is okay to not understand and it is okay to be frustrated when you can’t find the answer or solution you are looking for. That is the mystery and the whole point of living; to not have all the answers. To accept that some things are the way they are simply because they just are.  To understand that not knowing and not understanding is okay and not a reason to feel less prepared to take on the world. Life was meant to be taken one step at a time, with people by your side to help you find the answers that exist.

I don’t know what I am going to do once I graduate. I don’t know where I am going to live or what I am going to pursue. I don’t know if I am ready. I don’t know a whole lot of things that I sure as hell wish I knew. But, the fact of the matter is I don’t and I am not supposed to right now. Right now, I am supposed to put one foot in front of the other and keep on moving.

I do know that not knowing is more important than knowing everything. If every single person had all the answers to life, living would be pretty boring. Some of the best things in life are unanswered questions and unplanned events.  Not knowing is so much more original and creative than knowing everything is. What purpose would life have if there was a book with all the answers in it?

In the end, Jackie was exactly what I imagined her to be or as Natalie Portman depicted her to be. Strong and fierce, but also delicate and pained. Like so many of us, Jackie wanted all the answers and for everything to follow a plan, but in the end she takes the priest’s advice. She chooses to accept there are not always answers and that it is okay to not have them.

We should all think about that as we move through life. Tragic things will come, but so will moments of joy. Pain will be there, but so will love and compassion. In the end, the answers and plans aren’t the things that matter. It is the quality of the life you live and the happiness that you find in it, even in times of pain.  

I have found that the answers you are meant to have find their way to you in the end. So, accept the reality that not all questions have answers and enjoy things as they come. Not everything has to be solved for life to be worth living.