GIFTED...everything comes with a price

So many things can been expected when seen a movie like "Gifted" (2017), or just after watching the previews, you can roll your eyes and try to remember how many tie have we seen this kind of story before or imagine how this one might turn. And you might be right but also there's nothing written on stone. Yes, there are still a few gifted people that had proven special skill in different matters and knowing their story is like going back to school where we are able to learn a whole new story and maybe will inspire us to achieve better thing on our own. But as inspiring and motivating as it sounds it is also full of cliches and cheap drama. Their struggle all seem to fit the same profile, miscast trying to be accepted in a world that sees them as different and their struggles to fit in and accept themselves while being challenged for their uniqueness and talent becomes as familiar as any massage at a spa where as pleasant as it is, it becomes a routine well known and desire but still over the time can turn into too much. How can we, the normal people, living our ordinary and not so great life relate to those gifted ones and their struggles and fears? Why should we invest in learning from those stories other than applaud them and recognize their work? Why do we feel inspired but frustrated when comparing my talents with theirs?

Well, this is the story of a young girl, of barely 8 years old. Her mom committed suicide when was a baby so she ended in care o her uncle, her mom's brother. And he, as a young handsome guy, sacrificed a life of party and fun to take in and raise his niece and using his degree in philosophy tries to raise her in a normal american way of life far from his childhood, raised by another wealthy mathematician and scientists,  missing all the things that a kid would experience to focus in studies and improve their potential, which happened to worked out for his sister, becoming one of the greatest  minds in modern history and seems like her child is developing the same talent for numbers a birth gift. But he doesn't want that for her. He wants her to jump and run and play and have friends of her age and even her talent might be missed, after seen how her sister's life ended, he want something better and different for the little girl. Sadly not everyone thinks the same way and as soon as he rejects a scholarship for gifted kids, the grandmothers hows ups with a legal battle under her wing, using her family resources to try to take the kid from his so and raise her like she did with her daughter, under an education that will expand her talent and use it for better, making a name of her to transcend and change human kind. But what is more important in life? To enjoy life at it's fullest and embrace what some might call ordinary, as having friends, a routine, going out for dinner or watch tv at home, playtime or sacrifice all this mundane situations for a better and bigger goal, dedicating your life for a your work using your talent to try to change things making an impact that will change not only your life but the live of others?

This is the real soul of movies like this and the stories of gifted people and how we can relate to them. While we usually complain for what we have and what we are missing, saying that our lives might be boring and uneventful, immerse in a routine and missing having the opportunity to achieve greatness, because who hasn't dreamed about be popular and recognize for a life work that changed human kind and your name will make history, right? but at what price? While we dream and complain about it, these gifted people are struggling to prove us wrong . Yes they might have a unique talent and they might change the world but they are missing one thing. They won't have a life. Everything in life comes at a cost. You can't have everything. It's a basic rule, so while they are using their talent towards science, arts, economics, politics, medic care, they are sacrificing all those moments that we complain about. No movie nights, no social skills, no parties, no wake up hung over, no road trips with friends, no lazy Sundays, and their relationships usually end in the same roof they work at or by some kind of interest involve. Is this a price are you willing to pay for greatness? Are you ok with a life without a life in order to make just a name of it that will go through history known by books but a lack of experiences?

Even the movie lacks a more soulful and human side, focusing on a battle for a kid that happens to be gifted and it's struggling with the realization of that, while trying just to be a kid and loving her life with her uncle, we miss that side of the story where we can get to know the uncle better. He's the arch of the story yet we just know who he was but who is he now? Why is he doing all this and making all these decisions? What are his fears and motivations that are taking him to be fighting for the girls custody and trying to bring a great life to her while he seems to be sacrificing much of his own. He seems a very down to earth and mature person for the way he talks to the girl, the way he is trying to raise her, helping her to go through all this struggle she is going to face but what's about this bond or relationship they have forge together other than just being living together? Why should we care about what is happening to them. Yes, she is a gifted kid and has a lot potential and as humans we feel sorry and can't but wish the best for her but why should all this is important. She hasn't accomplish anything yet. And both of them have a very limited life, boring, living in misery, like hiding from the world. If they were hiding from the grandmother they definitely did a crappy job as she found them in two seconds after being notify from the school about the girls behavior, so what really matters now is to explore the little girl feelings, fears, doubts, what is she going through knowing there is a battle over her between her family while she knows she is special. What does she want? What's  the best for her? Having a normal life, far from special classes and exploring her talent or mixing it with what any kid would like to do and have as part of their age?

So what's the real story behind the story? Why should i pay the ticket to see another story of someone gifted trying to make through life with a talent and a family struggling for their best interest? Is this a story about love and family or a drama about family issues and how to become and accept our flaws and strengths? Let's say that the only reason why these stories deserve to be told and we should keep investing in them is because at the end of things,, we are have a talent and we all are unique but for some reason we need a remind of it. We get trapped in our misery and mundane lives, thinking we are so boring and ordinary that our story doesn't deserve to be told but we all are fighting battles everyday, if not to create or innovate at least to survive and make it through the day, helping our beloved ones or to ourselves to become a better self or just to get our shit together but at the end we all are changing our environment and the people around us with our actions either as an example to follow or avoid. We might not notice it because we also tend to be selfish and it's hard to admit to others the importance they all have in our live but we all are gifted just for having a life, a family and a group of friends that care about you, and if you do your best every day at your job, at home, with friends or for your community, you are changing things and the only way to make it happen is having a life and stop pushing yourself to be someone you are not or to achieve something that will make you miss what life is all about because until then you might be forgotten.