Little Women (2019)

There is no one correct way to live one's life. If one is struggling to decide whether to devote one's life to the career, the family, or idle hedonism, one is likely not to be wrong whatever one chooses. In the short term, by virtue of near indifference, one should not be disappointed by any choice. In the medium term, one is unlikely to be able to adhere to the wrong choice for long and will soon reconsider. In the long term, one can find consolation in having lived a life that is, if not optimal, then at least interesting and unconventional. One's many selves (e.g., as viewed from the temporal perspective) likely disagree on what optimum is anyway. Whatever one chooses is likely to please some selves and upset others. The pleased self ought to be promoted.

The cast has been chosen masterfully. Even Meryl Streep's overacting seems oddly appropriate for her episodic part. Actors and actresses have not been chosen for their Hollywood looks. As a result, it is left to the story---not to assortative matching---to reveal who will end up with whom.

The dull persona of Friedrich adds ambiguity to the story. A Frenchman trying to pass for a German or a humourless German trying to pass for a Frenchman---we are never told---he is the one that Jo settles for, as an afterthought, to universal delight. As she admits it to her editor, her first choice had been taken. She may end up being a better writer for that, more open to the world.

The picture is timeless, for its story celebrates the universal: freedom and the plurality of aspirations.