The Moral of "The Prestige" is contentment

The secret is what makes the magic. Once you know the secret, the illusion disperses. This story is powerful because the audience doesn't know what's up the author or character's sleeve. And while the secret must be revealed to make the story work it must not be revealed prematurely.

What strikes me the most about The Prestige is that Angier(Hugh Jackman) didn't have to kill himself over and over. He could have used the cloning machine just once and then lived like the Borden twins(Christian Bale). But Angier was the sort of person that couldn't be ok with himself so he killed himself over and over.

I think there's a life lesson there. If we can accept our failings we can make our minds kinder and safer spaces. And this applies to dealing with others as well. If we can accept other people and the secrets of their boundaries, then we reap the benefits of friendship. Even if the boundaries don't make sense to us. Both the aggressive Borden twin and Angier demanded to know the secret to the other's magic trick. If they could have been content with not knowing what was going on maybe they could have been ok with each other. Maybe they could have had something even more valuable. An active friendship. Maybe.

Submitted October 06, 2023 at 04:22AM by zudduz https://ift.tt/IwPDh0R