If I Could

Deanna 2022-04-22 07:01:21

The movie is based on a true novel. Cheryl's life is a mess. Her mother, Bobbi, escaped from an alcoholic and her husband took her and her younger brother to live alone. The pressure of life can be imagined. Fortunately, Bobbi is strong and optimistic, only at the age of 45. Disease took its life. I don't want to say it's unfortunate that "she was 45 years old by a disease that took her life" because when you believe that there is a higher, more intelligent force in this world, you look at Bobbi's departure in a different light, or at all Not to leave but to exist in a different way. For her beloved daughter, this way of being may be cruel, but it holds amazing power.

Unable to accept Bobbi's death, Cheryl fell into the abyss, punished herself in every way possible, drugged herself, had sex with all kinds of people, got pregnant, had an abortion, and pulled herself out of intimacy with her husband until" Get a divorce." You can't imagine how someone could hate and abuse themselves so much. We may find clues in the movie.

As a child, Cheryl's alcoholic father often beat his mother when he was drunk, and after temporarily escaping the stormy beating, Cheryl has to take care of his injured mother, which is repeated many times in countless flashbacks. A little girl in pajamas in a pharmacy runs anxiously and sadly, holding disinfectant and cotton. She kept tears for her mother to wipe the wound. A 7- or 8-year-old girl can't understand the world of adults. All she can see is violence and wounds. She blamed herself for not having the strength to protect the people she loved. This self-blame has been growing physically and became her pain body. After her mother's death, she broke out completely. She had sex with all the men who flirted with her, vented her hatred for her father and even all men in an extremely twisted way, and used more pain to cover up the pain of losing her mother.

Until one day, Cheryl was exhausted and accompanied by the music Give me a reason to love you, give me a reason to be a woman... She started her own redemption.

After falling to the bottom, maybe you will find that in the depths of your heart there is always a joyful, peaceful and quiet self who is full of strength and indestructible. When the acquired family, love, and achievements collapse one by one, the greed, fear, and desire that grow in order to maintain these things will no longer have a place to live. You are alone and have nothing to lose, and fear will disappear. , the true self is slowly discovered, it emerges tenderly with courage, compassion and forgiveness.

Cheryl stepped onto the Pacific Roof Trail and began to heal herself along the way.



The Pacific Crest Trail is a 4,286-kilometer hiking trail that runs through the western wilderness of the United States. It passes through California, Oregon and Washington on the west coast of the United States, from the lowest point near sea level , to the highest point of 13,153 feet (4,009 meters), passing through 25 national forests and 7 national parks. The trail ends in the town of Chester in northern California. Every year, starting in April, about 300 people set off from the Mexican border in an attempt to make it all the way, with about 180 of them successfully reaching the Canadian border in late September or early October.
We can also see from the success rate and time-consuming that this is a difficult journey. A woman, alone, with a baggage that can overwhelm her and an overload of pain, goes through difficult circumstances in a no-man's wilderness, unknown threats, physical limits, critical points of will, struggles of minds, The torture of loneliness, walking alone in the uninhabited wilderness, healing wounds in the dark night, this is a way to survive, not only to survive, but also to regain the faith and courage of life.

The challenge to one's own limits is not necessary for the process of redemption or growth, it is just a choice. Some people will heal themselves easily, and some people may be destined to go through a process of hardships to heal themselves. Cheryl chose it because she knew the process was a climb, and he could clearly feel his change as the miles went on, and she lived in the present every step of the way, even those fragments of memory , the unpleasant feeling will only pop up occasionally, and more often she has to think about how to escape from the rattlesnake, how to eat a hot meal, this brain that has been entangled in pain for too long finally makes room, a surge from the moment, The power of the moment dominates. She has more sensible time to examine herself, has more space to release herself, and temporarily leaves the social group where people are the unit. In a relatively quiet environment, sorting herself may be the most comfortable choice for Cheryl.

After 94 days of ups and downs, she ended at a place called "Bridge of the Gods". She looked at the distance with ease, a large lake was vast and peaceful...


View more about Wild reviews

Extended Reading

Wild quotes

  • Cheryl: [Cheryl's first inscription on the trail guestbook] "If your Nerve, deny you - Go above your Nerve" - EMILY DICKINSON and Cheryl Strayed.

  • Cheryl: [voiceover] What if I forgive myself? What if I was sorry? But if I could go back in time, I wouldn't do a single thing differently. What if I wanted to sleep with every single one of those men? What if heroin taught me something? What if all those things I did were the things that got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?

Related Articles