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George Clooney’s Speech in This Movie Is Great Relationship Advice
Fill your backpack with people
In the movie Up in The Air, George Clooney’s character is a white-collar whose job is to fire people. His name is Ryan, and he’s a representative for a company that handles all the legal aspects of letting people go. When company A wants to let go of someone but doesn’t have the nerve to handle the process on their own, they call Ryan from company B, and he shows up with his leaflet and a little package explaining the next available steps for the employee. He has a quick meeting with the person being fired, usually in a pale, neon-lit meeting room, tells them they’ve been let go, and then moves on to the next one.
Ryan’s job requires him to be on planes all the time, hopping from company to company. He has no wife, no kids, and never really has time for family. He has a pretty dismal life. One thing Ryan does to kill time (and to earn extra cash) is giving conferences. There are 2 conference scenes in the movie, both with the same speech. I believe that speech does a great job at encapsulating some very important points about relationships, so I will quote it at length here.
How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to feel the straps on your shoulders. Feel ’em? Now I want you…
