Repeating the Past Sometimes Moves Us Forward
“I hit her! I wanted to make her laugh, and she wouldn’t laugh. I wanted to make her like me, and she wouldn’t like me. Oh, I’ve failed… I’ve failed!” Liliom (Charles Farrell), Liliom (1930) Liliom is an unfortunate character. He’s a carnival barker who comes to a sad ending as he dies of self-inflicted knife wounds before the birth of his first child. In the afterlife, Liliom meets God and God asks Liliom what his greatest regret is. Liliom tells God his greatest regret is having physically struck his wife. Then Liliom begs God to give him a second chance; to allow him to return to life on earth. He wants to make his past wrongs into rights and he wants to see his only child. God shakes his head and tells Liliom that past experience has taught him that people who are allowed to return to earth simply end up repeating their past. But God is willing to give Liliom a chance. God tells Liliom he must go to the underworld first for 10 years. Afterwards, he will be al...