How do you live forever? Is it possible, and should mankind strive for lifespans lasting hundreds of years? How to Live Forever doesn't try to answer these questions, but filmmaker Mark Wexler tries to cram as many opinions as possible in the 92 minute running time. Many reviewers have criticized How to Live Forever as a Morgan Spurlock-esque documentary that plays it safe by entertaining the audience and not taking too strong of a stance on anything. In looking for a message, though, these reviewers have missed the point. How to Live Forever might appear to be about diets, exercises, science, and the funeral industry, but ultimately, Mark Wexler is exploring the larger notion of legacy.
Mark Wexler has celebrated another birthday, and he is realizing that the choices he is making now will affect him as he gets older. He starts small, looking into eating habits and exercise routines guaranteed to keep him active into his 80's, 90's, and past 100. Soon, he meets scientists that insist aging and dying are not inevitable, and they show Mark new ways to trick the body into staying young with hormones. The idea that death is not inevitable opens up so many new questions of ethics, greed for more life, and whether humans would enjoy eternal life.
Every path that Mark Wexler takes in How to Live Forever leads back to legacy. He opens the film at a funeral arrangements convention where people sell upscale coffins, computerized counseling for family members left behind, and urns emblazoned with their favorite sport's teams logo. These salesmen are selling more than a coffin; they are selling a funeral legacy. Do you want to be remembered as classy? Then go for a high-priced Hurst or a gold coffin. By arranging your own funeral, in a way you have the chance to define your legacy as a fun-loving everyman devoted to his favorite sports team or as someone more refined and elegant.
In another segment of the film, Mark talks with scientists about their work trying to “cure” death. Several of them admit that even if science finds a way to stop death, they will probably not be alive to see it. These scientists are seeking a lasting legacy of their own. They want their legacy to be that they laid the groundwork so that future generations could choose to live substantially longer lives or defy death altogether.
Right now, I am guessing that the most divisive part of the film will be the contrasting views on diet. Mark shows people that intentionally eat very tiny portions in hopes of living longer lives, and on the other end of the spectrum, he goes out to eat with a self-professed foodie who cannot imagine life without rich food. Both sides see themselves as embracing life in the best way possible. The strict dieters believe that good health will allow them to live longer, enjoy many other parts of life, and be there for their friends and family. They will leave behind a legacy of health. In contrast, the foodie believes that a long life without delicious food is a life half-lived, and if you worry so much about getting more years, you will miss what makes those years so sweet. A foodie's legacy is leaving this earth having tasted many of its pleasures. While Mark is mostly fair in presenting both sides, I think he tipped it more in the foodie's favor by including that the extreme dieters sometimes have lackluster sex drives.
Mark Wexler's interest in life, death, and legacy in How to Live Forever obviously stems from his mother's recent death. He spends a lot of time talking about her work as an artist, and the last shot of the film is him standing amongst her possessions which are now in storage. As a son and a filmmaker, he is trying to make sense of his mother's death and figure out what he will leave behind as an artist and as a person. I think in that sense, he succeeds with How to Live Forever. If filmgoers are looking for straight-forward answers, they might leave disappointed, but I guarantee that he will give them a lot to consider when it comes to aging, death, and what we leave behind.
"How to Live Forever" opens May 13, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Mark Wexler. Written by Mark Wexler, Robert DeMaio. Starring Phyllis Diller, Ray Bradbury, Suzanne Somers.
