Another Stranger than Fiction Blog
One of the many messages I've found in Stranger than Fiction is that change is necessary in one's life. Some of the main characters go through some amount of change. With Harold, it's obvious: he starts to change his life as according to his unrealized desires, filling it with (some of) the things that were previously missing, such as love, music, and meaning. He also becomes kinder, going out of his way to be friendly towards others (at least to Ana and Dave, his co-worker), as opposed to just sidestepping any possible conflict. With Karen, she accepts Penny's advice and help, as when she is told to let Harold read the story of his life and when it is intoned that she possibly quits smoking, whereas before, she did not want anything from Penny. She also changes the ending to her novel, breaking the mold of her previous works. As for Penny, she asks for an extension on Karen's deadline, something she said she had never done before. With the other characters, Ana and Professor Hilbert, change is not all too apparent. Ana's attitude towards Harold changes throughout the film, but Hilbert seems to be a static character. I suppose, if nothing else, they are there to show reactions to the changes made by the other characters; Ana accepts Harold and comes to love him for the person he (may well have) always wanted to be, and Professor Hilbert is a bit negative when it comes to the change in Karen's novel. I could be reaching a bit, and maybe I need to see the film once more to fully assess what all's going on with the changes in the characters, or if I've missed what Ana and Professor Hilbert's changes are or could be, but... I'm happy with what I've got now.