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Walter uses his daydreams as a coping mechanism to deal with the people in his life who upset him, including his mother, his fiancé Gertrude, Gertrude's mother, and a man named Tubby who pursues Gertrude despite her relationship status. Essentially, no one in Walter's life respects him, and he does nothing to fix this issue. He has worked as a proofreader for eleven years and is engaged to someone he has known since high school (or presumably before), indicating that his life hasn't changed at all during adulthood. Walter's mother is shown to be someone who follows social convention to a t. In the opening scene, she sees a billboard for Sea Drift brand soap chips and instructs Walter to purchase some on his way home from work, claiming she likes the Sea Drift brand. This illustrates her lack of individuality, a theme that is revisited later when Gertrude expresses distaste for Walter's cologne. He informs her that she gave it to him as a gift, and she changes her opinion. This indicates that she did not even bother to smell it before purchasing it and has decided to like it because it was sold to her as a nice cologne. Through these interactions and others, the people in Walter's life are shown to be easily influenced by advertisements and other social expectations. They blindly follow whatever society or commercialism expects of them without a second thought, and they expect Walter to do the same, never bothering to consider his actual opinions on anything. Meanwhile, Walter never offers up his own opinions, blindly following his mother's instructions to the best of his ability, although he is often unable to perform tasks exactly the way she expects him to. While there are no instances of Walter directly opposing one of his mother's "preferences," he seems to naturally exist on a different wavelength than the rest of the people in his life; he simply does things differently. Walter is shown as inherently clumsy, but from a literary perspective, his clumsiness represents his inability to fit in; he cannot navigate the perfect play-by-play that his mother and fiancé expect because his brain works differently. One could make a reasonable claim that Walter is neurodivergent, but I do not think that this interpretation is even necessary, as this is a very basic depiction of rejecting the status quo via the inherent inability to fit in.

During my rewatch, my friend informed me that in the original story, Walter Mitty is depicted as a total loser who hates his life and does nothing to change it. The difference in the film is that Walter's clumsy nature is more charming. After all, he is a protagonist that the audience is supposed to be rooting for. He is played by handsome and charming Danny Kaye, and his social clumsiness is supposed to be funny (though sometimes causes secondhand embarrassment). However, Walter is still a loser. He claims no agency until pretty late in the movie. His mother orders him around. His fiancé lets another man play pranks on him. His boss steals his ideas. There is one line that perfectly sums up the way Walter's personality is supposed to be interpreted: while he is upstairs, his mother's voice calls out "Walter, your milk toast is getting soggy!" Nowadays, people generally use the term "milquetoast" to describe someone who is bland and devoid of personality, but originally, it referred to someone who (for lack of a better phrase) has no balls. Both of these interpretations adequately describe the perception of Walter in the movie. The implication that the milk toast is "getting soggy" lends to the fact that he cannot go on like this for much longer. Something needs to change--and quickly, before our endearing protagonist gets married to a woman who does not care for his genuine self.

[spoilers ahead]

Then, Walter meets Rosalind Van Horne, a rich young woman who is tasked with protecting a book that lists the locations of treasures that had previously been stolen by the Nazis. Walter is immediately smitten by Rosalind, who resembles the fantasy woman who appears in his daydreams. Rosalind uses Walter's attraction to convince him to help her, claiming that she is scared and has no one else to turn to--which is true, but she clearly manipulates Walter into getting involved in a life-threatening situation. She acts selfishly until the climax, when [spoiler] Walter is poisoned and she rushes to his side instead of escaping. Rosalind exists as kind of a foil to Walter, as she claims a lot of agency throughout the movie and makes all her own decisions. In her mind, she can do whatever she wants, but she is facing a life-or-death situation head-on and is unable to claim the sort of normalcy that Walter itches to escape from. Through this dichotomy, Walter and Rosalind are able to develop a strong bond that quickly becomes romantic when they are finally safe from danger.

Rosalind's sudden act of care gets her captured, and the villains of the movie manage to convince Walter that the entire plot was simply another daydream. No one in Walter's life believes him, and they expect him to return to life as normal. His boss even pays for a psychiatrist just so Walter will act normal again and return to his job. The psychiatrist, who is one of the villains, convinces Walter that Rosalind was never even a real person. This collective gaslighting really seems to be a step backwards for Walter. Throughout the entire movie, he questioned his own perception of reality, which is a common problem for people who spend their whole lives being told what to think. This elaborate display of gaslighting is merely a more exaggerated experience that many people have suffered at the hands of a manipulative and persistent person. When everyone is telling you to go along with what is considered "normal," you may elect to do so as an alternative to complete isolation. Fortunately, Walter finds his agency just in time and is able to finally make the choice to reject expectations and accept himself. A satisfying ending!

[end spoiler]

Overall, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) proves an incredibly fun movie with intrinsic social commentary and humorous pokes at commercialism and wealthy lifestyles. Danny Kaye performs flawlessly, making use of his musical talents during elaborate daydream scenes and other comedic bits (seriously, he can do some crazy things with his mouth...). I highly recommend this movie if you're looking for something new--and it's in technicolor!

Piranesi is the best example of dramatic irony I have ever seen. At the very beginning, you seem to be looking through the eyes of a narrator living in some kind of fantasy world or alternate reality. After the scene is set, it suddenly becomes clear to the reader that something is very, very wrong. As the narrator goes about his business, the reader is aware that his perception of reality is false, and yet no explanation presents itself until the narrator starts to unravel the mystery alongside you. I have never read a book that operates like this, and I loved it.

The plot is fantastic, but the style and mechanics of Piranesi are what make it a magical and unique read. I wish I could read it again without knowing what happens.