Being Supreme

The main character in Marty Supreme confuses purpose with a personal-obsession to win. A common mistake in the real world.

Spoiler Alert! 

Marty yells at his pregnant girlfriend, Rachel, “I have a purpose!”  In this heartbreaking moment, he is trying to justify leaving her to compete in a table tennis tournament in Japan. Not only is it heartbreaking because of the state in which he is leaving her, but he also implies that he is the “supreme” because she lacks a purpose.

Throughout the entire movie, Marty is obsessively, frenetically, and narcissistically thinking only of winning a table tennis tournament. Winning a table tennis title is an honourable pursuit, but it is not a purpose. Purpose is something we do for the benefit of others.

He goes on to say to her, “With the obligation comes ‘sacrifice.” The only thing he sacrifices throughout the entire movie is the well-being of those around him. For it to be a purpose, he would have to make personal sacrifices for the well-being of others.

Why is his implication that she had no purpose so heartbreaking? Because throughout the movie, we watch Rachel have purpose and follow through on it. She sacrificed herself for him, and he dismisses her, declaring himself supreme because of his pursuit to win a table tennis tournament, which he confuses with a purpose.

The only time in the movie that Marty finds relief from the constant state of upheaval that comes with pursuing his obsession with winning is when he stops thinking about himself and starts thinking about others.

Purpose is not a badge to wear, the means to a trophy or a statement of supremacy; it is a silent pursuit that will be rewarded with fulfillment.