See it. Miraculous. Consciousness is the human experience, this movie illustrates this so beautifully.
I am a total Hollywood-movie-happy-ending-freak to the point that I irritate my husband endlessly with my recent repulsion to any movie with a dark or disturbing premise...and this one has all the elements that I usually avoid...and yet it was strangely uplifting.
Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor of French Elle, had a stroke at age 42 and ended up with "locked-in syndrome", which means he was rendered completely paralyzed without the ability to speak. He was trapped inside his body. Horrific, I know - but the movie isn't. The movie is seen from his viewpoint, and his imagination and memory drive the story. He wrote his memoirs by blinking his one eye to communicate the different letters of the alphabet to form words.
One thing I've taken away from it is a new filter device - I've been thinking about the people in my life who would be able to be there for me - who WOULD be there for me - if I became "one eye." At this point, I actually think the list would be pretty comprehensive, including most of the people in my life. There are more profound insights to be gleaned from the film, but the "one eye" litmus test is something I keep returning to.
I think that's where we want to be - surrounded by the "one eye" peeps - and while other people may be in your life for one reason or another that don't make this list, and of course, these people may need to stay in your life for political or personal/familial reasons, but how can they truly be someone you call a friend, someone you trust with your heart?
To the friends I share this blog with, and to those who I trust to read this blog, thanks for being my "one eye" people. Trust that I would be there if you were "one eye" too.
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2 comments:
I saw this movie pretty recently, too. It is so incredibly beautiful and awkward that it's outside of any other category of movie. the shots they took to make you feel like you were in the head of the protagonist were so artful and edgy I felt like celebrating within the first few minutes. Someone taking a daring, scary, challenging move as a director! it was fierce and touching and enlivening!
the idea that someone would be there while I blink out a story, a novel at that, is kind of beyond comprehension. the women who did it for him were so special, but they didn't become players in his life in a primary way until after his accident. i think this is notable and kind of goes back to my last post which is you get what you get - maybe i mean to say you get what you need.
i don't even know if I could be the one to record someone else's blinks, no matter how much I love them. that act of generosity is so huge and so sacrificial it wouldn't be until I was in the confrontation that I could know if I could do it. i'd love to think I'd be your one eye gal, but wow, what a total act of faith and belief in someone else. his genius had to be clear enough to the writers of his blinks that they could totally surrender to be his servants.
I don't think I have that kind of genius to inspire that kind of giving from someone else, nor would I want someone to spend their time doing it. he could compose his perfect story in his head in the morning to blink it out the rest of the day. i can hardly come up with my accurate list of things to do in a day let alone a meaningful story line.
so, yogamama, i will be there in the way that I can be but I have to tell you the challenge of this movie is like the diving bell to me. i can imagine the underwater feeling of the disability and really wonder if I'd have the stones to not fall into a wasteland of depression and sorrow. he was such a miracle of a man to find the slightest sliver of power to make the most of his everyday. I'd only hope to be half that strong.
now that I read my comment I feel like it might sound kind of sour or dour. i hope that's not what came through. i hope you know i see your original message to be a validation of the ones you love and the acknowledgment of the strength of the love you feel from those closest to you.
my only point was i feel like i'm not sure I could be as strong as Bauby on the paralyzed end of it. i might not have the strength he had, and on the flip side, i am not sure I could go so intensely deep with another person in such an act of blind faith. I would love to think I could.
i've lately realized my limits with intimacy and how much work I have to do in this area. maybe I'm just coming up against that as I ramble my comments back to you here.
i can tell you, if anyone in the world needed me to write their blinks down, I sure would hope it would be you. and when you start blinking that you need your highlights touched up, I promise I will take good care of you.
xoxox
e
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