I've been spending some of my beloved free time on The Australian Screen Website. They provide information and clips for various Australian movies. I think this is going to be my new hang out for awhile.
Since I'm a bit methodical at times, I'm going through the movies in alphabetical order. Today I came across Angel Baby. It's about two schizophrenic people who fall in love, and get pregnant. I've been really into the whole subject of craziness lately, so of course, that movie got my attention. I watched the three provided clips and then read a little background information. The movie won a ton of AFI awards in 1995 including best picture.
The third clip provided takes place after Harry and Kate flush away their medication. From what I've read, they do this for the sake of the pregnancy. I guess the drugs aren't good for the fetus? Or at least this is what they believe.
After they have stopped taking the medication, Harry and Kate start acting more bizarre. When shopping, they refuse to pay the sales price for an item. They like the original price, because the numbers mean something to them. The numbers of the sales price worries them. Then Kate gets hit by a skateboarder. She bleeds. The apologetic teen tries to wipe her blood away with a cloth thing he happened to have handy. She freaks out angrily, because she doesn't like anyone having her blood. Her blood belongs to her. STRANGE. Right?
I can relate to their beliefs, though. I have strange beliefs. I'm superstitious. I see meaning in coincidences. I often infer spiritual messages in things I read or see. I don't fret much about the number arrangement of store prices, and people having my blood. But I do insist on frantically knocking on wood if someone makes an observation like, It's great no one has gotten sick yet!
Strict atheists probably see all such beliefs as foolish...and maybe a little crazy. That's fine. The rest of us are a bit hypocritical about the whole thing. Why is it not acceptable for a woman to believe her blood must not be kept by anyone else, but it's okay to eat a cracker in church and believe it's literally the body of Jesus? Harry is annoying with his insistence on paying full price of the item, because he doesn't like the numbers of the sales price. That would probably not be seen as okay by most people. But why then is it seen as okay for some Jewish people to divide their milk and meat dishes? Is it not a bit crazy to be that rigid about dividing dairy from meat? What is their reasoning behind it? What's the rationale? Is there any reason beyond faith and belief?
In the first clip, it's revealed that Kate believes her angels send her messages via Wheel of Fortune. That's so much like something I'd believe. Are we both being ridiculous with all of this? Maybe. But then why is it okay for some Christians, Jews, and Muslims to believe certain books are literally the word of God? To me, it's so funny that even in our modern enlightened society, you open up the hotel room drawer, and the Bible waits there for you. Well, at least this is the case in American hotels. What is that all about? There are so many other books they could leave in that hotel room drawer. The Bible isn't that interesting to me. And I don't believe in it.
It's not to say my beliefs are superior to the beliefs of Christians. But why are the beliefs of Christians so much more accepted than mine? Although even Christianity is accepted only to a point. It's fine to believe in Jesus. But you better not believe you ARE Jesus. It's okay to talk to God. It's not okay to say you hear God talking back to you.
I know Schizophrenia goes beyond having strange beliefs. There are other symptoms to go along with it; hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, difficulty organizing thoughts, weird speech patterns, neglect of personal hygiene, unpredictable behavior, loss of interest in everyday activities, social withdrawal, etc. All that sounds like a pretty sick person. But it also sounds like what might happen, if the stuff that happened to the bible heroes happened to people today. If there IS a God, and she comes down to talk to someone, it's very likely that someone will end up in a mental hospital...heavily medicated.
Maybe the trick is to stay clean. People are more tolerant when you don't smell stinky. So if God does come down to talk to one of us, I advise her to remind her human friend to bathe, brush his teeth, and use deodorant.
I'm not trying to say all Schizophrenic are misunderstood Messiahs.
What am I trying to say?
I'm not exactly sure. Maybe it's that we shouldn't be so quick to judge others. And I think I recently said this in another post. I'm having some Deja Vu here. Anyway. Yeah. I think before judging other people's weird beliefs, we should look at our own. And we might also consider the fact that other people's weird beliefs MIGHT be true. I don't like that Bible in the hotel room drawer. But I can't say it doesn't hold the truth. I want my beliefs to be the right ones. But you can't always get what you want.
Since I'm a bit methodical at times, I'm going through the movies in alphabetical order. Today I came across Angel Baby. It's about two schizophrenic people who fall in love, and get pregnant. I've been really into the whole subject of craziness lately, so of course, that movie got my attention. I watched the three provided clips and then read a little background information. The movie won a ton of AFI awards in 1995 including best picture.
The third clip provided takes place after Harry and Kate flush away their medication. From what I've read, they do this for the sake of the pregnancy. I guess the drugs aren't good for the fetus? Or at least this is what they believe.
After they have stopped taking the medication, Harry and Kate start acting more bizarre. When shopping, they refuse to pay the sales price for an item. They like the original price, because the numbers mean something to them. The numbers of the sales price worries them. Then Kate gets hit by a skateboarder. She bleeds. The apologetic teen tries to wipe her blood away with a cloth thing he happened to have handy. She freaks out angrily, because she doesn't like anyone having her blood. Her blood belongs to her. STRANGE. Right?
I can relate to their beliefs, though. I have strange beliefs. I'm superstitious. I see meaning in coincidences. I often infer spiritual messages in things I read or see. I don't fret much about the number arrangement of store prices, and people having my blood. But I do insist on frantically knocking on wood if someone makes an observation like, It's great no one has gotten sick yet!
Strict atheists probably see all such beliefs as foolish...and maybe a little crazy. That's fine. The rest of us are a bit hypocritical about the whole thing. Why is it not acceptable for a woman to believe her blood must not be kept by anyone else, but it's okay to eat a cracker in church and believe it's literally the body of Jesus? Harry is annoying with his insistence on paying full price of the item, because he doesn't like the numbers of the sales price. That would probably not be seen as okay by most people. But why then is it seen as okay for some Jewish people to divide their milk and meat dishes? Is it not a bit crazy to be that rigid about dividing dairy from meat? What is their reasoning behind it? What's the rationale? Is there any reason beyond faith and belief?
In the first clip, it's revealed that Kate believes her angels send her messages via Wheel of Fortune. That's so much like something I'd believe. Are we both being ridiculous with all of this? Maybe. But then why is it okay for some Christians, Jews, and Muslims to believe certain books are literally the word of God? To me, it's so funny that even in our modern enlightened society, you open up the hotel room drawer, and the Bible waits there for you. Well, at least this is the case in American hotels. What is that all about? There are so many other books they could leave in that hotel room drawer. The Bible isn't that interesting to me. And I don't believe in it.
It's not to say my beliefs are superior to the beliefs of Christians. But why are the beliefs of Christians so much more accepted than mine? Although even Christianity is accepted only to a point. It's fine to believe in Jesus. But you better not believe you ARE Jesus. It's okay to talk to God. It's not okay to say you hear God talking back to you.
I know Schizophrenia goes beyond having strange beliefs. There are other symptoms to go along with it; hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, difficulty organizing thoughts, weird speech patterns, neglect of personal hygiene, unpredictable behavior, loss of interest in everyday activities, social withdrawal, etc. All that sounds like a pretty sick person. But it also sounds like what might happen, if the stuff that happened to the bible heroes happened to people today. If there IS a God, and she comes down to talk to someone, it's very likely that someone will end up in a mental hospital...heavily medicated.
Maybe the trick is to stay clean. People are more tolerant when you don't smell stinky. So if God does come down to talk to one of us, I advise her to remind her human friend to bathe, brush his teeth, and use deodorant.
I'm not trying to say all Schizophrenic are misunderstood Messiahs.
What am I trying to say?
I'm not exactly sure. Maybe it's that we shouldn't be so quick to judge others. And I think I recently said this in another post. I'm having some Deja Vu here. Anyway. Yeah. I think before judging other people's weird beliefs, we should look at our own. And we might also consider the fact that other people's weird beliefs MIGHT be true. I don't like that Bible in the hotel room drawer. But I can't say it doesn't hold the truth. I want my beliefs to be the right ones. But you can't always get what you want.