Whats Good World!!!!
Welcome to the ninth topic in this series entitled What Ladies Love.
Its been a while since I posted anything with respect to this series because I have been sooooo busy, however IM BACK!!! If you would like to read the previous post you can click here. We got some good feedback from that one. Now lets get to it.
Last night I finally got around to watching ‘Silver Linings Playbook” after much belly aching because of the snub “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and Quvenzhané Wallis received from the academy. I got over it and decided to see why the academy chose Jennifer Lawrence as best actress and why people where so into this movie.
If I were to judge a book by it cover or rather the posters used to advertise this movie, I would have dismissed this as a date movie. The only reason I had any level of interest was due to an interview Bradley Cooper the lead character did on “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross on Npr. The story seemed to have some more depth, so I dived in.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Bradley Cooper’s character Pat Solitano is released from a mental illness facility that he was placed in because of an episode he had after coming home and finding his wife in the shower with another man. In my opinion he reacted just as I would expect any husband to react when he catches his wife sleeping with another man. HE BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF HIM!!
Whats interesting about this is that Pat leaves the facility intent on getting back with his wife. He says he has grown as a person, he lost weight and he has learned that in all the experiences in life it is best to stay positive and find that “Silver Lining” He meets Jennifer Lawrence’s character Tiffany who is a widow and as a result has become this promiscuous woman about town. They initially bond over their experiences with familiar medications.
Pat’s dad played by Robert De Niro is a Philadelphia Eagles fan who is banned from the stadium because of all the fights he got into and he is highly superstitious and says Pat brings him good luck during the Eagles games and that he should stay and watch them with him, and he is OCD. Each one of the characters has this quirk that defines them. It made me want to examine this a bit deeper.
I can really relate to Pat and his desire to get back with his wife. I remember when I was fresh into my separation I thought that if I could change some things, focus more on what I wasn’t doing before and become a better person that my wife would take me back. I just knew that she loved me and that we could overcome any and all obstacles. I was out of work so i found a job. Then I discover that she is pregnant with another mans child. This almost destroyed me.
I watched the scene in the movie where Pat catches his wife and could see myself in that same position. I’m happy I wasn’t in that position cause Im sure it wouldn’t have had such a happy ending. Now…does the fact that I would have possibly reacted the same way make me mentally ill?
I am kinda of shortening the scope of Pats illness, he was dealing with it all of his life and that specific moment he snapped. Tiffany lost her husband a Police Officer suddenly while he was trying to rekindle the spark in their marriage, as a result she became promiscuos and was given medication to help deal with her depression.
The way I see it all of us have this capacity to be considered mentally ill based on our quirks and how some people may perceive us. The one thing I got out of this movie was that each and every character was dealing with some type of stress that affected who they were mentally.
As much as this movie is about mental illness, it is mostly about overcoming it. Pat embraced positivity and exercise and believing that having hope works. Tiffany represented that extra push…that voice of raw truth that all of us need. Jennifer Lawrence did an Awesome job with her character. I still think Quvenzhané Wallis should have won…lol
Now…with all that being said…I want to ask… Are all of us mentally ill/crazy and can it be overcome? Share your experience. I would love to read what you think. :-)
Buy/Listen to The Hit Single “Take Our Time (Right Away)” produced by Tye Hill from the soon to be released Ep “Ladies Love Mixtapes”
Precise 