» I saw 127 Hours this weekend (on DVD). Wow. What a movie! I mean, how it makes you feel like you're there .. like it's YOUR OWN arm stuck .. and your only hope of getting out alive is with a cheap, dull pocket knife.
Makes our own afflictions seem petty by comparison. No matter how bad you got it (.. even if you've been waterboarded 183 times by a team of CIA black ops) he has it worse.
Getting you to identify with the character and tricking your mind into believing you're really there .. that's what movies are all about. And this movie does that remarkably well .. tho I'm not sure why.
Almost too well. (I had to hit the pause button a few times and go for a walk.) For example, the Wikipedia article says:
During the screenings at Telluride Film Festival, two people required medical attention. At the first screening, an audience member suffered from light-headedness and was taken out of the screening on a gurney. During a subsequent screening, another viewer suffered a panic attack. Similar reactions were reported at the Toronto International Film Festival.
I mean, everybody who sees this movie already knows the punchline. So there's no element of surprise regarding the plot. Yet it rocks your world. I'm still kinda freaked out.
Eventually I'd like to see ALL the nominees for Best Picture (.. which includes 127 Hours). Social Network is next.
» Finding Your Breaking Point
127 Hours would be a good movie to discuss the topic of » "finding your breaking point." Aron (in the movie) found his .. literally, when he broke both bones in his forearm .. one at a time .. which was necessary to extricate himself from his dire predicament.
He talks to himself in a calm tone (after he freaks out) » "Don't lose it, Aron. Don't lose it. Keep it together." What's he talking about there? Dont lose what?
I dont want to give away any more of the film than has already been given .. but I am familiar with the concept of finding one's breaking point. No, I have not yet crossed the threshold .. but I've been down the street, and I'm familiar with the neighborhood.
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It is not easy to find your breaking point. Because it's much further along than you can imagine .. at least it was for me. We humans are surprisingly resilient creatures.
I'm not sure, but I dont think you can find your breaking point on your own. Rather you must be TAKEN there .. by a confluence of external forces & (unfortunate?) situations.
Tho it's definitely NOT a thing to be feared. It's actually pretty cool .. once you finally arrive .. at the destination, I mean. (Not the trip, which definitely suks giant goose eggs. Mettle-tester. Well out of the comfort zone.)
I do not know the real Aron Ralston, but I'd guess those who do .. notice a sense of peace & serenity surrounding him that wasnt there before. Of course, I could be wrong. But I'd wager otherwise.
Finding your breaking point is surprisingly liberating, because you no longer have the fear of the unknown. You've been to the end of yourself. Everything else in life is cake.
Knowing your breaking point is a valuable piece of information .. just as it could be valuable, for example, for those stationed aboard a nuclear submarine, in certain situations, to know how DEEP they can go (.. how much external pressure the vessel can take) .. before things start cracking.
We all have a breaking point. People far better than me have found theirs. You'll know when you've arrived .. cuz you can actually hear the sound of the ice cracking around you. (Pretty cool.) Ah, but this here topic is for another day (.. maybe).
Not quite ready to go there. And to do it justice, I would need to go there.
But have you ever been out on the ice of a big pond (or a small lake) .. in the middle of the winter .. and heard the ice cracking .. as it expands beneath your feet .. the only thing between you and the icey water. Nothing else quite like that feeling .. the low, long cracking sound.
[ The Dog said he read that when you actually lose your mind, it's perceived as passing thru a thick gelatin barrier/wall .. and that it's very pleasant on the other side.
I never got to the gelatin. Only got as far as the part where things start cracking around you (.. which was actually pretty cool .. like being out in a hurricane, or walking in a violent lightning / thunder storm).
The trick is .. to go with the flow .. to work WITH it, rather than fight against it. Ride the tsunami to where it wants/needs to take you. Just do like Aron says » "Keep it together."
Extraordinary resources will come to your aid. You will be surprised. I promise. It's difficult to let go and relax at this point, but if you can, you'll enjoy a ride few will experience. =)
Personally, I think it's just an illusion .. that it just LOOKS like your world is starting to crack around you. ]
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