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BEAUTIFUL MIND, the winner of the 2001 Academy Award for Best Picture, chronicles the (somewhat?) true story of mathematician John Nash (brilliantly portrayed by Russell Crowe) from his early days as a student at Princeton to his ultimate triumph over a descent into schizophrenia. As this is not a review column per se, we need not go into more plot detail; however, we are going to discuss the “twist” of the film here. For those of you who haven’t yet seen the film, you might want to put aside this column until you do see it (and it is available now on Video and DVD). While there is some debate as to how much of the story was embellished and perhaps sanitized by the filmmakers, what fascinates me from a metaphysical viewpoint is the “gimmick” upon which the entire story turns. We see Nash and his roommate at Princeton develop a strong friendship bond that lasts beyond their graduation and we also meet a shadowy FBI agent who recruits Nash to decipher complicated war codes. The roommate eventually introduces Nash to his young daughter. Then, abruptly, Nash has a breakdown and we, the audience, discover that the roommate, the FBI agent, and the little girl are simply manifestations of Nash’s psyche. They don’t “exist” at all. At least, not in the “real” world. (BEAUTIFUL MIND was released in the last quarter of 2001, a three month period that also included the release of WAKING LIFE, VANILLA SKY, AND MULHOLLAND DRIVE, all of which have been the subject of previous MovieMystic columns, and are archived at MysticalMovies.com. When four films that challenge the very nature of reality are released in a ninety day time frame, we can very happily note that the questioning of reality itself has reached critical mass. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “something wonderful this way comes.”) Sitting in the theater, I was completely stunned at the twist in BEAUTIFUL MIND. Those people sure looked “real”, didn’t they? To Nash and to us in the audience. Nash interacted with them with them as though they were real. Even on medication, he continued to encounter them. They never disappeared. Even as he wins the Nobel Prize, they are “there”. At a distance, to be sure, not even engaging him anymore, but still there. It was only his ultimate acceptance that these entities were representations of his subconscious mind that allowed him to be able to cope in the world. The entities never disappeared. He just learned to be able to differentiate them from the flesh and blood people around him. Isn’t this major plot device in BEAUTIFUL MIND a perfect metaphor for the process of engaging all of our own inner beings and, yes, even demons? When we
are meditating…or just thinking…encountering the world…we
all hear those inner voices that try to interpret the events that unfold
in our every day lives, both happy and tragic. Such daily experiences
elicit different responses from us. A seemingly simple occurrence can
catch us completely off guard and, all of a sudden, we are responding,
not as an adult, but perhaps as the child who originally lived through
the triggering experience. Those voices of the differentiated aspects
of our being are as real to us in those moments as are our friends and
families. Often, in fact, they seem even more real, more insistent.
We may even feel compelled by them to act in certain ways that we know
are contra to our nature. “The devil made me do it”, yes?
(For those of us baby boomers who so fondly remember Flip Wilson.) It is only when we can differentiate those voices and compulsions that we can function from a place of true peace within ourselves. Let’s use one simple example. Say you were raised by a parent who had a horrible temper and who constantly yelled at you when you were small. That kind of energy coming from what seems to a child as a huge and scary person is terrifying, even traumatizing. Somehow, you get through it but you have a real problem with anger being directed at you from others. Time passes, you grow up and, in most ways, you function well in the adult world. Except when someone directs anger at you. Then, without even being conscious of why, you get intimidated, frightened, and you literally feel and hear your inner child telling you to “be quiet. Don’t talk back. If you do, you’ll get hurt. Maybe even die”. So, as an otherwise well-adjusted adult, your inner child takes over and you revert to childhood behavior. In those moments, your inner child is as real to you as Nash’s roommate, his daughter, and the FBI agent were to Nash. Much of the processing we do as adults on a spiritual path is focused on recognizing these moments of feeling compelled by childhood experiences. We learn to step outside them, recognize them for what they are, and refuse to engage in the behavior that those frightened and frightening entities seem to demand of us. When we can do that - in the moment - we feel a great sense of peace because we have conquered a fear. Just as Nash experienced after he wins the Nobel Prize, we still hear the voices, but we recognize them for what they are and we no longer engage them in “the dance.” For me, that is the central and empowering metaphysical message of both BEAUTIFUL MIND and John Nash’s triumph. © 2002 Stephen Simon STOP PRESS! EDITOR'S SPECIAL NOTE Would you like to help bring other like-valued people from your community together for a lively evening in your own city co-facilitated by you and Stephen Simon? Would you like to find a warm circle of new friends who share your passion for great movies that are grounded with powerful spiritual messages? Would you like to be among the first people in the country to share with your friends the recognition of an exciting new genre of film that Stephen calls Spiritual Cinema? If the answer is yes, then please read on. Melissa Giovagnoli is president of a grassroots organization called Networlding.com, a company whose mission is to bring together like-valued, wonderful people such as yourself to connect, share and build a better world and whose process is based on the top-selling book, Networlding, that shares how to develop wonderful relationships. In partnership with Stephen Simon and MysticalMovies.com, Melissa and her organization are spreading this vision to communities around the USA and, soon, around the world. Melissa's company believes in bringing people face-to-face for a powerful grassroots experience where you will get to share your passion around spirituality and movies in an interactive, lively evening. In October and November, 2002 Stephen will be engaged in a national tour for his new book, THE FORCE IS WITH YOU: MYSTICAL MOVIE MESSAGES THAT INSPIRE OUR LIVES. Melissa Giovagnoli is offering her support to Stephen and to you, if you are interested, to help us invite others you and your friends know, to gather for an evening in your area to have a Networlding Mystical Movie Extravaganza - a celebration of conversation, connection, movie clips, and Spiritual Cinema. Stephen's current itinerary for October and November calls for him to visit the following US cities: PORTLAND
October 6-9 Other cities(and countries) can be added‚ so please don't be shy about making a request! Simply email Melissa at Networlding@aol.com (and copy Stephen@MysticalMovies.com) for more specific information on how you can partner with them to host an event. Regular updates to this schedule will be posted on the Book Tour page at MysticalMovies.com. We invite you to share your experiences, opinions and questions on this article. Please visit the PLW Community and leave your comments. |
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Copyright:
New Earth Publications, 1999-2009. PlanetLightworker.com is published
by New Earth Publications, | |||||||||
e-mail
this article to a friend
Stephen Simon has
produced such films as SOMEWHERE IN TIME and WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
and also has served as President of 3 different film companies. Stephen’s
first book THE FORCE IS WITH YOU: MYSTICAL MOVIE MESSAGES THAT INSPIRE
OUR LIVES will be published in October, 2002 by Walsch Books/Hampton
Roads. For more information, Stephen invites you to visit 