Movie: Silver Linings Playbook

[Guest NateC]

The movie starts out strong, but I left the theater in a rage.  The main character Pat (Bradley Cooper) initally refuses to take medication, and both he and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) begin to share a relationship of raw honesty.  I thought, yeah, this is great, this movie could really help people. Yet what follows is a pro-medication message, a side story of a screwed up marriage that is never really resolved, a plot revolving around the father's gambling and OCD, and a "romantic" ending of lies and manipulation.  The closing scene shows an eerily happy family, and I can only assume everyone is hopped up on drugs.

[J. Robles]

 So let me guess, you had an emotional response that mirrored Pat's after he finished reading A Farewell to Arms ? I know what you mean. I loved the development of Tiffany and Pat. It was easily one of the most genuine relationships on the big screen I had seen in a while. The moment where the father has the "emotional talk" with his son triggered such disgust with me bc he was merely using his son as a token in his OCD, rather than any intimate interest in his son. Because lets face it, if they would have lost that big gamble, the old man would be homeless, the wife divorced living with one of the sons, and probably Pat and Tiffany working it out. In complete agreement the ending of the movie felt so disengenous to the amazing story that it was, and could have truly been. I'm not so sure however about the pro-medication side though. I thought Pat spit his meds out, and the only time i remember drugs being mentioned was when pat and tiffany merely talked about the drugs they had taken. But i might be wrong so please intersede.

I wanted to ask, what you thought was the bestaspect, or scene in the movie. AlthoughI think its safe to say we both hated the ending, i'm curios as to what specifically you liked about it. I think its a great movie, just needs a bit of editing . 

[Guest NateC]

Haha, yeah, if the movie had been a book, I'd have thrown it out the window.  As I recall, both the therapist and Pat's parents urge him to take the medication, and he eventually does.

For me, the best aspect of the movie was watching Pat interact without a filter.  I've lived my entire life behind a filter...a defense as a kid...and now as a Navy guy who doesn't believe in any part of the military.  When I can be completely open and honest it's such a treat, yet such a rare occurence for me.  Oh, and screw medication, the Navy tried to put me on Zoloft.  Made me feel like crap.  Stopped taking it after two weeks.

[J. Robles]

Ha alright, hopefully your parents weren't too upset afteryou woke them up to tell them about the movie as well, just kidding. I'll takeyour word on the drug use, honestly I don’t remember it being there, but I havehorrible memory so I’m probably wrong.

I have to say I also love the unfiltered behavior betweenpat and tiffany. I’m sorry that you had to live your life behind a filter aswell. If I may ask, what was the filter on and for what reasons? I’m curious asto I think everybody lives in some sense under a self censoring filter. I knowmy own was brought up from mother who held the principle that the truth, whencoming to anybody outside of herself and I, was best kept hidden. This was dueto her instilling in me as a child to keep my mouth shut so that she would beable to freely have an affair while I was of course kept out of the loop, and aspy towards my father to verify if he was conducting the same behavior she wasdoing. I tell you this because I hope to see what things you have done in yourpersonal life to eradicate this filter. I sometimes still struggle with it, andany advice or explanations would be greatly appreciated and respected.

Sorry about you being in the Navy, are you still in it now? Hopefullynot and I’m glad your able to work on yourself without the need of the Zoloft thatmade you feel like that. What was there reason, again you do not have todisclose anything you don’t want to, for putting you on Zoloft?

I’m sorry I have taken a few days to respond, I haven’t hadaccess to a computer with internet till now. Anyways I hope your doing well,and hopefully watching movies that you enjoy, full heartedly.

[Guest NateC]

Looks like the computer you used has Internet Explorer 4, old school.  Anyways, I maintained a filter with my parents because I thought it'd be for the benefit of us all, yet the lack of honesty cheapened our family intimacy.  Now they know I am an atheist and anarchist and, even though our worldviews differ, I can breathe easy. [/font]

The Navy diagnosed me with major depressive disorder.  Honestly, it's bullshit. I just hate my environment and am miserable in it. I'm separating this April. I'm lucky I still have a bit of my soul entact. 

As for advice on your situation, that's not easy. I guess I'd say just be honest and tell them exactly how you feel. 

[J. Robles]

Hey Nchambers42,

 

Was that what it was, I'll use Google chrome. I saw that afew times but I didn't know why it was coming up and for that I appreciate youtelling me. Although being born in the 90's I am barely computer literate.

 

That’s great that you have been able to be open to them, andthat you can breathe easy. Do you guys still have a good relationship, and whatwas it like for you whenever you became open with them. Were you nervous,anxious, or relieved? Oh and if you don't want to talk about it i understand, Iknow tempers can flare with that kind of thing.

 

That's good you’re getting out and not having to bemiserable in that environment. Do you know what you’re going to try to do whenyou get out in April?

 

Thanks for the advice and honesty Nchambers, I appreciateit.

 

 

Juan

[Guest NateC]

Juan, my assumption was wrong.  Did you copy and paste from MS Word into the rich text field?  I think that's what resulted in the extra code.  There's a button on the post bar "Paste from Word" and that should fix the problem.

But yeah, I think my relationship with my parents has improved.  Despite my parents' tight grip on religion, they are quite rational and kind, and I wasn't nervous being more honest with them.

I'm still searching for a job...and looking forward to Stef's "Exercising the choice muscle" podcast he said he was going to put out soon because I'm having difficulty being proactive.  I do know that I'll have nothing to do with any military or government affiliated company.

 

[J. Robles]

Thanks for the clarification N, and yes I did copy and paste it from Word. I tried copying with the plain text option so hopefully it works well. 

 

That's good that your relationship with them has improved since you have been honest with them. I'm glad you had to kind and rational parents to be open to. You parents sound like good people. 

 

Oh ok, any hopes of what you would like to do or something you might have found as a possibility? I'll have to take a look at that podcast when it comes out. I know that today i heard a bit of Sunday's "Should We Ban Spanking" show and at around the minute mark there as a viewer call about decision making and procrastination that was pretty good. It made me think about how I have tip toed around the problem after I realized it. To me at least it was like I couldn’t help but internally criticize the guy, then midst criticizing realize oh ya, you have been and are that guy, you’re a bit of a hypocrite and coward for thinking that way. But that part of the podcast is definitely worth giving a listen to if you have the time. I don’t know if it’ll directly apply to your situation but it’s worth giving a shot. I know that keeping a journal /planner on me and trying to stick to a schedule has helped me a bit so I don’t know that is something you have tried, or might be willing to try. Are there specific things in regards to procrastination that you are looking forward to working on?

[Guest NateC]

Why would you critize yourself as a coward?

I can knock out daily tasks like a coked up robot.  I'm having trouble choosing a career direction and targeting a particular employer.  After spending close to six years in a military pipeline, my passions and desires have been neglected.  I did manage to start learning guitar, which I felt was a small victory, yet I have no creative drive to write a song.

[MysterionMuffles]

I thouroughly enjoyed this movie, I thought it was a better take on any romantic dramedy out there right now. Like a more realistic approach to relationships, especially with people who have mentally clinical dysfunctions. The cinematography was great like the scene where Pat was freaking out near a theatre that had a traumatizing song playing, and Tiffany was assuring him to ignore the song. You can hear the soundtrack of it lower in volume gradually as he calmed down.

I thought they did a pretty good job tying up the subplots together and showing the wit of Tiffany when she proposed a certain compromise with Pat's father (dont wanna give away too much). I dunno, I don't think I found too much of a problem with this movie. It was well written, the characters were believable, and the ending seemed a little...I dunno. I just didn't like how uninvolved Pat's ex-wife was in the whole thing. She played a huge part in his depression, but we never got any glimpse to who she really was other than a cheater. And at the end where he whispers something in her ear before going off to chase after Tiffany, I kinda wish there was a brief but concisely defining conversation of letting go between them instead of being silenced through the music.

The book (iirc it's based off one) might provide a deeper exploration of those things I felt missing, but again, other than that, all round good movie.

[hannahbanana]

I just found this thread, because I wanted to check if there already was one before making a new one

My boyfriend and I just watched this movie, and we actually thought it made sense, and was emotionally difficult to watch.

It's already been addressed about the totally shoehorned happy ending, but it wasn't just that; to me, the characters themselves seemed shoehorned. This led to confusion for me, because whenever I thought I had the characters figured out, they did something that threw me off. I also felt bad for Pat, because even at the end I thought he was in a really toxic environment (which I think the movie tries to say otherwise). The New Yorker actually does a pretty good article about how I felt about the movie: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-book-on-silver-linings-playbook

 

It's strange, because I saw this movie two years ago and had a completely different attitude about it...then again, I was much less aware at that time.