I've got this movie in my collection. It's done in that darned "shaky camera technique" style.
But the basic gist is three high school students run into something alien, and they gain super powers from it. One of the guys is a loner that's picked on and bullied. His mother is dying from cancer, I think, and his disabled father is... a miserable jerk that's trying to make his son as miserable as he is.
Yeah, I empathize with the picked-on fellow. Mainly because that describes my life, for the most part. Society just doesn't "get it," doesn't understand that they are partly responsible for some peoples' madness, because some people in society just keep pushing, and pushing, and tresspassing, and invading other peoples' mental landscape to the point where the only option for the ones suffering increasing mental illness is to snap and lash out.
Sure, we can be medicated, but to a point. "Crazy people" need to have skills to cope, to try and help themselves out, to find what works for them and utilize it. But we also need the space to help ourselves. We can't keep getting pushed around all of the time and be expected to bloody well function properly.
For someone like me, it's crucial to get positive feedback. I've already had enough toxic sewage spewed all over me for the past 40 years. Feeling good about myself has been a rarity, at best. For so long, I've been like the cartoon character Droopy Dog--hating my life. Toxic people need to stay out of my life.
It's not only toxic people you need to avoid, however. It's toxic situations (bars and clubs, for instance, for you and me, or fights), toxic activities (sitting and brooding for instance), even toxic thoughts. Toxicity is everywhere. The only way to avoid it is to try and remain upbeat. And that is not always easy.
ReplyDeleteThe meds I'm on make that easier for me, it seems. Even though the situation isn't ideal (since when is it ever?) I can feel a bit of gratitude, a bit of "feel good". But you're right, Josh. If you find yourself in the "Toxic Jungle," then you need to take the path to mental health and get out of it. And it can be tough.
DeleteDon't forget about that support system. All of the mental health people I've talked to keep asking me, "And how is your support structure? List of friends/family members that give you support (even positive reinforcement is a good thing)."
Now going back to the movie "Chronicle". There was no way the teenager could have avoided his mother dying. He loved her a great deal, to the point that he risked his life to steal enough money to get her medication. He got caught in an explosion involving a gas pump; he could have blocked it with his mental powers, but he didn't expect it to happen. And though his powers were the strongest of the trio, he was missing a lot of the good his life needed to help balance himself.
DeleteIn contrast, his cousin had love and support. And though his cousin was the "popular jock" type, he was the weaker of the three (the third one died in an anger-grief-fueled-storm created by our anti-hero). But while the movie continued, the cousin became more Zen-like, more peaceful. And even though he had to destroy his rage-filled cousin, the good cousin went to Tibet, like the three had talked about doing.
But I doubt you'd want to watch the movie, Josh. It would probably make you ill, since you can't handle that darned "shaky camera technique" stuff.