My father shot himself on my 10th birthday, in 1986.
When Dead Poet's Society came out, in 1989, my mom heard that there was a suicide by gun, and refused to let me see it. She didn't tell me why, she just sent me to see The Guardian a supernatural rip-off of the Hand that Rocks the Cradle instead. When my movie ended, I left my theatre and found hers.
I walked in just as Neil shot himself.
I would have been fine, I think, if I had watched what came before. If I'd had context and the chance to see the narrative that led to it. But without that, it was profoundly jarring. I love the movie now, but I couldn't even try to watch it for years afterward.
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Date: 2011-07-14 07:49 pm (UTC)When Dead Poet's Society came out, in 1989, my mom heard that there was a suicide by gun, and refused to let me see it. She didn't tell me why, she just sent me to see The Guardian a supernatural rip-off of the Hand that Rocks the Cradle instead. When my movie ended, I left my theatre and found hers.
I walked in just as Neil shot himself.
I would have been fine, I think, if I had watched what came before. If I'd had context and the chance to see the narrative that led to it. But without that, it was profoundly jarring. I love the movie now, but I couldn't even try to watch it for years afterward.