A few comments about the new Brad Pitt/Quentin Tarantino movie - Inglorious Bastards

A few comments about today's opening of the Brad Pitt/Quentin Tarantino movie,
INGLORIOUS BASTARDS

Hello, my friends!

I know it's been awhile since last I blogged but I had been so busy that I had decided to put off getting into a regular sort of a schedule. However, after tonight, I felt compelled to sit down and share my thoughts with you and perhaps this will begin a more regular schedule for us all!


As a rule, my wife and I like to go to the movies on Friday nights. We refer to it as 'movie night' and we (mostly me) look forward to it as the official end of the work week. This evening was no different than any other in that my wife arrived home, we fed the dog, then hoped into the car and headed to the local theater where we met my daughter. Over the past many weeks we had seen previews of the 'coming attractions' and we (me again) were pretty excited about tonight as we were going to the opening night of "Inglorious Bastards" which is the WWII movie starring Brad Pitt. The previews portrayed it as what we all assumed was going to be a somewhat funny movie about a group of U.S. soldiers who were part of a specialized unit that battled the Nazis in occupied France. The previews showed funny scenes as well as a few partial scenes that appeared they could be gory. However, judging by the clips shown during previous week's previews it seemed like it was going to be of a humorous nature.

Let me preface this by acknowledging being aware that Quentin Tarantino is known for rather odd movies and of a gruesome nature but having seen the movie previews I had expected some needless violence but we still believed it was going to be mostly a rather funny movie.

I don't consider myself a prude, well at least not until tonight. I could have handled the cursing and I could have handled some violence and even some gore. However, when they began showing brains being beat out by U.S. soldiers who seemed not only to enjoy it but to thrive on it along with maniacal looks on their faces. Watching repeated, detailed, close up views of German soldiers being beaten with a baseball bat over and over again, then being stabbed and finally having their hair scalped from their heads, taken as trophies, was simply grotesque. Extended viewing of people being shot so many times that their faces fragmented and virtually dissolved was quite unsettling as well. These are but a few of the examples of what turned a possibly decent movie into nothing more than a 'B' type horror movie.

Putting all of that aside, however, was how the movie made us feel. I looked over at my wife several times and saw her eyes opened wide in horror and disbelief. We both learned to turn away when we expected something disgusting but still got caught countless times. By the end of the movie my wife almost sprinted out of the theater and it was quite obvious she was deeply shaken and as for myself, I could tell my body was incredibly tensed and I felt quite unsettled, especially my stomach. Those were the obvious and probably natural results from such a movie. However, as we got into our car and began driving home, we were discussing it all and the results of our conversation were quite profound.

Our ride home uncovered our true feelings relative to the movie and everything about it. My wife and I are both professional, certified life coaches and as such we tend to look at things from a different perspective than we once would have, prior to our training. Sure, the gore and violence and horror that we viewed on the screen was way past too much. However, what distressed us most of all was the toll the movie had taken upon our overall energy. There are seven levels of energy within us with the two lowest levels being negative in nature (victim and confrontation). From there the levels begin to take on a positive nature with the highest level being one of no judgment and for our purposes here today, we'll just say it's almost 'God like'.

During our discussion, we both came to the conclusion that there were no positive energies associated with this movie. In fact, we both came away feeling that our positive energy had taken a severe blow and was tremendously depleted from when we entered the theater. How could that be? Perhaps it was because: one part of the movie was nothing more than Nazis celebrating their carnage of U.S. soldiers; another part showed those same soldiers celebrating the carnage of the Jewish people as a whole along with racist beliefs/comments towards those of color; another part was nothing more than a team of U.S. soldiers, portrayed as murderers and sociopaths, whose sole purpose was to hunt down Nazis, kill them with baseball bats, knives, or by dismemberment, disembowelment or whatever else they could come up with, then bring back their scalps as souvenirs; finally, the overall movie seemed to be told and presented from the perspective of what Mr. Tarantino must have believed was that of the Jewish people which, as presented, was nothing more than a story of hatred and vengeance. The only energy present in that entire room was that of being a victim and that of confrontation - both negative in nature and in no way lifting anyone up or providing for any value other than to shower negative energy and disturbing images upon everyone in the theater.

There will be a great number who say, "who cares, it's a movie and (depending on your perspective) they got what they deserved!" Well, in a world already sagging deeply from the weight of generally difficult times such as but not limited to wars, famines, financial crisis and natural disasters, pains and countless other maladies - the last thing we need is something to suck everyone deeper into negativity and 'darkness.'

If I may, what good does a movie such as this bring about? Did it provide for a relaxing night out with the family? Did it provide positive portrayals of the Nazis, the Jewish people or the U.S. soldiers? Did it leave us awash is feelings of friendship, love or community?

I left that movie theater feeling 'wound up', my stomach in knots and a tad upset. My mind had been bombarded with dozens of vile and gruesome acts of violence and pure disregard for human life - regardless of country, race, creed, etc... I am so grateful that my wife and I were able to take all of these feelings and look at them....shine light on them...then acknowledge them so as to release them to pass through us without sticking. Basically, what that means is that we were able to work through the feelings and allow them to leave us.

My concern, however, is for the thousands upon thousands of people who will see this movie, many of which are expecting a somewhat humor filled Brad Pitt movie only to be scarred by what they view throughout the film. The images that will be seared into their minds may have lasting effects on many of them and at the very least will decrease most people's energy even lower into the negative/catabolic levels than it already was before they saw the movie. WWII is history that most of us are aware of and with so many wars going on around the world, it's closer to the surface than probably any of us would care to admit. Issues of rights, of race, culture, religion continue each and every day. Having said that, seeing the Nazis being portrayed as they were did nothing more than INFLAME memories of thousands, if not millions of people around the world. Portraying the Jewish people as they did only further stereotyped them as victims and now as a hateful, vengeful people and I don't believe that to be reality. Finally, as an American, I was offended and ultimately embarrassed by the portrayal of U.S. soldiers being involved in the actions as they were portrayed. I pray such activities were not perpetrated and are never perpetrated by ANY of our soldiers and if there is, indeed, any truth to the portrayal in this movie, there is simply no difference between their actions and those of the men they hunted and destroyed.

I don't believe I've ever written anything like this before and I write it not as a victim nor as someone in a confrontational state of mind. I write this as a human being who cares about each and every other human being on the face of this earth. Regardless of color, regardless of religion, regardless of sexual orientation, regardless of anything other than the fact that we are all here together. I write this as a soul who sees each and every other person he comes into contact with not as tall/short, fat/thin, sexy/ugly, black/white/yellow or any combination but rather as a brother or sister soul....all made from the same ONE energy of He who created everything that ever was, is and will be.

I guess the final comment I'd like to make is more to the point of this 'novel' in that how are we, as a species, ever going to move forward.....if we can't ever get ourselves out of the pain and anger of the past? How are we ever going to be able to experience joy when we can't get past judging others and even ourselves? I just spoke of joy and judgment. Joy is as a seed within us all and as we reduce or eliminate judgment from within and replace it with love, peace, mercy, grace and forgiveness, it is to the seed of joy like water and nutrients which enable it to grow. As it grows, we are able to experience Joy in ways we've never even imagined for as we grow, so grows joy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful what you allow inside, whether it be through your eyes or your ears. You've probably heard the old saying "you are what you eat" ? Well, what you allow inside and into your unconsciousness will effect your thoughts and actions and will very well manifest either in your body or in your environment. So, what do you think sitting in a movie theater soaking up a couple hours of blood, gore, racism, intolerance, hatred, and murder; all the while dredging up painful, disturbing atrocities from 60 years ago will do to you? Yep, that's right.... you'll carry that stuff around inside of you, not even knowing how much it effected you while you're being short tempered with someone, aggressive with someone who ticked you off, aching to get even with someone you feel wronged you..... feeling depressed for some unknown reason, no idea why you find yourself feeling powerless or perhaps feeling you're entitled to something.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go to the movies, not at all. I'm simply suggesting that you consider what you allow inside of you AND your children. You wouldn't eat or allow your children to eat raw sewage or poison or anything else that you know might be harmful - this really isn't any different other than one causes damage to your body while the other causes damage to your soul - the very energy of your existence.

I thank you for taking the time to read through this lengthy blog. I would have made it shorter if I could have but when it comes to caring about you and your well being, how ever many words it takes is the exact amount to be written.

May you have a blessed day and until we meet next.... I love you.