Movie Safe 1995 - Essay Example

Naghmeh (Melody) Haghighi Matt Manson Writing: 340 20 April 2006 " Safe" Day by day, it is increasingly more difficult to maintain safety in our society, since interactions between people create dangers, either at 'high' political level, or on the daily basis. We live not in the no-man's-land, so people adjust to new conditions and changing situations. Still, there are those, who cannot accept this environment and who, probably, cannot be accepted. Being busy with our education and careers, we simply have no time to think carefully about the hidden threats of the environment, which can be really aggressive, and even destruct our bodies. It is looks like that traditional medical science is not capable of healing those people, who cannot accept the environment. In the movie 'Safe', to my view, Carol White doesn't receive appropriate and adequate treatment, yet she seeks aid in a high-tech medical center. The main problem is that she is alone in her family who has not emotional relationship with her husband and her stepson. Also, using soft and dark colors and sounds cause her to go to inner darkness of illness. The nature of Carol's illness and to compare treatment methods, applies by two different directions of medicine In the movie 'Safe', Carol White (Julianne Moore) lives with her husband and stepson in a comfortable suburban home in California. Her life is completely predictable, and in spite of the fact that she has 'relationship' with her husband, she begins feeling isolated and then - drained and depressed. Mysteriously, she falls ill with weird symptoms: she experiences nose bleedings, dizziness and allergies, and doctor attributes it to stress. Having passed different tests, she understand that there is nothing physically wrong with her, but nevertheless she takes medication and changes her diet, getting of the all-fruit diet and cutting back diary products. When her condition doesn't go away, she gets a recommendation to visit psychiatrist. The problem with her mind is a reason for the illness. Carol finally understands the necessity, which requires of her to go to a place, where people who suffer from toxic allergies and those with AIDS can 'clean' themselves, and, probably, the only place where she can feel safe. To my view, treatment, received at hospital, is improper and probably, only worsened the situation. Haynes's idea was to show the powerlessness of traditional medical science against new illnesses, which are called by external irritants, but destroy humans from inside. In the films, Carol combats a real ten-headed hydra, which responds to the new treatment courses with new painful fits of allergy. Carol drives her car - and endures a coughing fir; she breathes in her new perfumes -and feels lightheadedness. Aerobic classes, which pursued a goal of helping her relax, initially doomed to be unsuccessful: she has never had tension in her life, she has never had close relations, so there was no ground for either extremely positive or extremely negative emotions in her life. Thus, she cannot relax, because she never experiences stresses in pure medical meaning. Moreover, the medicaments Carol receives are irritants, as they also consist of toxins or other synthetic substances. On the contrary, Dunning chooses a different direction and creates some kind of cult, or community with certain beliefs, values and philosophy. People living there find there attachment and new system of coordinates, in which it is possible to consider their illness and cope with related inner problems. It is possible to notice that by the end of the movie, she becomes increasingly more shattered, and probably her sickness breaks her and makes her re-evaluate the relationships which had existed in her life before she fell ill. She has a husband, bad hasn't given birth to children, because Carol 'endures' the existence of domestic plant, which should be carefully watered and supplied with the necessary nourishment, but whose opinion weighs like any plant's opinion. It is possible to note that her first steps were determined (or, at least, highly influenced) by her husband. To my view, her sickness is a force which makes her re-think her existence and understand that she had had only 'mechanical' relationship with her husband, who even doesn't try to understand her and empty conversations with her friends, carpenter and drycleaner. The scene, which reinforce her sense 'of nobodiness' is one where she looks at her husband from the bed and asks 'Where am I At the moment'. He answers that she is in Carol and Greg's house, but she begins to cry, because this lush house has never belonged to her as well as her own life. In addition, traditional medical treatment seems unhelpful, since Carol had been suffering from loneliness among people, who in fact had no sympathy to her, before he sought help in Wrenwood. For instance, her psychiatrist, writing his receipts, doesn't mention the fact that Carol is terribly lonely and that she needs some more positive emotions in her life and that she needs some changes, because inert state is one of the most destructive aspects of Carol's existence. Traditional psychiatry and psychoanalysis are helpful in certain cases, but their approach is narrow and doesn't take into account such important factors, as Carol's environment and her life situation. On the contrary, Peter Duning, being sensitive and sensible doctor at the same time, interprets her symptoms in a proper way - as the signs of loneliness and imposed isolation. In addition, he follows the complex approach, which includes psychological, emotional and physical needs of the woman, which in fact saves her from being alone among people and from this sense of 'nobodiness'. As the film narrates about the sick and tired woman, all colors and sounds are soft and the background lights are soft as well, probably, in order to create the atmosphere of inner darkness. The characters are often lost to shadow, and small details are difficult to make out, especially when interiors are showed. That's probably the reflection of the world in Carol's eyes, which usually start watering once she inhales some synthetic substances. On the other hand, the use of teal and sky blue becomes anesthetizing, freezing in Whites' mansion, and the same effect is created by harsh lighting of hospital, which carries the idea of severity and low comfortableness. Conversely, the landscape with mountains and azure sky looks like an antidote to surroundings. Furthermore, the film director uses the audio facilities to show the problems of people with immune deficiency - by producing specific sounds and audio-atmosphere. In addition, it is important to note that colors in the film reflect Carol's perceptions of the world - for instance, depicting her lush and luxurious apartments, the director attempts to include as much irritants as possible -for instance, new furniture, bright wallpapers and tasteful, but juicy-colored interior, which in fact makes her sick. On the contrary, the colors used to illustrate Wrenwood as a 'perfect shelter', are much softer and much more natural, which points to the fact that civilization makes Carol suffer from new fits, while natural colors bring calm and silence to her. The most prominent interpersonal connection took place when Carol met Dunning who was the only person who really tried not only to help her, but to explain the nature of her illness in the way, available for the woman. He doesn't write 'formal replies', re-directing her to other specialists or recommending formal and uncreative methods such as classical psychotherapy. To my view, he applies the right psychological model to her case - an existential theory, which focuses on logotherapy and searching for the sense of existence. On the other hand, therapeutic community, developed for people who experience the kind of crisis, doesn't seem completely efficient, as it uses the single psychological method, without taking into account related depression and all the problems with her attitudes towards her past, present and future. I would like to recommend for her complex therapy, which includes both counseling and behavioral methods, such as systematic desensibilization, which gradually decreases the negative reactions. Yet, it is important to note that group work in this case would be efficient, because Carol, having considered her problems, has to share her conclusions with others. Her problem has psychosomatic nature, because she simply is afraid of living, which brings feelings of needlessness and pointlessness and makes her so miserable, especially comparing to her prosperous husband. Being a shadow of her spouse, Carol looses her moral and spiritual power, and it seems like 'the world intends to destroy her for her pointlessness'. Thus, she needs the sense of inclusion into society and new relationships which have emotional background -which she can easily establish in her referent group once she will finally understand that it is impossible to be 'safe' in the world inhabited by myriads of organisms, feel renewed and find internal resources for further living. As her value system is inefficient and if her outlook can't help her in combating her disease, she should develop alternative beliefs and remove those which reinforce her 'sense of nobodiness', and this, probably, was the main idea of Wrenwood. Thus, as one can conclude that, Carol's classical psychotherapeutic treatment was pointless in her case, because she needs 'profound purification' and intervention into her spiritual essence, which can be reached by using group work, or wider - community work, intended to give Carol a meaning of existence. Read More