RANDOM THOUGHT - When Art Instructs

There are works of art that go beyond beauty and storytelling; they reach inside you.  Sometimes they grasp, sometimes they grab, sometimes they shake, and sometimes they soothe and tell you everything is going to be ok if you just trust the process.

"Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot" is a work of art like that.  A film from amazon that's based on a true story is both gripping and reassuring.  It's the story of John, a man who has a serious drinking problem, goes out to tie one on and winds up getting paralyzed in a car wreck.  The driver mistakes a pole for a highway exit and plows into it at 90 mph.  I won't tell you what happens to the driver (played by Jack Black).  You need the shock.  John's transition from being fully able-bodied to permanently disabled will move you.  Hopefully it'll move you to the point that you drop your baggage, drop your story and start living with purpose to your full potential.  At least get started.

John, the protagonist played by Joaquin Phoenix, has to accept his new circumstances.  He can't take it all at once and his recovery and life building is slow.  But when he discovers what's still possible for him, it's a thing of beauty and inspiration almost beyond words.  It's in AA that he has to face his excuses.  That's where the film starts to take on the role of a consoler with healthy measures of tough love.  It lays firm hold on the viewer and shakes.  Shakes out all the bs stories that we cling to.  It can be said that many people use up all their life energy refusing to live.  "Let that go!" life says.  "Let go of that excuse and work with what you do have.  No legs?  Who cares?  Move forward anyway.  Still want a drink?  Water.  You don't have to stay stuck here in that muck."

By way of metaphor, John has a pet mouse with not much more than a hamster wheel to keep him occupied.  By accident, the mouse gets set free.  In a way, the same can be said for John - set free from the hamster wheel of telling his sad story to anyone who will listen in order to write the next chapter of his life.  When the glass cage he lives in shatters, what's left?  John has to tap into his essence.  (I'm afraid that's a rather convoluted mixed metaphor, but you get the idea, right?)

When John finally stops being angry and takes a step back from his tragic story and listens long enough to realize that all the AA members also have tragic stories and they're still taking the 12 steps to recovery, he really starts to shine.  To remove himself from his tragic story is to step out from behind a wall and face himself naked.  He taps into his humor.  His humor is part of what gets him through and becomes the paving stones to a new life and source of income.  The other part of getting through it is trust in the people around him.  I'll say this, we ALL need a friend and advocate like his therapist who draws John's attention to his "cute nurse".  The only word I can remember is "reflexo" and with a bit of luck, you'll remember that word as well.
 
Just icing on my cake, I was delighted to see Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth in the film.  She's so cool.