"The human spirit - that's the challenge, that's the voyage, that's the expedition."
- George (John Travolta) in the film Phenomenon

When Steven Teague, whose movie columns have long been part of our Reviews section, embarked on the next phase of his life, he introduced us to Stephen Simon. Teague told us, "[Stephen Simon] and I are kindred spirits about metaphysical movies" and indeed, Simon's name may be familiar to you as the producer of such important metaphysical films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come. His first book, The Force Is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives will be published in October, 2002 by Walsch Books/Hampton Roads. Simon's company, Metafilmics, is committed to producing metaphysical films of substance and quality.

Welcome to TheMovieMystic! The films we discuss each month in this column are not "reviewed" in the traditional sense of that word; rather, we look at metaphysical messages in films, both current and classic.

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

A Beautiful Mind, the winner of the 2001 Academy Award for Best Picture, chronicles the (somewhat?) true story of mathematician John Nash (brilliantly portrayed by Russell Crowe) from his early days as a student at Princeton to his ultimate triumph over a descent into schizophrenia. As this is not a review column per se, we need not go into more plot detail; however, we are going to discuss the "twist" of the film here. For those of you who haven't yet seen the film, you might want to put aside this column until you do see it (and it is available now on video and DVD)

While there is some debate about how much of the story was embellished and perhaps sanitized by the filmmakers, what fascinates me from a metaphysical viewpoint is the "gimmick" upon which the entire story turns.

We see Nash and his roommate at Princeton develop a strong friendship bond that lasts beyond their graduation and we also meet a shadowy FBI agent who recruits Nash to decipher complicated war codes. The roommate eventually introduces Nash to his young daughter. Then, abruptly, Nash has a breakdown and we, the audience, discover that the roommate, the FBI agent, and the little girl are simply manifestations of Nash's psyche. They don't "exist" at all. At least, not in the "real' world. (A Beautiful Mind was released in the last quarter of 2001, a three month period that also included the release of Waking Life, Vanilla Sky and Mulholland Drive, all of which have been the subject of previous MovieMystic columns, and are archived at MysticalMovies.com. When four films that challenge the very nature of reality are released in a ninety-day time frame, we can very happily note that the questioning of reality itself has reached critical mass. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "Something wonderful this way comes.")

Sitting in the theater, I was completely stunned at the twist in A Beautiful Mind. Those people sure looked "real," didn't they? To Nash and to us in the audience. Nash interacted with them with them as though they were real. Even on medication, he continued to encounter them. They never disappeared. Even as he wins the Nobel Prize, they are "there." At a distance, to be sure, not even engaging him anymore, but still there. It was only his ultimate acceptance that these entities were representations of his subconscious mind that allowed him to be able to cope in the world. The entities never disappeared. He just learned to be able to differentiate them from the flesh and blood people around him.

Isn't this major plot device in BEAUTIFUL MIND a perfect metaphor for the process of engaging all of our own inner beings and, yes, even demons?

When we are meditating ... or just thinking ... encountering the world ... we all hear those inner voices that try to interpret the events that unfold in our everyday lives, both happy and tragic. Such daily experiences elicit different responses from us. A seemingly simple occurrence can catch us completely off guard and, all of a sudden, we are responding not as an adult, but perhaps as the child who originally lived through the triggering experience. Those voices of the differentiated aspects of our being are as real to us in those moments as are our friends and families. Often, in fact, they seem even more real, more insistent. We may even feel compelled by them to act in certain ways that we know are contra to our nature. "The devil made me do it," yes? (For those of us Baby Boomers who so fondly remember Flip Wilson.)

It is only when we can differentiate those voices and compulsions that we can function from a place of true peace within ourselves. Let's use one simple example. Say you were raised by a parent who had a horrible temper and who constantly yelled at you when you were small. That kind of energy coming from what seems to a child as a huge and scary person is terrifying, even traumatizing. Somehow you get through it but you have a real problem with anger being directed at you from others. Time passes, you grow up and, in most ways, you function well in the adult world. Except when someone directs anger at you. Then, without even being conscious of why, you get intimidated, frightened, and you literally feel and hear your inner child telling you to "be quiet. Don't talk back. If you do, you'll get hurt. Maybe even die." So, as an otherwise well-adjusted adult, your inner child takes over and you revert to childhood behavior. In those moments, your inner child is as real to you as Nash's roommate, his daughter, and the FBI agent were to Nash.

Much of the processing we do as adults on a spiritual path is focused on recognizing these moments of feeling compelled by childhood experiences. We learn to step outside them, recognize them for what they are, and refuse to engage in the behavior that those frightened and frightening entities seem to demand of us. When we can do that--in the moment--we feel a great sense of peace because we have conquered a fear. Just as Nash experienced after he wins the Nobel Prize, we still hear the voices, but we recognize them for what they are and we no longer engage them in "the dance." For me, that is the central and empowering metaphysical message of both A Beautiful Mind and John Nash's triumph.

A BEAUTIFUL MIND CHAKRA RATING

Chakra: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Rating: 4 3 5 5 5 5 5

A full explanation of this Chakra Rating System is available at MysticalMovies.com

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For more information, and to read past columns, Stephen invites you to visit his website, MysticalMovies.com, and welcomes your comments via email: Stephen @MysticalMovies.com.