That Bird Box movie... (Spoilers ahead)
First I want to start by saying that I’m not a fan of horror movies and do not really do well with suspense either. However, because of all the memes and apparent hype of this movie, I felt oddly prompted to go ahead and watch it. Fourteen minutes into it and I paused it so I could go read what the movie was about and how it would end (I told you, I am terrible when it comes to suspense, there’s enough of that in my life already). After watching the whole thing though, I felt that the movie was completely dumb! I mean, we don’t ever get to see what really was causing some people to commit suicide and others to see these "invisible" monsters as something beautiful.
I went on one of my social media pages and expressed my dislike of the movie. One of my friends pointed out that the movie is about blinding yourself when it comes to evil things that happen and also to try and not pay attention to bad temptations. This didn’t quite resonate with me as I don't feel we can just turn a blind eye to the “bad” that happens out there and ignoring temptations can most times make us feel more tempted. Of course I responded to this with guidance from my spirit guides and angels (as I often do) and said that it’s more about fear and making us aware that those things we fear don’t go away just by ignoring them. We have to have the courage to accept those things we fear so we can finally confront them and hopefully let go of them.
But what exactly is this movie showing that we fear? I decided to continue to meditate on this and ask Spirit why I was moved by the hype of the movie (which I am not usually moved by). I really didn’t know what the movie was about other that Sandra Bullock being blindfolded for most of it. Before I started to watch it I seriously though that Sandra’s character was being kidnapped along with her children and was being forced to wear a blindfold the whole time. The name of the movie was beyond my comprehension, maybe she was kept in a cage like a bird too or they were looking for a bird box and that is why they were kidnapped. Anyhow... what is this movie showing that we fear and what is it that most people seem to be missing here? Mental illness!
The entire premise of the movie is that people are affected by some invisible force that makes them commit suicide while it causes others to see it as something beautiful. Depending on how you look at this movie; you will either feel that this movie stigmatizes mental illness even more OR it tries to help point out that we shouldn’t blind ourselves to it. That mental illness (more specifically depression) is an invisible force that most of us don’t understand but we should try. I was divided on this until again my wonderful spirit guides reminded me of the part of the movie where the picture above shows up.
The guy who drew those pictures had survived seeing these invisible monsters. He saw them as beautiful, even though they are obviously ugly and scary looking. He came into the house telling a story about how people in a mental institution all survived seeing these monsters, how they all said they were beautiful, and how they wanted everyone else to see them. I found it interesting that it was those who were already dealing with mental illness the ones who survived seeing the monsters and the ones who were happy to see them while the others would be filled with the desire to end their lives. The message I got from people with mental illness surviving this was that they were happy that now everyone else could see these monsters. They saw them as beautiful because now everyone could see them. For a moment everyone else was able to feel what they feel on a daily basis and most people were not able to survive it. Those with mental illness survived the invisible monster because they were already living with it.
So what was my message after watching this? Well for one it made me more aware about how people see mental illness. How fearful they are of it and how most wouldn’t be able to live with it for long. It made me realize that those who are continuing to live with mental illness, depression mostly, are way stronger than one can think, stronger than even they think they are. Even those who have given up and decided to commit suicide; they lived with an illness who most don’t understand, an illness that can’t be seen, and a pain that was endured for far too long. They’ve dealt with something that most people stigmatize and see as something that they should just be able to "get over."
Don’t get me wrong, i am fully aware that a person has the responsibility to reach out and ask for help. They have the responsibility to accept the help that’s being offered but I know it makes it harder to accept help when mental illness is so stigmatized. When a person with mental illness is looked at as someone who is just whining about something they shouldn't be whining about. I cannot imagine the embarrassment a person feels when they are unable to just do what others tell them and “get over it." I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to want, need help, and be afraid of asking for it for fear of what others would say about it. I mean, I still remember being told by domestic violence advocates and family law attorneys that I had to hide from the courts that I was going to therapy for the trauma I had experienced. I was told that if I shared that I was receiving help to deal with that trauma then the judge would use it against me. How sad it was that they were not wrong; the outcome of all that was a judge trying to ensure I was put in a situation where I would experience more trauma and wouldn't be able to get any help.
Each of us has at least one person who is suffering in silence and shouldn’t be. I know I won't stop talking about it, I know I will not stop learning about it. I know I will not stop speaking up against those who make this issue more controversial than it needs to be. I wish more people realized that if there came a time when each of us would be hit with the invisible monster of depression, that very few of us would survive it, so maybe we should all be more compassionate about those who suffer from end and those who didn't win the battle against it. It is time we stop fearing mental illness, learned more about it, and open up the conversation on it.
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