Silver Linings Playbook

[Bestwifeever]

Maybe I'm the one whom you thought was insulted. No, I wasn't. Believe me, not at all. Your post simply pushed my "shout it from the rooftops" button. Whenever somebody mentions SLP, I start spewing whatever I said here in my first post.

So, no matter what you would have said, sometimes I just become a walking ad for that movie. I'm active in NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which supports all efforts to de-stigmatize mental illness. My husband and I run a support group for families with loved ones suffering the ravages of brain disorders. So, at least once a month, we try to patiently listen to and encourage husbands, or wives, or children, or parents, or siblings who face each day what you watched in SLP.

So, again, please forgive me for my strong reaction. It wasn't you.....

This is a clear example of web communications lacking the nuance of in-person discussion: when I said to be glad you were bored, and that you could then get up and leave, I too did not mean to insult YOU.

I just meant what I said. It's really nice that you found it boring.....and that you were able to walk away from it. Because that means that you don't face these behaviors on a daily basis. That means that there is peace in your life......or, at the very least, you don't have to go home and deal with someone who has a brain disorder.

I intended no "edge," "touchiness," or "over-reaction" in my observation. I just meant that you had a good reason to be glad! (The same kind of "glad" we find in sunny days, new-sprung daffodils, weddings, etc.) Sometimes boredom can be a real gift. The folks who come to NAMI support groups would give anything to be bored.

And, again, there is no "edge" or sarcastic nuance in this statement.

I'm simply reporting, for their sake. (And maybe also for the sake of the mom in the film. In a nightmare, I could become her.........EGAD!)

Litgal, I absolutely loved this movie for many reasons and probably foremost is that it was not dark and bleak, while also not rose-colored glasses, either, because life does go on. I liked that the main character wasn't portrayed as flatout scary and by the end the family was settling into a sort of new reality. And a love story to boot. And the mom cooking her "crabbies and homemades" holding things together. All so good.

DH has a lifelong very good friend who was diagnosed about 15 years ago as bipolar which made a lot of sense of his career's extreme successes and spectactular failures. Very hard on his family and those who love and support him emotionally. Hugs to you.

 

[LitGal]

Thanks, Bestwifever!

And many kudos to your DH. So often, the friends scatter after someone has been diagnosed. (Or they leave before that, after they have observed puzzling/mystifying behavior.) In our experience with friends and family, it's been interesting to see which ones are still willing to have contact with our son.

It seems that a diagnosis like this can become a litmus test for friendship and/or family bonds.

Yes, I agree; it was nice that SLP gently portrayed the complex humanity of the characters, their families, and friends.

Thanks for your post.

 

[Sue J]

I borrowed this from the library a few weeks ago. I wanted to see it because it was talked about and Jennifer Lawrence got an Oscar. I was hesitant to see it because growing up my mother had prolonged episodes of severe depression and my brother was diagnosed as bi-polar as an adult and I just don't see these subjects as "entertainment".

For the most part I enjoyed it and I'm glad I saw it. I thought it was a good portrayal of what bi-polar can do to a person and the whole family. The parts that I didn't like were the generalizations of Philadelphians and the football rivalry antics. I wanted Bradley Cooper to take off that stupid garbage bag but I guess that showed a way of him being extreme in things he did.

Good movie, I'll watch it again if it's on tv.

 

[Texas Proud]

I guess it's just me....I don't see why people get upset if you say you don't like something. In some people's minds, I think they are hearing that as an actual insult and then defend it because they like it. I don't like olives.....never have. I try them about once a year just to check....yuk. I did not say olives are bad/evil.....just that I didn't like them. If I were to say I really didn't like Bush as President ......whoa....a whole political argument gets going and people get insulted and assume the worst.....I didn't call Bush any names....and didn't say he was a horrible person.....just that I didn't like what he did in office. Although.....I don't think much of politicians in general so....... I put out a thread a while back on favorite tv series. Some of the ones people really liked, I had no interest in at all (Soprano's for instance). Now....I know that a WHOLE lot of people loved that show....and it was supposed to be well done....but I didn't watch the show because the main topic of the show was something I don't find entertaining. I happened to think the SciFi series Firefly was one of the best series....it got cancelled after one season. Obviously it wasn't loved by enough people......I can live with that and I am not insulted if you say the show bored you to tears. The vast majority of Academy award winners I don't watch.....I realize they are probably good, well done movies....but if the topic is something I am not interested in.....then I would just be flogging a dead horse hoping the outcome will be different this time...

One of the other problems is that if you tell someone that you do not like something.... they don't hear it as you not liking it, but as you HATING it.....


Using a food example like you did... I don't like green beans... but I eat them whenever they are cooked... they are good enough....

Whenever there is something that I do not wish to eat, I will say "I hate that".... or "I don't eat that".... not wishy-washy in this way....

 

[F4mandolin]

Just to keep this going....being the pain in the a$$ I am....just watched Cloud Atlas....I take everything I said about SLP back.....Cloud Atlas made SLP look like the best movie of the century. Tom Hanks.....I love ya....but that movie sucked. My wife would NOT let me fast forward though it.....and we both wish we had at the end...

 

[LitGal]

Well, maybe DH and I should skip that one.

Thanks!