I've completed the 'IMDB Top 250' challenge twice. Since the past 15 years, I've rated every movie on IMDB. In this wonderful journey, I've come across some pretty stellar movies.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is one such movie. It deals with the character of James Stewart who is about to end his own life. The heavens decide to intervene, and send an angel to stop him from doing that. The angel takes him back in time to show an alternate universe of how different (and wretched) things would have been for people around him, had he not been a part of their world. He is made to realise how he has touched all their lives in such a wonderful way, either wittingly or unwittingly.
In real life, the heavens will not always intervene - not directly. It is left upon us to play the part of the angel. A certain event recently had left me deeply unsettled. We are in the last few days of Mental Health Awareness Month, and I have been meaning to write something since a few weeks. Perhaps, just like the actions we can do to help our near and dear ones, this blog is better off being late than never.
Mental illness is just like any physical ailment. It makes the brain react to situations in a manner which may be different to how a healthy brain would have. And just like most physical ailments, it can be cured too. The greatest road block for mental illness is the taboo associated with it, which prevents people from seeking help, or which restricts the resources available to them.
A number greater than we would like to imagine is affected by it in various forms and degrees. We should talk about it, and seek help. The brain can be conditioned to help weed out various behaviours and thoughts. This can be done through self-help, discussions (I cannot emphasise enough about the importance of the unwitting discussions), or professional intervention. For starters, we should acknowledge its existence, and treat it like what it is – a curable disease. There is a whole industry dedicated to it, and for most cases we have our friends and family. Share. Talk. Support.
The movie in the title ends with a line from the angel to the character of James Stewart: 'No Man is a Failure Who Has Friends'. Perhaps we should realise that things aren't always as bad as we perceive them to be, and we are not always alone – there is always somebody out there. Perhaps we should all try to be a friend here for the people who need it, even if they might not realise it.
After all, it IS a wonderful life!!!
