Posts tagged depression
“The Intouchables” Is a Refreshing Comedy
Sep 16th
“Refreshing Comedy”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Intouchables is a French comedy with an unlikely subject: a wealthy man who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair hires a young black man from the projects in Paris to be his live-in nurse and take care of him.
One thing that is remarkable about this film is that when I saw the previews for it and all throughout watching it, I believed that Dustin Hoffman plays the quadriplegic, and I was impressed with how well he could speak French. Either that or else his lines were dubbed, and I didn’t quite believe that.
It wasn’t until I obtained the credits for the film that I learned that the actor isn’t Hoffman at all, nor is the actress playing one of the staff the American actress Amy Adams, which I believed.
When the movie opens, we see the rich man, Philippe, and the caretaker, Driss, speeding in Philippe’s Maserati, which Driss is driving. The police start chasing them, and Driss says, “Here they come–100 Euros says I can beat them.”
The scene has a funny ending, which is characteristic of the whole movie.
Then we see a flashback to when Driss interviewed for the job, which he didn’t even want at all, but just wanted a signature to prove that he had interviewed for a job so he could continue to receive his unemployment benefits.
However, something about Driss’s manner intrigues Philippe, and he says that Philippe is ready to try Driss out for a month, but he bets that Driss won’t last two weeks before he quits.
You see, most nurses leave the job after one week, because it is so demanding and requires such hard work.
Driss is impressed by the accommodations that he would live in, but the main reason for accepting the job might be Magalie, one of Philippe’s staff that Driss finds very attractive.
And so the rest of the movie consists of how these two unlikely men affect each other, Driss and his exuberance for life breaking through the walls of depression surrounding Philippe and Philippe’s money and status in life showing Driss that Driss’s previous life was going to lead him nowhere.
So, does Driss stay in the job longer than two weeks?
Does he get anywhere with Magalie?
The Intouchables is a very delightful and refreshing comedy.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshot.”
Jaeckle, K9s for Warriors help veterans with PTSD
Sep 16th
Now Flagler College assistant professor Tina Jaeckle and a group called K9s for Warriors are trying a different approach in the form of man’s best friend.
“When you come home, your dog knows when you’ve had a bad day,” said Jaeckle, who serves on the board of the Ponte Vedra Beach-based organization. “They want to get up in your lap. They want to cuddle. Dogs do that naturally. They’re much more sensitive to these things than humans.”
According to Jaeckle, who teaches sociology at Flagler, it’s that sensitivity to feelings such as fear and anxiety that make them perfect compliments to combat veterans suffering from PTSD.
According to a study by the Rand Corporation, one in five returning veterans suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. One in six will attempt or commit suicide. Symptoms can include hostility, aggression, depression, suicide, paranoia, acrophobia, nightmares, panic attacks, poor coping skills, memory loss and lack of trust.
“My background as a clinical social worker has always been in crisis and trauma. It’s something I educate law enforcement on and first responders,” said Jaeckle. “Right now, (PTSD) is an epidemic and if we don’t figure out better ways to deal with this, we’ll have no idea what to do when all these folks come back home.”
In the K9s for Warriors program, service dogs, which are rescues from local shelters, are trained together with their matched veteran to establish a deep bond that will enable the dog to be able to sense when its owner is in danger.
Three to five veterans at any given time are put up at the facility for a three-week training program where the “warrior” learns the skills needed to train their own canines. The group provides a service canine, training, certification, equipment, seminars, vet care, most meals and housing free of charge.
Service dogs at the facility are trained to respond to these dangers by performing tasks to lessen the distress. Examples of these tasks include pawing or bringing a toy to break a disturbing episode, blocking an unwanted person from advancing too close, reminding the warrior to take medicine or nudging the warrior while thrashing due to a nightmare. Each warrior has differing symptoms, so his or her service dog is trained for his or her specific disabilities.
Sandi Capra serves as director of development for the K9s program, but her connection runs much deeper than that. Her husband graduated from the program in November of 2011.
“This program allows (veterans) to live a more normal life. They can go to shops, restaurants, movies, everyday things you and I take for granted they are no longer able to do due to the overwhelming symptoms of PTSD,” said Capra. “They start to interact with the public and relearn to trust and can become productive members of society once again.”
And since the group’s services are provided free of charge, financial help and volunteers are always needed.
“The cost to feed the warriors while they are in residence and the cost of dog supplies are a large expense for K9s,” said Capra. “Financial help is always appreciated.”
And the local facility and need for volunteers is a fact that Jaeckle says has played well with her students, who have had visits from several veterans who have graduated the program.
“I think there are numerous opportunities for students in sociology and psychology to study PTSD as well as a huge opportunity to help veterans,” said Jaeckle. “We’re talking about current and future trends in psychology and sociology that students can take with them to graduate school.”
For more information on K9s for warriors or to find out how you can help, visit k9sforwarriors.org
Source: Flagler College
“Damsels in Distress” Causes the Audience to Be in Pain
May 12th
“Audience in Pain”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Damsels in Distress is the fourth movie written and directed by Whit Stillman, all of them have received favorable reviews, but I thought this was the worst movie I have seen in a very long time.
The story takes place at a school called Seven Oaks University, and it begins during new-student orientation at the start of the school year when three girls approach a new girl attending the school and one of them says to her, “We’d like to help you.”
The three girls are Violet, Heather, and Rose, and the new girl is Lily, who is a sophomore and is transferring into the university.
The leader of the group is Violet, and she does most of the talking, which takes place when they are walking, which takes place when they are dancing, and which even takes place when the girls get into bed at night, where they all sleep in the same room.
Violet, Heather, and Rose volunteer at the Suicide Prevention Center, where they help some students to get over their depression with tap dancing.
Incidentally, when Violet herself gets depressed later in the story over a boy she thinks she is in love with, she doesn’t like to use the word “depressed.” She prefers to say that she “is in a tailspin.”
The university has social fraternities on campus, but they make a point of saying that they aren’t Greek fraternities, as there are on most college campuses. These are Roman-letter fraternities like DU, where the girls all go to a party and make fun of the members of the fraternity, whom they call morons and think of their attending as “youth outreach.”
There is no dramatic arc in this movie, just a dramatic plateau. No, make that a valley with no drama at all, because it never reaches the level of a plateau.
I wondered if all the people making this movie were as bored making it as I was watching it. I kept thinking, “Why don’t they just stop talking and do something?”
Violet’s ambition is to start a new dance craze, and the movie ends with a big musical dance number. No, two of them, but by then it is still too late.
Damsels in Distress is so bad that if I never see it again, it will be too soon.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”