I really love
the movie 300. I probably watch it once every two months and each time is
exhilarating like I have not ever seen it before. It's action-packed, the
fighting scenes are epic, the men of Sparta are considered to be strong and
powerful and they will kick your ass and kill you by any means necessary.
As much as I enjoy this film, there is an element of the spirit of Sparta
that is bullshit. I don't mean to disrespect the film at all. I love 300 but ideologically there are some
things that I believe to be counterproductive to humanity. Though I do think that the main character
Leonidas is in some ways an androgynous man (which I passionately
respect), he - like the film itself, in my opinion, promotes the idea that the
spirit of victory has no room for weakness, sadness, or any other emotion
besides pride and anger. Yes, to me that is complete bullshit.
Growing up,
many of my friends, and some still today have been naturally aggressive males;
the type that do not mind engaging in aggressive situations. We have been
referred to as warriors, soldiers, and all of that jazz. I consider one of them to be the alpha of the
alphas and he said to me one time, "If you lived back in that time Shawn,
you would be one of them Spartans." I guess that was supposed to be
a compliment. As my mind has grown and as I continue to grow with my soul
I no longer see physically strong and powerful men and women as the only types
of true warriors. As a therapist I witness people on a daily basis
facing their fears and stepping into unknown territories of mental health.
I watch and talk to people who are depressed, suicidal, homicidal, addicted,
diseased, etc. do something that I did not see many, if any of the
soldiers in 300 do. They asked for help. On the contrary, I have seen
adult men the size of Lebron James shed tears in my office and say things like,
"Thank you for this talk. No man
has ever talked to me about love before." I have met brave women who
have self-harmed break down and say, "I can't do this by myself anymore.
I don’t want to live like this anymore.
I wanna’ get better. I need
help." These are the true warriors that I care to be around.
The people who are not afraid of displaying weakness.
I, in my human
moral mind, thought that the opening scene of 300 was very off putting.
To examine and throw newborn babies off of a cliff because you
perceive them to display possible signs of weakness, to me, displays your own
weakness. Perhaps the examiner should have been thrown off of the cliff
as a baby. If the examiner were a person of true strength and power they
would discontinue this practice because to have true strength and power is not
to fear weakness. Rather, there is a level of appreciation and respect for
it. Maybe not for a 'solider'...but surely for a 'human being'. Perhaps we have decorated soldiers with a limited meaning of bravery. But who am I, I'm only a professional counselor, right? Suiting up and and going to war with people and their inner-demons cannot possibly be as important or glamorous as putting on ones military attire and shooting people, right? Not even when it can lead to PTSD, huh? I am speaking satirically, of course, because I respect war - sometimes it is needed. However, to call a man strong when he kills and the call him weak when his mental health is causing him to want to kill himself is quite contradictory and wicked.
If you have
ever seen any of the SAW movies, the character Jigsaw is one f***** up
individual. The things he physically does to people is gruesome and
horrifying. Though I am 100% against his modus operandi and tactics, I am
not necessarily against his reasoning
for what he does. I think that the spirit of what he is doing has
significant benefit. He is causing and challenging people to face their
thematic problems and ultimately, to choose life. Is this not what great
therapy is all about? Is this not what
one of the great lessons of what life is all about?
A great therapist will create these types of situations but not to the
extreme of a Jigsaw (at least I will not lol). A colleague of mine likes
to say that the way out of a problem is
through the symptom. The symptom being an erroneously perceived
flaw that can make you weak but is actually the very thing that can make you
strong and powerful. Even though Jigsaw is a psychopath, his view of
working through the weakness in order to achieve sovereign strength, power, and freedom,
to me, says that he has an exalted awareness above the people of Sparta because
he doesn't try to kill weakness. He uses it to reproduce LIFE.
Maybe I should begin a new form of psychotherapy; Jigsaw Counseling
- where people are dying to LIVE. Will you come…*Laughs evilly for 10 seconds*
lol.
Happy
Halloween.
#ExpandYourPerspectVe
-PerspectVe.com
© 2016-2018 PerspectVe
LLC
