Movie Reviews ...Ford vs. Ferrari and Harriet, plus other stuff

1. ) Meditation is teaching me how to let go of things...it's very helpful. When I was younger, my mother used to complain about her older sister, Audrey. Audrey always had to have the last word in every argument they had. If she got the last word she won. But most arguments are unwinnable. Why? Because people aren't interested in the other person's perspective so much as validating their own. That connection is what we hunt for -- we want people to agree or be on our wavelength. In argument, they aren't. And it becomes frustrating. A creative writing teacher once told me that all conversation was jockeying for position. I feel that way at times when I talk with folks or my mother - as if we jumping over each others words to get to what we each want to talk about. It works best when we're on the same wavelength and wish to discuss the same thing. If all she wants to do is tell me stuff - and all I want to do is tell her stuff - it becomes an exercise in frustration. In order to have any type of discourse, the first requirement is to listen. And I'm beginning to think it is so much harder to "listen" really "listen" than it is to talk. I know it is harder to read than to write, which is an odd thing to say now that I think on it. But it is. And to read well, you have to do it without thinking. To listen well, you have to stop thinking first.

There should be nothing else in your head but the words and pictures or thoughts they convey. But I think the human brain takes what it hears or sees and changes it somehow to fit with the thoughts inside. Making it really hard sometimes to hear what the other person is saying. I think also there's a tendency for the mind to apply judgement, criticism, without hearing. I misunderstand so much...by letting my thoughts get in the way of what I'm seeing and hearing.

2. Conversations with my mother:

( My Uncle Goes to Tuscon and Decides He Should Have Stayed in Seattle )

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( Sisterinlaw hunts roller skates...finds guns instead. )

2. I watched two interesting films tonight. Ford vs. Ferrari which made me angry at humanity, and Harriet which gave me up and I found uplifting. This surprised me. I was expecting the opposite. Both are very well made films on multiple levels. And stuck with me after I saw them. I find myself rewinding at various points to get the words and scene.
( spoilers for both films )

While I recommend Ford vs. Ferrari with reservations, I wholeheartedly recommend Harriet. Harriet is a film that is worth seeing. It made me hopeful and reminded me that as a species we've been through far worse than what we are going through now.