States that you are never alone when face with problems and seeing
your problem on screen may be good therapy for you. Movie 'Reel Life/Real
Life'; Comments made; Prescription of movies; Some movies.
By
Karin Vergoth, published on January 01, 1996
SELF-HELP
You're facing a tough choice in your love life, or a sticky
situation at work. Or maybe your aunt is seriously ill.
No matter what your trial or tribulation, you're not alone. Chances
are a celluloid character has grappled with the same dilemma. And seeing
your problem on screen can actually be good therapy, say the authors of a
recent book.
Reel Life/Real Life: A Video Guide for Personal Discovery (Fourth
Write Press, 800-900-REEL) matches movies to life is-sues--from substance
abuse and divorce to coming of age--so that people can pick a flick that
offers insight into their plight.
Why run to the video store when you've got a problem? "Because
you're not in the middle of it. You can step back and learn in a way you
can't when you're looking at your own life," says Mary Ann Horenstein,
one of the book's four coauthors.
Horenstein knows firsthand. Widowed, 41, and struggling to
jump-start her social life, she saw a film that jolted her into
self-awareness. "It was very easy for me to see the problems in An
Unmarried Woman and apply them to myself," she recalls.
After chatting with a psychologist friend who prescribed movies for
patients, she recruited three other film buffs--coauthors Brenda Rigby,
Marjorie Flory, and Vicki Gershwin--and embarked on Reel Life. Four years
and 700 videos later, Horenstein is still an avid movie watcher: "You can
really learn so much about life from a film."
And what if, after all that cinematic self-help, you want a flick
for purely escapist purposes? Grab a bag of the hot, buttery stuff and
flip to the book's "Popcorn" chapter.
RECOMMENDATIONS
some picks from Reel Life
PERSONAL FULFILLMENT
Local Hero Chariots of Fire
AGING
On Golden Pond I Never Sang for My Father
SUBSTANCE ABUSE Days of Wine and Roses Drugstore Cowboy
TAKING A STAND
Conrack
In the Name of the Father
Gandhi
PHOTO (COLOR): A loving old couple.
Tags:
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days of wine and roses,
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entertainment,
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flory,
golden pond,
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local hero,
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personal discovery,
personal fulfillment,
problem solving,
psychologist friend,
reel life,
rigby,
self help,
sticky situation,
taking a stand,
therapy,
unmarried woman,
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wine and roses
