Awakenings

If you don’t already know, I’m a Psychology Major at HELP University (Msia, KL). I’ve just started my new semester and I’m taking this subject called Psychology of Film-it is the most awesome subject ever! Haha, so for this entryI shall fill ya’ll in on how God mind blowing-ly got me to see this one movie in His way.

The movie’s called Awakenings (1990; starring Robert De Niro & Robin Williams-he was serious in this movie). Not many people have heard of it, much less seen it, which is quite sad cause the movie is so so good… So good! If you haven’t seen it, I don’t intend on spoiling it for you but I’m gonna anyway =P If you are interested in watching it and hate spoilers, then you don’t have to read this (you can read it after you watch the movie =P )

Here I go:

It’s basically about this up tight psychiatrist who's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic (deficit of motor activity that can render patient motionless; mute and rigid, and initiate no social behaviors) patients. As he runs a diagnosis on them he finds out that they respond to certain stimuli (when he throws a ball at them, they catch it) and this compels him to look for a way to help them recover from their disorder. He finds a drug that works wonders on them, and all the patients are awakened from their ‘sleep’ and are given a second chance to really live their lives. But as it turns out, the drugs didn’t last and slowly but surely they all depleted back to their original state of catatonia.

That is the whole movie in short =( I know it sounds horrible, cause of the sad ending…but what was a revelation to me was seeing how the catatonic patients wake up and live their lives again. It made me think about the people around us, the people who don’t know Jesus, who may have known Jesus once but have fallen backwards, or the people who do know about Jesus, but not personally. They to me, are like the people in catatonia, basically asleep, not living life the way God has intended them to, not knowing what *living* is really like. Yet, God(like the psychiatrist) still sees hope in them, and believes that they will be revived someday, only difference is He’s the only ‘drug’ that will work on them and that will never fail. To think that once these people get a ‘shot’ of Jesus in their lives, how set free, how alive, how awakened they will feel, it really makes me smile, and makes me want to try harder for them. In the movie, when those patients woke up, they never wanted to fall back into catatonia ever again, cause being awake felt so so much better, and I know once people experience God, really truly, honestly..they’ll never want to go back again.

What’s on my heart is basically, don’t give up on them. Don’t brush them aside thinking there’s no hope for them, or that they are too much for you…Cause He hasn’t given up on them. Keep trying, believe in that day where their eyes will be opened and for them to really *see* God for who He is =)

And if you think you are that person that is 'asleep' and in need of an awakening, God's so ready to revive you. Of all the people whom will never fail, never dissapoint, never hurt...God's perfect, and I know that may seem unlikely, but He is. He's exactly what we're looking and who we need. We're not living till we have Him, till we know Him, trust me on that. It's never too late, give Him a chance =)

That’s just my prayer for all of us. Thanks for taking the time to read my long story. Hope ya’ll have been blessed =)

Here’s the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FURflBxeTyI
(quality’s bad but it gives a gist to the movie)

p/s: At the Golden Globes this year Robert De Niro was awarder 'Life Time Achievement' (or something like that) for his work over the many years, and he said the best movie he has made out of all was Awakenings. That day was the day I watch the movie, for the very first time..Didn't think it was coincidence.

pp/s: The nurse in the trailer is the voice of Marge Simpson =P