Regarding The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, what was your reaction to the film? Answer this generally, and then comment on 1 or 2 questions below.
- · Did it make you reconsider what it would be like to be very sick, incapacitated, and/or unable to communicate?
- · Did it make you reconsider how you treat other people who cannot communicate clearly? (I realize that there is a difference between someone who has none or very limited cognitive abilities and one who "merely" cannot communicate)
- · What else did it make you reconsider? How you spend your time & energy? How you treat your friends & family?
- · Where you relieved or distressed (or both) when he died?
- · Did the film complicate your views of autonomy and/or paternalism? Explain.
- · How did the technical aspects of the film enhance or detract from the story? (Example: camera angles & use of point of view, focus, narrative structure & time sequencing, etc.)
- · What does the title mean?
- · I specifically wanted you to watch the film with subtitles because I think it makes is a bit more disorienting for you, which gives you more of a sense of what Jean-Do is going through. Do you agree? Comment further.
I enjoyed watching the film, and found it very uplifting. It makes me appreciate life in a whole new way. Jean-Do didn’t realize how happy he was until everything was taken away from him. He took an awful situation and turned it into an experience we all can learn from. He immortalized his own death.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely makes me reconsider how I treat people who cannot communicate clearly. Particularly, I think about language barriers. I have been in situations involving language barriers and I know how frustrating it is to not be understood. It is very much like being trapped in a “diving bell.” Just like I needed subtitles to understand this movie, Jean-Do needed a special way to communicate with the world.
The filmography used definitely enhanced the story. The use of point of view is disorienting and often unsettling, but makes Jean-Do’s experiences more realistic to the viewer. Scenes that had a strong effect on me include the beginning where he “talks” but cannot be heard, along with the scene where his eye is sewn shut. The movie did a good job at making ordinary scenes (ex: a hospital wall) beautiful, and really highlighted the power of the human imagination. The translation process was painstakingly long in certain scenes, but necessary to fully depict the reality of his situation. It makes me want to think before I speak, and choose my words more carefully!
My reaction to The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is probably quite different than anyone else’s in this class will be. I have MS and during the initial flare of it I had times I was unable to speak, and many more times I was unable to move. Only in the mornings (sleep paralysis) did I have both at the same time. My symptoms, however, were intermittent and temporary; Jean-Do’s are permanent and irreversible. The points in this film that stand out to me most are the horrors of a true story. Jean-Do was unhappy with his life, his thoughts at first were towards all the things he should have done, some dealing with his wife and father and other simple things like returning phone calls. He never considered that today could be his last; he was unprepared for any type of disaster. One lesson to draw from his story is never leave anything unfinished at the end of the day, never assume you have tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of this film I found intriguing is how he was treated, even by his family. The communication system the therapist developed was ingenious, although tedious, but no one ever touched him. He would not be able to feel someone’s hand, but he could see it. At one point Jean-Do mentions not being to run his hands through his kids’ hair, he could have if someone would have lifted his arm. It is psychologically beneficial and helps maintain a feeling of humanity when people aren’t scared to touch you.
I feel that healthy people who have no experience with illness could watch this video and think how horrible that would be, glad I’m not around anything like that. In reality, however, many people around you have become very good at hiding symptoms of chronic disease that may one day completely disable them. Other people have recovered from serious illness or injury and you would never know. Also remember you could be next.
What does the title mean? After reading reamichelle's blog I sort of understand what "diving bell" means. Jean-Do is in a bell that is diving into water. Something he cannot escape from. He is feeling like he is in a prison within his own body and drowning. The butterfly is the little piece of him that is set free. This butterfly makes it possible for him to communicate with the world so they can finally understand what he is going through. This film makes me appreciate my healthy life more. I'm not sure I would survive what Jean-Do lived through. I was glad there was subtitles so I could understand what was said. I think the most traumatic part for me was when he was stopping the car in the beginning and his little boy had to run and get help. I thought that must be awful what his boy went through to help his dad.
ReplyDeleteI thought Diving Bell and the Butterfly was a really good film. It definitely made me reconsider what it would be like to be very sick, incapacitated, and unable to communicate. Watching this film, I realized how helpless and frustrated one would feel to be paralyzed and unable to talk. Jean-Dominique Bauby took the situation very well. There was a time in the beginning where he did wish to die, but with the help of the therapists and many others (such as his kids and their mother) he was able to accomplish a lot in the two years he lived with locked-in syndrome. Jean reflected on his life with a new perspective because of his situation. I think that it was amazing that he was able to dictate, edit, and publish a book. When Jean died, I was both relieved and distressed. It must have been extremely difficult for him to live as a “vegetable” and his death was relieving in that he no longer had to suffer. However, I feel that if he had lived longer, he could have progressed even farther, maybe even to the point of talking again. Jean-Do’s story was very inspiring in that he continued to live in relatively high spirits and wrote a book while being paralyzed and mute.
ReplyDeleteMy comments will seem a little strange so I will apologize in advance, this film was very enlightening but made me very sad. My father suffered three strokes before he died and I lived in denial. I kept thinking he would get better. After the second stroke when he lost the ability to communicate and reacted to things totally different from his personality it was very hard to watch. He was a strong man and always in control and one could see in his gestures that he was trying so hard to control his life. I'm not sure he wish he would die, I also think he wanted to get better because he wasn't finished with living as Jean figured out. The way this film was portrayed made me think real hard about his last year on earth. Jean- Dominique Bauby was a lot younger and eventually handled the situation in the best manner he could. I feel like some of his actions were just amazing. I can't imagine publishing a book under his circumstances. Life is precious and as I get older and deal with ailments I desperately would like to keep myself as healthy as possible. I want to see my grandchildren get older, I want to go to their weddings, But I am also aware that the risk of me having a stroke is inevitable so many factors are my problem, weight being #1. This film of Jean story was done remarkable well and inspiring to all who
ReplyDeleteknow someone who's had a stroke or living with one, this film says an awful lot but the most important is make sure our"house is in order before we die" in other words, kindness, love and compassion will go a long way.
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