MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK 2020 POST FOUR | TV & MOVIES AS KINDNESS

“Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the movie’s about”

Steven Spielberg

Similarly, to reading, watching movies or TV series can be a brilliant form of escapism! For a lot of people, it’s much easier to get lost in a storyline where it’s visual because you’re not really having to use your imagination and create images from what you’re reading. This can also mean that movies can be more engrossing and powerful than a book. They can really bring forward different moods and emotions depending on the type of movie; comedy, horror, romance… they each can have a different impact on your mental health. So, choosing to watch a comedy when you’re feeling sad and low, can be an act of self-kindness.


So, I thought I’d use this post to talk about my ten favourite movies that cover different aspects of kindness…

(May contain spoilers!)

Honey

“I found something that I truly love, that truly makes me happy. That’s a million times better than something that makes you rich.”

Chaz

This dance movie features a lot of acts of kindness towards others with the main character – Honey – organizing a fundraising project for a dance school. I think the storyline is made more wholesome because it’s set in a low-income area of America where gang violence is prominent, so the acts of kindness are even more prominent when considering the environment and background. It really illustrates that kindness shouldn’t face any barriers in so far as race, income, location etc.

MY FAVOURITE QUOTES & HOW I RELATE FROM 20 FILMS IN MY DISNEY PLUS WATCHLIST!! | IN COLLABORATION WITH DISNEY PLUS UK | AD

“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever”

-          Walt Disney

So, there’s been two blog posts (the first is here and the second here) on the Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown and I think two is understandable – I mean, I’d be silly to not blog about such a current issue that’s affecting so many people (including me and my family and friends) and in such an enormous way. I think, though, that it’s important to get a balance with the negatives and positives in life; and so many positives have come from the reality of our situation. One of these has been that the launch of Disney Plus on March 24^th came at the most appropriate of times! Just when everyone is desperate to find something to keep them busy through lockdown, Disney present us with a hugely helpful service!

For just £5.99 a month or £59.99 a year, you can have access to a ridiculous amount of Disney films and TV seasons! I literally didn’t know what to watch first – if you’re wondering, I finally opted for Frozen!

Anyway! As a belated celebration of the launch of Disney Plus – and to hopefully convince some of you to sign up for it too – I’ve chosen a favourite quote from the top 20 movies in my Disney Plus watchlist:

Beauty & The Beast

“Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong” – Mrs Potts

Ok, so I kind of cheated and used song lyrics for this one but I liked them! In June 2012, when I woke up from life support in Intensive Care after making a suicide attempt, I agreed to go to a specialist psychiatric hospital over 100 miles from home. I agreed because I knew that’s what everyone wanted me to do. I agreed because if I hadn’t; I’d have been sent there anyway and I didn’t want to lose control of the decision. I made the decision to be an inpatient with the conviction that I would and could never change. I honestly believed that I was stuck with mental health problems and would end up killing myself before I had the chance to feel better.

MENTAL HEALTH IN FIVE ‘FANTASTIC BEASTS’ QUOTES

I remember first discovering HarryPotter when the first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in the cinema and I wasn’t totally hooked. I don’t know what convinced me to pick up the book and become so attached to the characters and so obsessed with the storyline that I read all seven books and watched all eight movies. I think I most enjoyed the level of escapism it brought me, leaving this challenging and upsetting world for one that was so far removed from reality and yet so realistic, allowed for the opportunity to forget – even just for the length of one page – my own difficulties.

I didn’t bother with any of the spin-off books and didn’t watch Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them until Christmas 2018! I actually watched the Crimes of Grindelwald (the second in the Fantastic Beasts series) first with my friend and when I didn’t have the same dramatic reactions as she had it became apparent that I really needed to watch the first to understand the importance of the second a bit better! I then bought the Crimes of Grindelwald screenplay and that really helped my understanding so much so that I bought the movie and watched it numerous times. It was on one of these most recent times that I thought maybe I could share with you all some quotes from it that – even taken out of context - are relevant to mental health…

TEN LIFE LESSONS LEARNT FROM HARRY POTTER

Since ITV are currently showing all the Harry Potter films, I thought it appropriate to blog about all of the life lessons I’ve learnt from the magical series that is Harry Potter!

Also! I’d like to dedicate this post to one of my absolute best-friends; Ellie who’s forever working her ass off juggling children and education so hopefully this post will help cheer her up!

So, here’s my top ten:

1.       Love can save lives

I thought it would make sense to begin my list with a lesson learnt from the very first film; Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. This lesson comes from when Harry’s Mum Lily protects him from Lord Voldermort’s killing spell (avada kedavra) by giving her own life.

2.       We are not shaped by our childhood

Harry grows up being lied to; told his parents died in a car crash, that there’s no such thing as magic, he’s emotionally abused by his Aunt and Uncle who keep him in a cupboard under the stairs and regularly berate him. Yet he remains honest, kind, and caring.