eye opening ten

Rating: 10/10 (16 August 2002)

Lately each time that I open the eyes of my intellect, I keep
returning to the scene in Lord of the Flies when the Christlike
Simon, who has seen both the pig and the parachutist with his
wide opened eyes, returns to his tribe mates to warn them about
the dangers of self-deception. This scene underlines a prevalent
theme in Golding's novel, namely that we live our lives believing in
lies and when someone tries to enlighten us, we destroy them
first; worry about them eventually; and revere them finally.
Obviously, like all men I possess a vast compendium of
self-deception. I prefer having my biases reinforced, thank you very
much, which is exactly what happened on the majority of initial
reviews to Vanilla Sky. The majority of critics were underwhelmed
and since I was passing through a particularly intense phase of
anti-Tom Cruiseism (based primarily on resentment, jealousy,
and siding with Nicole), I was relieved at the lukewarm critical
reception. I dismissed the film. I figured someday I'd catch it on
HBO for free. Maybe.
A friend of mine kept telling me that I should see Vanilla Sky, that I
would love it. I kept saying `mmmmkay' which means `Look,
you're either a Tom Cruise-aholic or a Cameron Crowe freak and
since I'm neither (which means I'm smarter and more sophisticated than you) I'll see it someday but in the meantime
please shut up and go away'
Finally last week, my friend went out and bought the DVD version
of Sky, came to my office, handed me the disc with a little note
`enjoy and return ASAP'.
I had run out of excuses.
I came home put the DVD into the player, turned it on and almost
immediately my eyes were opened. Not only did I love the movie
but my wife loved the flick as much as I which has happened on
only two other memorable occasions namely Glory and Titanic.
And she has more resentment for Cruise than I do as she
detested not only Eyes Wide Shut but also and both Mission
Impossibles whereas I was merely disappointed by them.
Perhaps it's the fact that my wife and I `survived' a near-death
experience in an automobile accident and to this day we have a
certain amount of question as whether or not we are actually alive.
Since I am typing this and you are reading it, does that mean we
are both alive you and I or.....well, let's not go there.
Supposedly death dreams begin at the point of dying, they are
lucid and time is altered within them. The old `my life flashed in
front of me syndrome'which as Woody Allen once observed `it
wasn't even my life' but is in fact a synthesis of the actualities and
self-deceptions that make up our deranged recollection of mortal
experience.
In other words Vanilla Sky resonated with us on all cylinders but
then of course, we're.......let's not go there.
Later that night as I was turning off the light after an hour of
discussing the film with my partner, a contented silence filled the
room, the silence that happens in the wake of a great movie. I enjoyed the silence for ten minutes when out of nowhere my wife
said to words that I won't forget.
`We're Dead'
I opened my eyes.