Film as therapy

Hello all and welcome to the first post!
My son, Jordan, (age 16, severe learning difficulties and autism) has been watching 'Little Miss Sunshine' obsessively. Was it the drug-taking or the seriously weird spectacle of the beauty pageant? No, it was Duane the grandson having a serious tantrum at the side of the road upon learning that he is colour-blind. Jordan didn't get it about colour-blindness but he did understand that Duane's grandfather died. Jordan didn't get it when his own grandfather died five years ago but when the grief hit him a month ago, resulting in some very challenging behaviour (imagine Duane's outburst but in Peckham, in public, every day for three weeks), we were hard-pressed to give him an appropriate context for his emotions.
What a relief, then, for the boy to find comfort in something that is not Disney!
Anyone else out there with their own films that they watch for therapeutic purposes?
Let me know...

Comments

Andy Phillips said…
This may sound kind of sick, but whenever I'm really down, I reread If This is a Man, by Primo Levi.

What sort of stuff do you write?
Elinor said…
Ah, Primo Levi-quality! Why is that sick? I love rereading books, it's like visiting an old friend.
So far, I've written three shorts, a sci-fi novel and a horror feature (edited by the esteemed Lucy Vee).
I guess if there was a uniting factor, it would be that I write strong female characters.
And your good self?
Andy Phillips said…
I write sort of comedies. Working on a noirish thriller now.
Near by said…
Hello Elinor!
Peckham was my old stamping ground.
Good luck with FP
Elinor said…
Thanking you kindly, Far Away.
Peckham for the peckish!
Lianne said…
I don't have specific films that I watch for comfort/therapeutic reasons but I did find myself coping with grief by warching flufy romantic comedies for some reason. I watched Miss Congeniality and Love Actually, but had forgotten about the funeral scene in the latter and had to turn it off. But Miss Congeniality worked a treat to take my mind of things. For an hour and a half.
Elinor said…
Interesting! There seem to be two threads here; one that deals directly with the issue and one that acts as a distraction.

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