Harold and Maude

"Harold and Maude" follows a young man named Harold who is infatuated with the idea of pretending that he's committed suicide. The film begins with his mother coming home to find Harold hanging himself. The audience is initially shocked by her apparent disregard and neglect until we realize that this is simply a game that Harold plays on a regular basis and by now his mother is not only used to it, she's bored with it.
This is a film that uses Harold's obsession with death as part of its dark humor.

In contrast to Harold, Maude, an elderly woman, with whom he is in love, is obsessed with life. Despite her age, Maude wants to live life to the fullest. Every day is a new adventure, whether its stealing a car, playing pranks on military officials, or talking herself out of getting arrested, Maude lives her life with gusto. In fact, it seems as though she is more of a teenager, with respect to her outlook on life, than Harold. This too is a part of the film's ironic humor.

Harold's wealthy mother is in some ways the "normal one" but in fact she doesn't know what to make of either Harold or Maude. She is preoccupied with trying to get Harold to become a normal kid which she attempts to do by getting him into military school or getting him a girlfriend. None of this works, and Harold's obsession with death appears to be a reaction to his mothers desire to make him "normal."

Harold's obsession with death is in some ways a repulsion towards his mother's pressure, but through his relationship with Maude, he discovers a love of life for the first time.

Culminating Project

For this culminating project, I decided to speak with people my age to find out what they thought about death and the afterlife. I imagined that unless they had had to deal with death before, that they might be very confused about it. I was confused about what happens after a person dies until I experienced my mother’s death and was forced to really think through what I believed happened when a person died. I know that our religious beliefs have a big impact on how we think about death, and so do our fears. The idea of being gone forever is probably disturbing to many people and thus I wanted to see what some of my friends thought about it.  

(UPLOADING PROBLEMS WITH VIDEO)

For each of the people I interviewed, there seems to be a hope of an afterlife. There is no certainty expressed but each of the people I interviewed seemed to want to believe that they could either be reincarnated or that they would go to someplace good after they died. In the opening “scene,” its clear that Emma is the most troubled by the conversation. She starts out by saying that she doesn’t like the topic because its depressing and then interjects throughout the conversation. When Callie began with saying that she didn’t believe anything happened after death, Emma seemed somewhat offended, and thought of it as depressing. Even though the others were willing to talk about it, its clear that the topic of death is disturbing. It may have also been that we were at a party, and they just wanted to have fun, but I think there’s an underlying display of discomfort that comes from speaking of death.

Its interesting that almost everybody that I interviewed said that they believed in reincarnation because this notion comes from Hinduism and I don’t think that any of my friends are Hindu or that they have religious beliefs that support this idea. I think the reason why reincarnation appeals to them is because they don’t want to see death as permanent and they’re hoping, somehow, that life might continue in a different form. None of them expressed this belief with certainty that might come from religion or some other doctrine. Undoubtedly, it is their fear of the unknown that leads them to hope that there will be reincarnation.  

SOF Prom 2011

Even in a place like School of the Future, which is not a typical school in many ways, it still followed the traditions that most American schools adhere to related to the prom. There we were in our rented tux’s and gowns, all of which cost a lot of money for only one night of partying. It makes no sense when you think about it given that many of the students really don’t have the money to afford the tickets or the clothes, but the pressure to be part of the prom is strong.

This serves as another reminder of how and why certain traditions continue in our society. Even when there’s no rational justification for participating in such an expensive activity, most people find ways to do so. This is a reflection of how and why societies maintain a high degree of continuity across generations. It was funny when I talked to my father about his prom, how similar it was to mine. Even though he went to his prom over 30 years ago, all of the major ingredients- the tuxedoes, the dresses, the limousines, and the alcohol were all very similar. I wonder if this would be true for the next generations as well, or if at some point in the future, some group is going to end the tradition. 

Overall, I had a great time at prom. I wasn’t expecting to have so much fun, which was why it was great. No, it was not transformative and magical. For me, it was just another party; a dressier, more expensive one, but I’m glad that I went anyway.

Initial Thoughts on Prom

I don’t think I’ve ever thought much of prom.  I remember being younger, looking at photos of my brother and sister, and admiring how great they looked, but thinking that it was all really corny. Photos of couples- female in front of male, cheesing through each shot. When I thought of prom, I thought of the photos in my elder brother and sister’s yearbook and wallets. As I grew older, I thought less and less of it- but I guess that’s a fad/tradition as well. To hate on prom, but attend anyway. I never imagined a guy picking me up from home in a limousine, with me in 6-inch heels that I couldn’t walk in, and a dress that would never be worn again. And maybe because I never had high expectations, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed with my prom. The one aspect of prom that I was particularly nervous about was finding a date. I could have easily asked somebody outside of school- but that would require me to spend $300 dollars on prom ($150 per person) and there was no way I was doing that. Since I had been pretty absent from this senior pride that most SOF kids started feeling in the beginning of the year, and since I had been absent in almost everything, I had no idea who I could go to prom with. I also didn’t imagine anyone asking me since I hardly interacted with anyone. But I was pleased with the way I found a date. I sat outside the school with a couple other seniors, complaining that I was going to have to pay $300 bucks to take someone outside of school. Javon stood next to me and shared the complaint. There was an awkward silence, and we both made it clear that it would be all right to go with each other. Since we were huddled with other dramatic seniors, they made him ask me “the way he was supposed to,” although that had already been implied. So he asked, and I agreed. No sweat! Well, for me.