I am always a bit wary of wordings like "the body we inhabit" like our brain is what we think and feel with but like the brain is not part of our body. We don´t inhabit a body, we are a body that thinks and feels. That´s what feels so revolutionary in the scene you describe - that ultimate realization.
I heard a commentary about this film on NPR the other week--it sounded interesting. Your essay focused on it from my a mostly different perspective. Still all interesting!
Dame Judith Dench, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Dr. Edith Eger (a Holocaust survivor with an incredible story), Roberta McCain - these are my heroes. Incredible women, who are (or were) unapologetically themselves and refuse to be defined by the social mores that much of the world (and more frighteningly the US) thinks we should adhere to. Regardless of age we need to embrace who we are and just simply say "NO" - it takes some practice and you may take some hits but the feeling of liking who you are when you look in the mirror is well worth it.
I watched this film a while ago and that scene where Emma looks at her naked reflection stayed with me. I remember I smiled because her character was finally accepting herself but it must have been hard to shoot as very few women would be comfortable to expose their body like that.
So that’s why I was so impressed by a scene that may seem innocuous considering the rest of the film but which sent a very strong message: everyone ages and we have one body, so let’s show it some love for everything it does for us.
I am always a bit wary of wordings like "the body we inhabit" like our brain is what we think and feel with but like the brain is not part of our body. We don´t inhabit a body, we are a body that thinks and feels. That´s what feels so revolutionary in the scene you describe - that ultimate realization.
Yes exactly! The moment of feeling whole and at peace. Thanks for writing, Cristina
I heard a commentary about this film on NPR the other week--it sounded interesting. Your essay focused on it from my a mostly different perspective. Still all interesting!
Yeah, I was just taken by that one scene, that moment of reckoning.
You've seen the film?
Good article - thank you
Dame Judith Dench, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Dr. Edith Eger (a Holocaust survivor with an incredible story), Roberta McCain - these are my heroes. Incredible women, who are (or were) unapologetically themselves and refuse to be defined by the social mores that much of the world (and more frighteningly the US) thinks we should adhere to. Regardless of age we need to embrace who we are and just simply say "NO" - it takes some practice and you may take some hits but the feeling of liking who you are when you look in the mirror is well worth it.
Deb, this is just a beautiful description of where we could go, who we could be. thank you
I watched this film a while ago and that scene where Emma looks at her naked reflection stayed with me. I remember I smiled because her character was finally accepting herself but it must have been hard to shoot as very few women would be comfortable to expose their body like that.
So that’s why I was so impressed by a scene that may seem innocuous considering the rest of the film but which sent a very strong message: everyone ages and we have one body, so let’s show it some love for everything it does for us.