xc - COTD2

Watching how Harold and Maude lived their lives was weird. In our society we don’t believe it is normal for anyone to be obsessed about death and creating a meaning in life. Many of us tend to forget about why we live this life and become distracted when we create our personal ways to fulfill it.Bbut what we don’t realize is that there are greater ways to fulfill it. Funerals and death played a big role in the lives of Harold and Maude. Harold loves to act out different ways one would approach their death. He loves to attend funerals; at one point he states “attending funerals satisfies me.” He likes to be alone in his own world until he meets Maude. Maude is the one who creates meaning to his life. She makes him realize that we are all living this life for something or someone. This makes Harold become interested in her insights about life and death. After spending some time with Maude, Harold realizes that he has meaning in his life because he is in love with Maude. He has a reason to live and enjoys spending his time with her. Instead of arguing with his mother about setting up dates for him, he scares them off by attempting dramatic acts of suicide. Later on when Harold finds out the shocking news that Maude takes sleeping pills on her 80th birthday he is devastated, but then realizes that he still has reasons to live his life.

Maude is a very interesting character. She approaches Harold in an unusual way by randomly making conversation with him. In our society talking to a random stranger is considered weird. Even when we ask a stranger for directions we tend to hesitate at times. Maude in the other hand has no care for what others have to say about her. She feels that everything which surrounds her in the world is hers. She has the power to take control of anything she wants to. For example, when she sees a dead tree she makes it her duty to make the grow back to life. She does this by transplanting it in the forest with the help of Harold. At one point she states: “I like to watch things grow.” She is very open to Harold about her thoughts on life. On her 80th birthday she decides to take sleeping pills. I guess she felt that she had nothing more left to live for.

Harold’s mother is another character who helps the viewer achieve a better understanding of Harold. She does not like Harold’s obsession of death and his dramatic acts of committing suicide. In fact she has not an ounce of worry when Harold does these attempts. He has attempted his own death so many times that she will not fall for another one of his stunts. Because Harold’s mother does not like her sons lifestyle, she decides to get him married soon. She sets up a number of dates for Harold in hope of him agreeing to her request; but all she gets in return are different attempts of suicide. When she feels that this method is not working, she decides to send him to the army with his uncle. Just as her last plan, this plan does not work either. Later on when Harold admits to having interest in Maude she is shocked, which would be expected from any mother.

Basically what I got out from watching this movie is that everyone has their own thoughts, opinions and approaches for the idea of death and caring for the dead. At first, Harold feels that he has no reason to live and tends to spend his whole life coming up with different attempts of suicide. That is until he meets Maude which makes him realize that he has something to live for. Maude feels that every living thing has a purpose in life and she shares this idea with Harold. Harold’s mother feels that death is a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo and no one should waste their time worrying about it. Instead they should spend the time they have in this life to do what others do by live a “normal” life.