"Get Low" and Chapter 10 Reflection

Reflections on the movie Get Low and Chapter 10 of The Journey of Adulthood

Get Low

According to IMDb (2009) Get Low is a "movie spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about the mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who famously threw his own rollicking funeral party... while he was still alive."  I found this movie to be both entertaining and educational as it related to chapter 10 from our text; Stress, Coping and Resilience (Bjorklund, 2008).  

In the movie Felix, an elderly man who has
lived isolated from society for 40 years, decides to throw himself a funeral party that he can attend while he is alive.  He enlists the services of a local funeral director and invites the town to come to the party if they have a story to tell about him.  He offers to raffle off his 300 acres of property for $5 dollars a ticket with the name to be drawn at the funeral.  There are a few side-stories included in the film and social relationships and personalities - both good and bad - emerge.  The main gist of the film is that Felix did something that he is ashamed of 40 years ago that sent him into isolation and now he wants to make it right - publicly.  He asks a preacher from his past to be there to say a few words about Felix, and to tell his story if Felix can't do it himself.  The audience discovers his story in pieces throughout the movie and then entirely at the funeral party.   

Felix is portrayed as being witty, curmudgeonly, regretful, and depressed at different times throughout the movie. 

In the funeral party scene of Get Low (2009), Felix announces to the town that he did something that he was ashamed of and couldn't fix.  He states that he held onto what he did so that he could be sick from it every day of his life.  He fell in love with a married lady named Marilee.  They had planned to meet and run away.  When she didn't show up, Felix got a funny feeling and went to her house.  Marilee's husband opened the door and Felix heard moaning coming from inside the house.  He pushed his way
into the house and found Marilee on the floor badly beaten in the upstairs bedroom.  Meanwhile, the husband lit the house on fire and flames quickly caught upstairs.  Felix recalls seeing Marilee in flames and trying to help her, but in the next moment he was "flying out the window".  He doesn't know how and speculates to the crowd that maybe her husband threw him out, or an explosion… he stops speaking apparently overwhelmed with grief.  He finally says, "I would like forgiveness and then I don't mind dying for real." The movie ends shortly thereafter with his real funeral at a small cemetery on his property.
The funeral directors, his preacher friend, and Marilee's sister are in attendance.  (Get Low, 2009)  

Learning Transfer Chapter 10

Individuals cope with stress in a variety of ways.  According to Bjorklund (2008), coping behaviors "refers to anything you might think, feel, and do to reduce the effects of stressful events" (p. 317).  In Felix's case, he showed signs of self-blame (isolates himself from social interactions; doesn't allow himself a family), venting (he posts a sign "No Damned Trespassing" and shoots at anyone who disobeys), and self-distraction (he builds a church and other furniture).  He also shows signs of prolonged posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - a long-lasting extreme reaction to acute stress (Bjorklund, 2008) - portrayed by night terrors and bouts of depression.  In the absence of social support, Felix withdraws completely and becomes isolated from society.  He does not grow through the stress.  Stress-related growth is the positive change that follows a stressful life event (Bjorklund, 2008).  Instead, Felix is arrested in time.  He hangs a photo of Marilee and talks to it.  This state of denial during the day wars with his PTSD at night when he dreams of the fire.  

Social support reduces the negative impact of stressful experiences in the elderly.  Bjorklund (2008) states, "the negative effect of stress on health and happiness is smaller for those who have adequate social support than for those who se social support is weak" (p. 321).  This buffering effect provides protection against the harm of high stress.  Some social networks experiences can be negative, too.  In times of strain (financial, medical, care-giving) social support can be perceived as criticism or intrusion.  Loss of independence can be a difficult and frustrating experience for the elderly and their care-givers.   

In general, stress decreases with age (Bjorklund, 2008), but this largely depends on the coping mechanisms and social systems in place as one ages.  In this fictitious case neither were present and therefore Felix's stress does not decrease with age.  Eventually his age, health, and stressors wear Felix down.  He reconciles with his past, forgives himself, and copes with the trauma. This final act of public confession relieves him of his past and the movie ends with a message of forgiveness and healing that has Felix resting in peace.  

References

Bjorklund, B.R. (2008/2004).  The Journey of Adulthood (7th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., Prentice hall.

Gundlach, D. & Zanuck, D. (Producers) & Schneider, A. (Director). (September, 2009). Get Low (Motion picture).  United States: Sony Pictures Classic.

 Gundlach, D. & Zanuck, D. (Producers) & Schneider, A. (Director). (September, 2009). Get Low. IMDb. Retrieved January 3, 2014, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194263/