Take a picture! It’d last longer!

Movie of the week: Rear Window (April 11-17/14)

I wasn’t prepared to see what I was about to see. It was a spring day just like this one when I visited the Blacks Harbour Health Centre in 1994. I tried to think of what I could do to serve this community as a new minister and this seemed like a good place to start. Checking in with one of the nurses on duty I asked if there was any patients who could use a visit and she suggested a teenage girl whose name I can’t recall. Let’s call her Jill. That nurse did try to prepare me as she told me that Jill had a certain condition or disease, but seeing as people in the medical field and the rest of us speak two different languages, her words didn’t register. I walked into a hospital room in the west side of this mini-hospital. There were two nurses already tending to this girl, one by her side and another at the foot of her bed. They were talking to her lovingly. But I have to say, at first, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.

Jill was on her stomach, but she was propped up on her hands. Imagine someone doing a push-up but their legs are not working. Her back was arched in what looked like a dangerous angle. Like it would be a lot of pain to be pushing your body into that position. Not only that, her neck was bent back as if she was trying desperately to touch her heels with the top of her head. She didn’t have the look of a normal teenage girl. She looked deformed. My mind was swirling with questions. Why is she bent into that position? Is she comfortable? Shouldn’t someone help her?…

The two nurses saw me, smiled, moved away from the bed and told me to come on over. I stood to Jill’s right and didn’t know what to do or say. I smiled at her and kept saying, “Hi. How are you?” She wasn’t answering so I felt weird, like I was incapable of helping this poor soul or even communicating with her. I asked her if she’d like me to read to her. Now I felt stupid. “She obviously can’t talk and she’s not even looking at you. Why did you just ask her that you dummy!” But then she looked over at me. Her eyes were bulging and I couldn’t for the life of me read what she could be possibly thinking or wanting to say to me. The nurses were grinning widely at each other and I would find out in a few minutes why.

I read a Psalm to her–probably 103, an old faithful I would pull out often when visiting the sick and shut-in–and then prayed with her. I put my hand on her arm and patted her slightly. Nervously. When I left I felt that feeling of helplessness. Thankfully the nurses were, as nurses always are, very gracious and graceful. They thanked me continuously for this small gesture and apparently it was a pretty big deal that Jill looked over at me. They told me my deep voice must have drawn her to me. I was shocked to hear this and glad that I had that opportunity.

Since that day I’ve had many other experiences like it. Sometimes I was at the forefront like then, and other times I was watching or at least present and trying not to stare. I shared this story with my wife this week and told her about how when our children were younger I’d get nervous with them in public places whenever someone who looked different from what might be considered normal was near. Kids are shameful gawkers. A man with long hair, a woman with no hair, a large tattoo–just little things like that and they’ll stare like a deer stuck in headlights. If someone has a missing an appendage, well you can just forget it. You can’t pry their eyes away with a crowbar.

And really, we all start out in life like that, staring when we see something different. Sometimes we keep this immaturity with us for too long. I remember being on a trip to the southern US with a church youth group. When passing through a street whose pedestrians were mostly African-American, several teens jumped across the bus aisle and stared out the window, one girl yelling, “Oh wow! I love black people!” Thankfully that was a learning time for all of us and we left a good chunk of that immaturity behind. Really, the more we see the more we get that out of our system.

Jimmy Stewart’s character in Rear Window could almost be seen as a peeping tom, but when watching the movie you don’t get that feeling. He is someone we can relate to. He is “people watching” and has similar thoughts and feelings we all do when we find ourselves in a situation like his: stuck in one place with nothing but time on our hands. Therefore we relate to him.

I believe the things we see and experience in life that involve our fellow human beings, things that are new and especially those that make us uncomfortable are good for our bodies, minds and souls. The more we get it out of our system the better we can be with each other and be there for each other.

Congratulations Rear Window. This is your week.

And the Oscar goes to…Best Actress: This is the hardest decision yet for best actress. Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint and Kim Novak are all present here and they were all great in their respective movies. And of course we can’t forget Miss Torso! I think I’m going to go with Kim Novak, however. Of all of these, her performance was the most memorable to me. Even Miss Torso is a distant second. Best Actor: Even though James Stewart is in two of these movies and even though he is the most represented actor in the IMDb top 250, I’m going to declare Cary Grant the best this week. I have always loved watching him in movies. At first he appeared to me to be a bit more robotic and a deep-voiced stereotypical 50’s leading man, but there was a reason he was in so many movies back then. He’s good. Really good. Best quote: These old movies are just rich in great quotes, It’s a shame we don’t say them more often, like we do with “I’ll be back” and “May the force be with you.” So here are a collection from all three: “I don’t like the way Teddy Roosevelt is looking at me.” (North by Northwest)“When two people love each other, they come together – WHAM – like two taxis on Broadway.” (Rear Window)“Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere.” (Vertigo) “So horribly sad. How is it I feel like laughing?” (North by Northwest)

It would be a terrible mistake to not acknowledge the one director who stands out amoung the rest, even to this day. Some of the greatest movie experiences I’ve ever had were because of his vision and creativity. If you’ve never watched any of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies or if you’ve only seen a few, you will do well for yourself to watch more. In my own book, the above three movies, Psycho,Dial M for Murder, and Rope are all must sees for anyone who enjoys a good movie. Stare at that screen and enjoy.