I read in one of the Dalai Lama's speeches that the Buddha says that while compassion and love are the only way, if you should encounter a "madman", kill him. Kind of a no tolerance policy for those clearly capable of crimes against humanity-never put yourself foolishly at risk by offering compassion to someone who aims to harm you. This has already been stuck in my head lately as I just quit my job and feel as if, in a way, I killed a madman. Quitting my job is at once an ecstatic revelation of freedom and also so bizarrely foreign to me that it has thrown me into my head a lot lately. It's hard not to be constantly plotting what needs to be done in the future and nearly impossible to maintain a carefree attitude while doing so.
This afternoon, in an attempt to give myself a much deserved break from reality, I went to see Black Swan. I have to say I was pretty unimpressed through most of it, although the bloody effects were certainly cringe worthy but not something I look for in a movie Realized that most of the rave reviews were from men who were probably so, um, altered by the sex scenes that they're overall perception was prejudiced. I can't help but be annoyed when something that isn't very good is successful based on heavy sexual elements that don't even appeal to my gender. Anyway. I did enjoy the movie overall, I got what it was trying to express, I just thought it could have been done even better. But for some reason it's at the end when -oh wait, I don't want to ruin it for anyone- anyway, at the end Natalie Portman's character Nina kills the madman and just for a second I was fooled about who the madman actually was. I was sure I knew the whole time and then it all changed and then it changed back again and I really liked it for whatever reason. I think everyone's capable of that and maybe that's the other reason that people are finding it so appealing. It's darkly relatable.