Late Night Saturday Night

My girlfriend goes to sleep before me, for I somehow operate on about 2-4 hours less sleep than her every night. Saturday nights are fun though because my son has been deciding to watch movies with me as he likes to stay up late on Saturday nights.

Last night, I was able to convince him to watch my favorite movie, “Silver Linings Playbook” I related to Bradley Cooper’s character, Pat in the movie from the first time I watched it. Pat was presented as bipolar and was getting out of a rehabilitative setting to live with his parents. Pat’s dad was skeptical of him a lot and questioned him about his medication compliance, and all around did not understand Pat’s condition. Pat’s mother was very kind and sweet and supportive of Pat. These similarities to my own life are only a few of the many ways I related to the character Pat.

My son became very interested in the film and was on the edge of his seat wanting to know if this or that was going to happen. It was a special time of bonding as we both enjoyed a film together that was very relatable to me, that I was not sure he would even have an interest in.

What was really interesting to me, is the ways in which my son was able to relate Bradley Cooper’s character to me, he seemed to have incredible insight for a 12-year-old. I liked that he was able to relate similarities between Pat and myself, as the film attempted to explain mental health issues, so my son was able to learn from a source other than me about my condition, as he was relating my behaviors to that of the characters.

In the movie, Pat is obsessed with positivity and just wants everyone to stop being negative, but often gets overtaken by the negativity around him and gets upset. MY 12-year-old son was able to identify that in this character and relate it to me, which to me was incredible, as it is what I so often try to explain in my writings.