Monday, March 16, 2009

overload

the school that i went to for high school would always show the most graphic holocaust shorts . each year there was one worse than the year before. being the sensitive sort, it would give me nightmares. when i was fifteen i had a dream that when i opened the door to the school bathroom i was
walking into a gas chamber and in my dream i died. prior to having this dream i had always heard that if one dies in one's dream , one died. well folks, i can tell you that b"h this is not true. that was many years ago.
i dont know what the best policy is. showing very graphic holocaust footage is very important, but i dont think the purpose of showing this footage is for teenage girls to have nightly holocaust dreams. there must be some kind of balance. the school that i went to sure did not find it.
at this point in my life i try not watch too many holocaust films . if i do , i start having nightmares that the new york subway trains are cattle cars going to .... well, thats why i cant watch too much holocaust fare.

8 comments:

Cacti Don't Cry said...

Hey -- sometimes reader, newbie commenter! I know you said it was many years ago, and it's not even the point of the post, but dying in dreams supposedly indicates a "significant life change." (Wouldn't death be considered one of those?!)

Ookamikun said...

Watched Schindler's List. Can't watch it again, too traumatic.
I even avoid movies with a tragic ending.

katrina said...

My school did that, too. It was Jewish but not orthodox. _Escape from Sobibor_ in fourth grade! Way overkill. Reading novels about the Holocaust and hearing survivors speak is plenty for elementary school students.

frum single female said...

CDC- glad to have another reader and follower. i like your interpretation of dying in a dream better than the one i had always heard.
well, high school for me was an introspective process. i guess as for many teens(and adults) who are trying to find meaning in life and where they fit in. i dont know that it would be considered significant life change, but it was definitly full of change.
by saying high school was many yrs ago i mean that it was more years than i care to admit to, but not so long ago that i dont remember it.i trying to emphasize the fact that though i had that dream im b"h here to tell the tale.

frum single female said...

katrina- i agree .

frumcollegegirl said...

i watched the pianist, and i couldn't stop thinking about it for days.

it's normal to be haunted by holocause films, but there's no rule that says you have to watch them if they really disturb you

Ookamikun said...

Katrina, my wife's getting Escape from Sobibor from Netflix. Does it have a tragic ending?

frum single female said...

frum college girl- i saw the pianist and while i was watching it i felt physically ill. it was a combination of the subject matter and the fact that the movie theater that i saw it in was overheated.