Archive through July 07, 2003
TV ClubHouse: Archives: Name a book/movie/TV show that totally changed your life:
Archive through July 07, 2003
Bastable | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 07:20 pm     Have you ever read a book or seen a movie that completely shook up your worldview and made you see life in a totally different way? Has a movie saved your life, or has a book made you a new person? Did the characters on a TV show lead you somewhere permamently new in your own life? Share it with everyone! Maybe it will be inspiring to other people, too. It can be as seemingly silly as a commercial ("When I was six, the Kool-Aid man made me realize that I could bust down anything holding me back--and I needn't ever be thirsty!") or as deep as you can imagine ("The Alchemist taught me that my destiny was not what I thought it was.") The same thing might touch another person's life, so share it here! |
Texannie | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 07:24 pm     Reading "A Tale of Two Cities" in 10th grade changed me from a person who read because she HAD to into someone who LOVED reading! I was so amazed to know I could travel to other places, times in history, be someone else just by reading a book! |
Babyruth | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 07:41 pm     Reading "The Grapes of Wrath" in 9th grade had a profound impact on me. It opened my eyes and heart to people in a way I had yet to see or experience them. It also got me addicted to Steinbeck and great American literature in general. |
Reiki | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 08:11 pm     I had the same experience Texannie from reading "The Hobbit" and then "The Lord of the Rings". I went from being a non-reader to reading anything I could get my hands on. A televized version of "Our Town" with Hal Holbrook and Robbie Benson made me look at my views of life and death in a different way, particularly the act of the play that takes place in the cemetery looking down over the town. |
Chai | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 09:24 pm     Shogun by James Clavell has made me see things from a different perspective. The conversations about karma between Mariko and Blackthorne have made me realize that instead of fighting karma or fate, or raging about it, it's better just to accept it sometimes. The Children by David Halberstam taught me so much about the Civil Rights struggle, and made me realize just how many unsung heroes there are, and what these people endured to gain the right to vote, to end segregation, and to so that everyone in our nation can enjoy the same rights. Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan changed the way I see myself and others in relation to the universe. |
Hippyt | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 10:25 pm     Tough one Bastable. I was raised in the south,To Kill A Mockingbird really,really validated my own ideas in comparison to what my parents were attempting to 'teach' me. |
Scorpiomoon | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 10:59 pm     The Christian Slater movie "Pump Up The Volume" changed my life. The movie was about a guy who felt socially isolated and started up a pirate radio station. The movie appealed to my passion for communicating. I became a journalist because of that movie. Also, the current Internet talk show I am now doing was inspired by PUTV. I usually hate watching movies or TV shows more than once. PUTV is the only movie I own a copy of and the only thing I have watched at least 30 times. |
Juju2bigdog | Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 11:09 pm     Trinity by Leon Uris. |
Bobbie_552001 | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 04:05 am     I read constantly so that is a tough guestion. In The Mean Time Finding Yourself and the Love You Want by Iyanla Vanzant was one that changed my life post divorce. It made me realize that in order to be happy in a relationship you need to love yourself first, something that I found very hard to do. Most recently though I had struggled a great deal with my faith and spirituality. Then a friend introduced me to the Left Behind series. The books in general did not change my religious beliefs, they were instilled in me at a very young age, but they certainly did make me take a very hard look at myself. |
Hermione69 | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 06:46 am     Handling Sin by Michael Malone had a profound impact on my attitude towards my own life. Contrary to what the title implies, this is not a religious book, but a southern novel. I've copied and pasted below a blurb from BN because so few people are familiar with the book: "Handling Sin is the story of Raleigh Hayes, a Southern life insurance salesman who has lived a safe life by never leaving anything to chance; that is, until the day his eccentric father escapes from the hospital, driving off in a yellow convertible and taking Raleigh’s sizable inheritance with him. Following his father’s mysterious instructions, Raleigh soon finds himself facing the unpredictable world as he sets off on a comical and joyful journey through the South, searching for his father and finding himself along the way." Handling Sin showed me how rich my life is, and taught me that true wealth is not measured by material possessions, but by the people with whom you share your life. It helped me understand that you should never take anyone or anything for granted and you should be grateful for what you have. It also had a theme of "Seize the Day" woven throughout and I've always love that philosophy. My best friend gave me a coffee mug that has "Carpe Diem" on it and when hot liquid is poured into the mug, it fades to read "Seize the Day." Way cool. Night by Elie Wiesel, a true story about the author's experience at concentration camps, really brought home the horrors of the Holocaust. I think this book should be required reading for all humanity. And finally, this will come as a surprise to no one who remotely knows me, but also the Harry Potter books have had a huge influence on my life. In the fall of 2000, I was battling severe depression when my sister convinced me to give them a whirl. Harry and friends reeled me right into their magical world and, on some level, gave me strength to keep going in mine. To this day, I am a huge Potterhead. |
Kaili | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 06:55 am     Funny you should mention the Alchemist... I just got done reading it. I know it changed someone's life because when we were in Ireland, we ended up talking to this guy who had just flown back from Scotland in search of Coelho's other books (because that one was so inspiring). I found it in a thrift store for a dollar, picked it up, read it the next night and thought it was a decent, quick read but I didn't have any great eye-opening because if it. Now, on the other hand, if there was one book that I thought every person should read, it would be Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. It's the beginning of a series, sort of, and they're all excellent but one is all you need to get the basic ideas of what he's trying to say. It makes you look at what humans are doing and how it's affecting the future by looking at the past through conversations between a man and a gorilla. Yeah- the gorilla thing sounds pretty stupid, but you end up not even thinking about that while you're reading it. So far I've gotten my parents, aunt, and two friends to read it. |
Gidget | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 07:39 am     Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. There is a whole series. Somewhat unorthodox, historically set romance. I'm not much of a romance reader but all of the women at work were reading it so I gave it a try. I finished the first book this weekend and am half way thru the second. The reason it has changed my life is because my husband and I separated in May just shy of 20 years together. While we have not travelled thru time there are certain aspects of the story that relate to us very much and I want him back. Not at any cost mind you, but I am willing to see if we can make it work. We are having dinner tonight. Wish me luck. And by the way, can someone please point me to instructions on editting posts. I cannot remember how and generally my typing is horrible. |
Texannie | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 08:35 am     Good luck tonite, Gidget!!! |
Curiouscat | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 09:02 am     A few movies that affected my worldview are Angela's Ashes, Amistad, Rabbit Proof Fence, and The Joy Luck Club. A novel on the Japanese-Canadian internment in WWII called Obasan by Joy Kogawa also affected my worldview. |
Tashakinz | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 09:21 am     Star Trek: TOS - Who Mourns for Adonais. I admit eight is a young age to question faith and its relationship to the universe, but I've always interpreted this episode as explaining why people need to believe whatever it is they believe. Adonais is Greek for "god". |
Ophiliasgrandma | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 09:30 am     I read 'A Fine Balance' about a year ago. I've never had a book stay with me so long. I'm not sure how it changed me other than making me think long and hard about what people perceive to be the natural order of things. |
Bastable | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:34 am     I will add A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It says so much about how although we may not realize the meaning of our lives now, everything happens for a reason and synchronicity is always in play. It's also a great testament to love, clear thinking, and having goals. And it also proves that everyone is lovable to someone. |
Tishala | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:51 am     I will cast a few votes. Moby-Dick; or the Whale is a whale of a book and, even though everyone talks about how great it is, I think everyone should have to read it. I love the way it talks in various discursive registers--religious, philosophical, moral, epistemological, metaphysical--and when I reached the last page and the orphaned Ishmael is resuced by the Rachel, it provided a catharsis to me that I have rarely felt in literature. Writing and Difference by Jacques Derrida changed the way I thought in a profound way. His deconstructionist philosopy undid--happily, I might add--much the structured thinking my education had drilled into me. The Eyes on the Prize series on PBS let me see many things I would have never seen and needed to see. So did Barbara Koppel's documentary Harlan County, USA. |
Heyltslori | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:12 am     There are so many books and movies that have had an affect on my life for one reason or another! However, there are a few that have really have made a profound impact. A couple of years ago my best friend gave me the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. This is an amazing book and definitely changed my way of thinking about many things in life. As a teenager I read the book Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. This book taught me a lot, and like hippy said about To Kill A Mockingbird, it taught me things that my parent's weren't teaching me. One very important thing that I learned from the book Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom is that if you love somebody, tell them...even if you have to go first. As far as movies, a few that I will never forget are Live is Beautiful, Schindler's List, American History X and Sophie's Choice I also must mention one of my favorite contemporary authors, Elizabeth Berg. While her work may not be awe inspiring, she really has a handle on women's feelings. She writes books that I can associate with and she never fails to make me laugh.  |
Babyruth | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:39 am     Kaili! I liked Ishmael very much, and encouraged some friends to read it, too. |
Max | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:42 am     In elementary school, The Phantom Tollbooth started me really wanting to travel and got my imagination going. Johnny Tremaine taught me to look at history in a way that the teachers never did - I saw it as a living thing with real people, not just facts and figures. As a young teenager, I Know why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and Black Like Me by John Howard Girffin gave me a perspective on life in America that I never would have considered otherwise. Maya Angelou has been a personal idol of mine ever since I read that book. In college, Carlos Castenada's books were an eye-opener to different types of spiritual experiences and perspectives, as was Gibran's The Prophet. And Tolstoy's Anna Karenina opened me to the joy of huge, sweeping novels. I read it first in high school and have read it several times since. The newest translation is sitting on my bookshelf waiting for an opportunity to be read. Despite its hefty size, I just might take it with me to Australia in August. Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk were turning point books for me in high school. I was amazed at some of the things I read, particularly regarding the Battle of Leyte Gulf where we basically got our butts kicked by the Japanese Navy. I remember going to talk to my dad about that part to ask if it was fact or fiction since I had never heard of Leyte Gulf in school. It was the first and only time he ever talked of his war experiences. He was on a troop transport ship in Leyte Gulf when that battle occured. Most of the ships around him were sunk and he never understood how his ship managed to survive. The book and conversation with dad really opened my eyes to the fact that the history books really ARE written by and for the victors. If you try and find much information about that battle today, it's almost always spun to make it sound like it was a U.S. Naval victory. While we did end up prevailing overall, we got our butts handed to us quite neatly first, something most accounts don't acknolwedge. Ophiliasgranda, I loved A Fine Balance! Have you read Mistry's latest work, Family Matters? I'm part way through that one now and it's just as good. I love his writing.  |
Kaili | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:42 am     Babyruth- have you read My Ishmael or The Story of B? I loved My Ishmael- by the time I got to the Story of B I was beginning to think- "okay, I get the point!!!! Give me something new!" The only other book by him I have read is the 50 Year Vision Quest one- forgot the exact title cause it was years ago. I looked on Amazon this morning when I saw this thread and saw he has others out now that I hadn't seen before. |
Hermione69 | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:45 am     Definitely The Prophet. Good one, Lori. It sounds kind of cheesy to type this out, but that book never fails to calm me when my soul is troubled. Also agree with Bastable about A Prayer for Owen Meany. That book helped me understand that you should never look down on someone. We all have a role to play in this world. That story gave me goosebumps. I'm talking major gooseflesh. I remember that vividly. As far as life-transforming movies... it has become almost a joke to claim this (I remember when Friends made fun of it), but Dead Poet's Society totally got me going on the "Seize the Day" philosophy I mentioned earlier. The scene where the boy is describing Walt Whitman's portrait and he is so embarrassed and Robin Williams covers the boy's eyes and urges him on helped me see that it is okay to embarrass yourself, because sometimes the process of it helps you see how deep you can reach inside yourself. And finally, I had a life-altering moment when Heather Whitestone was crowned Miss America. If you remember, she is deaf. She wowed us all in the talent competition by dancing to the vibrations of the music. I also have a significant hearing loss, am legally deaf in fact, and seeing her dance and then win the whole pageant made me realize that my hearing loss does not need to hold me back from anything. If it does, it is an excuse. Good thread, Bastable! |
Babyruth | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:52 am     Kaili--nope, just Ishmael. I picked up the Story of B and thumbed through it, but I felt I didn't want to read more of it, although right now I don't remember why. Hey, it's been a few years...give me a break! Lori, since I find myself nodding in agreement to your post, how about giving me a recommendation for a first book of Berg's for me to read? I have a feeling if you like her stuff, I probably will, too! |
Heyltslori | Monday, July 07, 2003 - 12:03 pm     Babyruth, my favorite is called Until the Real Thing Comes Along, but probably one of her most popular books (since it made the Oprah list) is called Open House. I have read everything she's ever written and I've loved them all. She's just a really neat person who has even taken the time to exchange letters with me a couple of times. Enjoy!  |
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