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I loved the movie and everything about it and Denzel does it justice...he's like that. I identified because as a "double winner" I am a member of both programs. I've flown a company plane after a day of drinking and with all on board not wanting me to fly it. It was at night and I wasn't qualified for that type of plane. The shuttle pilot who brought the plane down to where the company was having a management seminar also flew it down after drinking and went to sleep as I flew it back home. That is crazy!! and then I didn't know or suspect it was crazy until I got into Al-Anon and then AA also. I flew that plane with Denzel and even was calling his moves out to my wife as she watched it with me. Why did I do that...One of the psychological profiles of alcoholics and addicts is that we are "risk takers"...Alcoholism is a disease of compulsion...risk taking...not relying upon rational thought processes before taking action...and then many alcoholics get away with it until they can no longer. He flew that plane upside down because it would not fly right side up. What's not to understand?
Because he did that it inforced his belief system that he "could therefore NOT BE an alcoholic". He was told that they attempted his flight thru the flight recorder on a flight simulator with 8 other pilots and all of them crashed and burned...what would you think then? Was he somehow less than or greater than. Alcoholics...like myself almost always use the "I got away with its" to prove there is nothing wrong with us including our drinking...always. Yes he had suspicions he had a problem however a problem doesn't mean alcoholism or alcoholic...it might mean one too many or one week too many and to many people alcoholic and alcoholism creates a picture of moral, social, emotional unacceptance...it means we are weak willed and intentionally hurtful there are many people like this and only some are alcoholic. I got away with alot and because I was married to a woman who got drunker faster and ressorted to using other chemicals and because she behaved with infidelity and I didn't do these things I wasn't alcoholic. I also had tons of other examples of why I wasn't and none of them had anything to do with not being alcoholic...infact many of them like Denzel were indications that I had a major problem with alcohol...please pardon the yellowish/greenish color of my skin folks...when I was young my Portugese, Catholic mother had an affair with an Oriental and that is why my skin is that color...or...maybe I've got Jaundice. Like Denzel I had my excuses for why I was what I was and how I drank and never seemed to get drunk and why I did what I did when I did it regardless of how others wished me to do things or thought about why and how I did what I did. That is alcoholism...a compulsion of the mind, alergy of the body which is incurable and can only be arrested by total abstinence and if not will result in insanity and/or death. I went insane and didn't die...there is a God.
I struggled with the Pilot as he tried to bolster his denial with alcohol and drugs and sex because I knew he was trying to prove he wasn't alcoholic...I related because that is also what I did. I was glad when his girl made the decision for sobriety, sanity and serenity and walked away...I was elated when she did that because I love those displays of courage and that is what I try to emulate as best I can. I prayed within myself for that pilot for his "break" when face with the truth under such dire relentless inner pressure he grabbed for freedom which was wrapped up in the truth. His acceptance was the best scene and his "walls down" explanation of what he was (not who,...what) was rigorous and powerful. He chose freedom and the consequences of that choice. I've seen that before and had my own experience of it. He would loose value and gain much more. I related on how he flew the plane and was asking and instructing and demanding and I related to his total surrender. Yes it is a movie...a fiction to some and then to some others a real live replay of parts of our lives walking into the door of change.
My alcoholic/addict wife use to fly with me at times I cannot remember one time she really enjoyed it. It was my risk. Thank God for God...(((hugs)))
-- Edited by Jerry F on Sunday 3rd of March 2013 11:55:53 PM
I watched the movie Flight last night... has anyone seen it yet? What are your thoughts? I felt that it helped me understand a little better what an alcoholic is going through and of course I cried at the end.
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Nothing is more fatiguing than the eternal hanging-on of an unfinished task.
I saw it. I knew it was going to have an effect on me as an alcoholic in recovery but also from having been in a relationship with an alcoholic. Yes. For the most part I thought it was accurate and thought provoking. The only thing I found unrealistic was that he had a moment in which he was hit with rigorous honesty before even stepping into AA.
Usually that does not occur. People will go to AA thinking "I have tried everything else. Maybe this will help me stop drinking." They usually do not make amends and "come" clean with a lifestyle of honesty before coming into the program. All they (we) admit typically is that we are alcoholics and need help. Later on, the damage we caused and the need to be honest and take your lumps is more apparent. It is when working all through the steps that I have seen people admit to crimes, go back to states where they have warrants out on them, voluntarily serve jail time...etc. People don't generally do that on day 1 of sobriety. it takes a while typically to grasp that concept.
I loved it. I watched it last weekend with my recovering AH. The end is so moving. It's like he lived his whole life in a living hell, but it was only till he actually went to jail were he felt free. And when his son came to visit him...tears rolling down my face. My husband was even crying at the end. It really did make you feel what alcoholics are dealing with...the constant struggle, the not wanting too, but the need too...scary, but yes GREAT movie.
We just were talking about this movie tonight at meeting. I have to say it brought up so many feelings from my past and present. My STBAX rented it tonight, I'm curious to hear what he thinks of it.
I cried so hard at the end as well. It was so amazing to watch him change while he slid hard down to his bottom. The idea of how the blackouts hit and how he couldn't remember how he did what he did to save all those people.
Wouldn't it be nice if life were as simple as a movie to be all wrapped up at the end of 90 min.
Hugs P :)
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Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.- Maya Angelo
My AD has been drinking since she was a teenager, the movie made me think that she doesn't know who she really is as an adult. She's 27 but she still parties and acts like a teenager.
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Nothing is more fatiguing than the eternal hanging-on of an unfinished task.
I loved this movie too, saw it w my AH and I have to admit it was actually very difficult to see at some points (I felt like I was watching a horror movie through my fingers).
I agree w pinkchip that the only questionable scene was Denzel's character suddenly achieving such clarity before AA
saw the movie, didn't like it! It had very little recovery & the opening scenes were apalling. I am glad I saw it on DVD so I could leave the room. I can see kind of why Denzel was nominated but really don't like how the movie was portrayed. It was worth seeing so I didn't have to wonder about it.
I haven't seen it.....I guess I might just take a look. I don't watch many movies. I do watch my shows on TV like Duck Dynasty, Ax Men, Deadliest Catch, Storage Wars and Pawn Stars. OH....what a life I have lol
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Lord, put your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth
Speak only when you feel that your words are better than your silence.
