Take Shelter: All Pains are Real

It’s been a long while that I like to write about Jeff Nichols’ Mud, but before that, I feel I must write about another great movie by Nichols, Take Shelter.

“Take Shelter” is a psychological thriller that centers on Curtis, a working-class man, who is haunted by apocalyptic visions. He becomes fixated on constructing a storm shelter due to his fears of these visions being warnings. As his obsession grows, it impacts his relationships and raises uncertainty about the boundary between mental illness and genuine apocalypse. Eventually Curtis acknowledges the visions as manifestations of his illness and leaves the idea of the shelter behind. The movie ends with Curtis and his family on a beach vacation, while the real apocalypse begins. But this time everyone can see apocalypse.

In an interview, Jeff Nichols said that “Take Shelter” is a movie about relationship with a hopeful ending, despite its seemingly tragic and dark conclusion. I think his hint was enough to decipher the movie. Nichols suggests that Curtis’ visions were real, emphasizing that mental issues are as genuine and real as anything else. Nichols narrates a relationship story in which one partner fails to understand and acknowledge the challenges of the other partner. Nichols said the movie has a hopeful ending because, in the end, Curtis’ nightmares are fully realised by his partner.

Serbian psychologist Dr. Aleks Dimitrijevic, in his lectures on trauma, states that the most significant factor in overcoming trauma is to have someone by your side. Someone who actually and imaginatively listens to your story without judgment and helps you navigate through the stormy sea. “Take Shelter” ends on a hopeful note because, at the end, Curtis’ partner actually and imaginatively realises the pain that Curtis is going through. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the family are away from home and the shelter when the apocalypse begins. Nichols implies there is no real hiding from traumas — they need to be faced. The family’s journey ahead is going to be a challenging one, but, at least, they are a team now.

On Worries – 1

Facebook recommended this image to me. It aligns with a few things I’m thinking about at the moment, and I’d like to talk about them.

So here’s my comment:

Sometimes, more often than not, we don’t know the true roots of our worries. The worries reside within us, and they use external objects as excuses for expression. Phobia is a good example. French psychoanalyst Lacan believed phobia is often the expression of another repression or trauma. For instance, someone had a trauma, and for any reason, the neglected issue was buried deep down, and now the person has a phobia of escalators, for example. Escalator phobia is a re-expression of another challenge or problem.

Similarly, if someone spends a lot of time worrying about things that don’t happen, perhaps the external factors were not the real reason behind the worrying. What is shared between all of them is the worry. Perhaps, something deep inside demands attention and uses the external things to be expressed.