Defending Your Life

Albert Brooks is a very clever guy. He uses humour to get across some very important messages in his movies. This movie, from 1991, is a case in point: the hero, Daniel Miller, dies and goes to the afterlife (not exactly heaven, but a weigh station on the way). There he undergoes a ‘trial’ where he has to review and explain what happened in his life.

The use of an informal courtroom with a projection screen allows them (and us) to see events in Daniel’s life. The pathos evoked is so upsetting, I for one could totally empathize with his character. Here’s a taste of what it must be like:

The reason for the review was to see if lessons were learned during life or whether fear got in the way. If the ‘court’ found that the person under life review hadn’t achieved what was expected of him or her, they send that person back to earth for another chance.

The implication is that no forward progress (heaven?) can be made until this process is done.

Life Reviews

It has been said that when people die, their life flashes before their eyes. This has been called the First Review. Only later does the Second Review take place, and that may have been what Albert Brooks was referencing in his movie.

The Second Review allows the reviewer to see events in his or her life from another’s point-of-view. This can be useful in that we are so accustomed to our own PoV that we are blind to how our actions and words affect others.

We know these things because some people have ‘returned from the dead’ after a Near Death Experience (NDE).

Conclusion

As has been stated before, many times and in many ways, we are all in this together. Although the path seems solitary and sometimes lonely, we need to see that nothing is wasted, not even the smallest act. Make every moment count.

Picture Credit

Defending Your Life courtesy of google.com

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