Mr Beeche's Magical Realism Class at SHCP – Spring 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
"The Green Mile" and "The Sixth Sense"
In “The Green Mile” and “The Sixth Sense”, there are two individuals who have unbelievable gifts. Would you want to be burden with such incredible gifts?
Many times, people ask me “If you were a superhero, what would you want your power to be?” I usually answer by saying either the ability to fly or the gift of healing. Whenever I see someone else suffering, it kills me. Even if I am not related or close to them, I feel pain inside. There is nothing I can do to cure a cancer patient or save a person from dying. I feel hopeless. I have always wanted to not only witness a miracle, but be the one to make one. I want the power to save lives. After watching these two movies, it is obvious that John and Cole have strong powers. While one can cure, the other can communicate with the dead, and help tell their stories. I find these two individuals remarkable for being able to deal with their gifts. Even though they assist others, they are not always returned that favor. John is an angel sent from God, but he is charged with the rape and murder of two girls. How can such a great man die for something he did not do? Although I have always dreamed of curing another person when they are hurt, I do not feel like I have the strength to do so. I would not know how to face the many evils in the world.
In “The Green Mile”, John has the incredible power to heal people or give evil while in “The Sixth Sense”, Cole is able to see and talk to dead people. It is not that I extremely do not want either of their powers, but I do not think that I am the individual capable of handling their powers. I would at least consider having the powers of John and Cole because of the fact that their abilities allow them to help certain people that others cannot. It would make me feel good knowing that I could help people live better lives with John’s powers or die peacefully with Cole’s abilities. Also, it would make life more interesting having supernatural abilities. However, after seeing the movies, it seemed that their gifts both gave the two characters pain. In “The Green Mile”, John was in immense pain from healing others, such as when one of the men got electrocuted and when he was healing John Coffey from his urinary infection and healing the woman. In “The Sixth Sense”, Cole had to see the condition of the dead people of when they died. Honestly, I think I am too scared to feel the pain John felt and to see dead people. It was already horrifying to see both characters in pain and see the conditions that the dead people were in. You can never really expect special abilities to have only a positive side. There are always negative consequences for everything and most people do not really seem to think that about super powers, especially the powers of characters such as Superman and Spider-man. Although the gifts of these two characters are incredible, I would not be able to handle the negative consequences for such powers. Therefore, I would rather just live a normal life without their powers. Selfishly, life would be much easier for me that way.
In the Green Mile John is able to cure people by using his powers. This was very helpful because he was able to cure Paul and the warden's wife. He brought these people happiness and he was able to show that even though he is a criminal that he can do great things. He wasn't selfish with his powers and he used his powers to help the greater good of others. In the Sixth Sense Cole has the ability to speak to the dead. He was able to see people that were dead even though they didn't know it. He helped the Doctor realize that he was dead. I also think that they helped each other grow as people. I would really want to have John's gift. His power is so amazing because he can help people with their physical problems. If I had that power I would help all the people that are in hospitals suffering from an illness. I wouldn't really want Cole's power because I don't think that I would want to talk or see the dead. I think that Cole had a lot of pain to deal with. He didn't get a normal childhood and his power gave him a lot of misery. Both John and Cole had lots of different things that made their lives easier.
I think that having powers such as these are easily debateable but hard to choose. For instance, the power from the Green Mile, being able to heal and cure anyone of anything is a power that a lot of people would love to have. However, it leads to a lot of responsibility and the public would be looking for you to heal everyone. The power from the Sixth Sense is useful as well, but while the demand for help will be less, it would be hard to manage time helping the ghosts and the living. How would you be able to choose the ones to help?
John and Cole were given extraordinary gifts from God. But were these powers too much to handle? I believe that it was hard for these two characters to handle these powers. For John, he had a difficult power because he was able to see what he didn’t want to see. It was hard for him to tell his story because no one would believe him. Also, with the gift of healing, many people would run to him for help like the mouse and Mr. Moore’s wife. John did extraordinary things but couldn’t receive anything back that was extraordinary; that would change his life forever for saving someone’s life. In Cole’s case, he had the ability to see dead people. Seeing dead people day and night, ghosts talking to you, and hurting you is a lot to handle especially if you’re a little boy. Cole then realized with the help of Dr. Crowe that what he needed to do was to communicate with them and help them out rather than trying to run away from them. I would not want to be burden with these gifts. Even if they are incredible, I don’t think I can handle the pressure of being able to speak to the dead or heal people. If my secret got out, there would be people standing outside my door for healing or plenty of ghosts following me around for help. Even if I had these powers, I wouldn’t let anyone know because they might think I’m crazy or hallucinating. I would only use these powers to help the ones I love. Even though that is selfish, these powers might danger my life and I would rather save a loved one with my life than a stranger’s life. Overall, I wouldn’t be able to handle the powers like John and Cole did.
That is a quote from "Spiderman" and i very much think this quote resembles my response, because with powers, or burdens, you are faced with its opposite. Its opposite is the problems you will face having these powers.
If I had powers like superman and it were exposed to the public, everyone would want me to do something about it, or on the other hand, ostracize me in the community because I am different. People would then be more dependent on me and I would take the responsibility of doing deeds no one else would do, like saving the world and fixing problems at steep angles.
In other words, I don't want to have any special gifts because then people would take me for granted and would abuse my power (assuming they accept me in their community).
In both movies, the main characters were granted gifts, not burdens. Each of them had one special quality that allowed them to differ from their peers. John had the ability to heal others, as well as the ability to live forever. But even if he lived to witness all of his loved ones die, he still had the chance to grant life. In doing this, he serves as a messenger of God, which is ultimately a great task that outweighs its obstacles. Similar to John, Cole is another messenger of God. His ability to see dead people and assist them with their unfulfilled lives is a gift. Evidently, each character holds a great responsibility. However, they were given these gifts by the act of God. God chose them knowing they would be able to pursue the task given to them. With this in mind, who wouldn't be so honored to have such a gift? For nonbelievers, my statement remains the same. If coincidentally you're granted a gift, why wouldn't you use that gift to the best of its ability?
In “The Green Mile” and in “The Sixth Sense”, there were two individuals who had unbelievable gifts. In “The Green Mile” it was John Coffey and in “The Sixth Sense”, it was Cole Sear. John Coffey had the ability to heal and Cole Sear had the ability to communicate with the dead. These gifts are extraordinary. I could only imagine what it would be like to have either of these gifts. I would have mixed feelings if I were to have a gift as John Coffey’s or Cole’s. Of course I would not be the same as everyone else. In that way, it can be a positive or negative quality. The gifts could be use to help others and be exposed to the others, or the gifts could be used selfishly for personal gain. I might be excluded and not accepted by other people or in the converse fashion, I could be included and taken advantage of by others. If I were to choose, I would more rather prefer to have John Coffey’s than Cole’s. Healing others is more appealing to me than talking and acting as the medium for the dead even through it would still be considered as helping. I do not think that I would be able to handle the scariness and uncertainty of the dead. In any case, I consider both of these gifts just the way they are, as gifts.
In “The Green Mile” and “The Sixth Sense”, there are two individuals who have unbelievable gifts. Would you want to be burden with such incredible gifts?
I wouldnt want to be burden with such an incredible gift because i think i would a lot of pressure to always think of others and not myself. In both the "Green Mile" and "Sixth sense" both had incredible gifts that didnt quite make them happy. It always didnt give them the chance to live life and enjoy it because they're always worrying. However, both had a choice to ignore they're gifts or deal with it. However, they chose not to ignore and deal with the consequences whatever that may be. Both John and Cole were good and innocent people with special talents. I dont think it's fair that John was a good man but his acts of goodness only ended up making him a prisoner and a dead man.
In addition, I would not like to be gifted with special powers because people might view it very differently than the way I would see it. For example, Cole's power in the Sixth Sense is to see and communicate with dead people. Most people saw Cole as a lonely, mentally disturbed child when he was really a gifted kid. Powers, although helpful, would also bring burden. Similarly, John was viewed as a murderer when he was really only trying to help with his healing powers. I just think that the benefits of having a power are overwhelmed by its disadvantages and burden.
Given the opportunity, i would not want the powers of either John Coffee from the Green Mile or Cole from the Sixth Sense. Even though Coffee was blessed with the power to heal others, there is a major burden to heal all those in need, which is an impossible task. Coffee also has the ability to see people's past. I believe that is an invasion of privacy and should only be left in distant memory. In the other case, i would not want to be Cole either because he has a strange ability in which others may deem psychotic. this would eventually lead to estrangement from family members.
To answer Rosaleen's question I would like to burden only one gift. I would choose John Coffee from the Green Mile because his gift was helping others. Through his power he was able to cure people from sicknesses and even bring a rat back to life. John coffee possessed an extraordinary gift that was almost god like. I would not burden myself with Cole's gift from the Sixth Sense. In the movie Cole has the power to see dead people. I would not like to see dead people at all where only i could see them. People would probably think I'm crazy for speaking to nothing. In conclusion the gift I would rather burden myself is John coffee's from the green Mile.
Although the gifts that both John Coffee and Cole have are beneficial, I would not want to possess those incredible gifts because of the burden they would uphold. Like Albert said, people would view it differently. Many people that possess special gifts are almost always criticized for it and many times, they don't have a say when it comes to the special powers they posses. I would not my gift to be any burden on others or myself as well. Even though I would love to help others (if I had either gift), it would be almost impossible to help everyone.
Many times, people ask me “If you were a superhero, what would you want your power to be?” I usually answer by saying either the ability to fly or the gift of healing. Whenever I see someone else suffering, it kills me. Even if I am not related or close to them, I feel pain inside. There is nothing I can do to cure a cancer patient or save a person from dying. I feel hopeless. I have always wanted to not only witness a miracle, but be the one to make one. I want the power to save lives.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching these two movies, it is obvious that John and Cole have strong powers. While one can cure, the other can communicate with the dead, and help tell their stories. I find these two individuals remarkable for being able to deal with their gifts. Even though they assist others, they are not always returned that favor. John is an angel sent from God, but he is charged with the rape and murder of two girls. How can such a great man die for something he did not do? Although I have always dreamed of curing another person when they are hurt, I do not feel like I have the strength to do so. I would not know how to face the many evils in the world.
In “The Green Mile”, John has the incredible power to heal people or give evil while in “The Sixth Sense”, Cole is able to see and talk to dead people. It is not that I extremely do not want either of their powers, but I do not think that I am the individual capable of handling their powers. I would at least consider having the powers of John and Cole because of the fact that their abilities allow them to help certain people that others cannot. It would make me feel good knowing that I could help people live better lives with John’s powers or die peacefully with Cole’s abilities. Also, it would make life more interesting having supernatural abilities. However, after seeing the movies, it seemed that their gifts both gave the two characters pain. In “The Green Mile”, John was in immense pain from healing others, such as when one of the men got electrocuted and when he was healing John Coffey from his urinary infection and healing the woman. In “The Sixth Sense”, Cole had to see the condition of the dead people of when they died. Honestly, I think I am too scared to feel the pain John felt and to see dead people. It was already horrifying to see both characters in pain and see the conditions that the dead people were in. You can never really expect special abilities to have only a positive side. There are always negative consequences for everything and most people do not really seem to think that about super powers, especially the powers of characters such as Superman and Spider-man. Although the gifts of these two characters are incredible, I would not be able to handle the negative consequences for such powers. Therefore, I would rather just live a normal life without their powers. Selfishly, life would be much easier for me that way.
ReplyDeleteIn the Green Mile John is able to cure people by using his powers. This was very helpful because he was able to cure Paul and the warden's wife. He brought these people happiness and he was able to show that even though he is a criminal that he can do great things. He wasn't selfish with his powers and he used his powers to help the greater good of others. In the Sixth Sense Cole has the ability to speak to the dead. He was able to see people that were dead even though they didn't know it. He helped the Doctor realize that he was dead. I also think that they helped each other grow as people. I would really want to have John's gift. His power is so amazing because he can help people with their physical problems. If I had that power I would help all the people that are in hospitals suffering from an illness. I wouldn't really want Cole's power because I don't think that I would want to talk or see the dead. I think that Cole had a lot of pain to deal with. He didn't get a normal childhood and his power gave him a lot of misery. Both John and Cole had lots of different things that made their lives easier.
ReplyDeleteI think that having powers such as these are easily debateable but hard to choose. For instance, the power from the Green Mile, being able to heal and cure anyone of anything is a power that a lot of people would love to have. However, it leads to a lot of responsibility and the public would be looking for you to heal everyone. The power from the Sixth Sense is useful as well, but while the demand for help will be less, it would be hard to manage time helping the ghosts and the living. How would you be able to choose the ones to help?
ReplyDeleteJohn and Cole were given extraordinary gifts from God. But were these powers too much to handle? I believe that it was hard for these two characters to handle these powers. For John, he had a difficult power because he was able to see what he didn’t want to see. It was hard for him to tell his story because no one would believe him. Also, with the gift of healing, many people would run to him for help like the mouse and Mr. Moore’s wife. John did extraordinary things but couldn’t receive anything back that was extraordinary; that would change his life forever for saving someone’s life. In Cole’s case, he had the ability to see dead people. Seeing dead people day and night, ghosts talking to you, and hurting you is a lot to handle especially if you’re a little boy. Cole then realized with the help of Dr. Crowe that what he needed to do was to communicate with them and help them out rather than trying to run away from them.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to be burden with these gifts. Even if they are incredible, I don’t think I can handle the pressure of being able to speak to the dead or heal people. If my secret got out, there would be people standing outside my door for healing or plenty of ghosts following me around for help. Even if I had these powers, I wouldn’t let anyone know because they might think I’m crazy or hallucinating. I would only use these powers to help the ones I love. Even though that is selfish, these powers might danger my life and I would rather save a loved one with my life than a stranger’s life. Overall, I wouldn’t be able to handle the powers like John and Cole did.
"With great power comes great responsibility"
ReplyDeleteThat is a quote from "Spiderman" and i very much think this quote resembles my response, because with powers, or burdens, you are faced with its opposite. Its opposite is the problems you will face having these powers.
If I had powers like superman and it were exposed to the public, everyone would want me to do something about it, or on the other hand, ostracize me in the community because I am different. People would then be more dependent on me and I would take the responsibility of doing deeds no one else would do, like saving the world and fixing problems at steep angles.
In other words, I don't want to have any special gifts because then people would take me for granted and would abuse my power (assuming they accept me in their community).
In both movies, the main characters were granted gifts, not burdens. Each of them had one special quality that allowed them to differ from their peers. John had the ability to heal others, as well as the ability to live forever. But even if he lived to witness all of his loved ones die, he still had the chance to grant life. In doing this, he serves as a messenger of God, which is ultimately a great task that outweighs its obstacles. Similar to John, Cole is another messenger of God. His ability to see dead people and assist them with their unfulfilled lives is a gift. Evidently, each character holds a great responsibility. However, they were given these gifts by the act of God. God chose them knowing they would be able to pursue the task given to them. With this in mind, who wouldn't be so honored to have such a gift? For nonbelievers, my statement remains the same. If coincidentally you're granted a gift, why wouldn't you use that gift to the best of its ability?
ReplyDeleteIn “The Green Mile” and in “The Sixth Sense”, there were two individuals who had unbelievable gifts. In “The Green Mile” it was John Coffey and in “The Sixth Sense”, it was Cole Sear. John Coffey had the ability to heal and Cole Sear had the ability to communicate with the dead. These gifts are extraordinary. I could only imagine what it would be like to have either of these gifts. I would have mixed feelings if I were to have a gift as John Coffey’s or Cole’s. Of course I would not be the same as everyone else. In that way, it can be a positive or negative quality. The gifts could be use to help others and be exposed to the others, or the gifts could be used selfishly for personal gain. I might be excluded and not accepted by other people or in the converse fashion, I could be included and taken advantage of by others. If I were to choose, I would more rather prefer to have John Coffey’s than Cole’s. Healing others is more appealing to me than talking and acting as the medium for the dead even through it would still be considered as helping. I do not think that I would be able to handle the scariness and uncertainty of the dead. In any case, I consider both of these gifts just the way they are, as gifts.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Green Mile” and “The Sixth Sense”, there are two individuals who have unbelievable gifts. Would you want to be burden with such incredible gifts?
ReplyDeleteI wouldnt want to be burden with such an incredible gift because i think i would a lot of pressure to always think of others and not myself. In both the "Green Mile" and "Sixth sense" both had incredible gifts that didnt quite make them happy. It always didnt give them the chance to live life and enjoy it because they're always worrying. However, both had a choice to ignore they're gifts or deal with it. However, they chose not to ignore and deal with the consequences whatever that may be. Both John and Cole were good and innocent people with special talents. I dont think it's fair that John was a good man but his acts of goodness only ended up making him a prisoner and a dead man.
I agree with what Hartley said.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I would not like to be gifted with special powers because people might view it very differently than the way I would see it. For example, Cole's power in the Sixth Sense is to see and communicate with dead people. Most people saw Cole as a lonely, mentally disturbed child when he was really a gifted kid. Powers, although helpful, would also bring burden. Similarly, John was viewed as a murderer when he was really only trying to help with his healing powers. I just think that the benefits of having a power are overwhelmed by its disadvantages and burden.
Given the opportunity, i would not want the powers of either John Coffee from the Green Mile or Cole from the Sixth Sense. Even though Coffee was blessed with the power to heal others, there is a major burden to heal all those in need, which is an impossible task. Coffee also has the ability to see people's past. I believe that is an invasion of privacy and should only be left in distant memory. In the other case, i would not want to be Cole either because he has a strange ability in which others may deem psychotic. this would eventually lead to estrangement from family members.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Rosaleen's question I would like to burden only one gift. I would choose John Coffee from the Green Mile because his gift was helping others. Through his power he was able to cure people from sicknesses and even bring a rat back to life. John coffee possessed an extraordinary gift that was almost god like. I would not burden myself with Cole's gift from the Sixth Sense. In the movie Cole has the power to see dead people. I would not like to see dead people at all where only i could see them. People would probably think I'm crazy for speaking to nothing. In conclusion the gift I would rather burden myself is John coffee's from the green Mile.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the gifts that both John Coffee and Cole have are beneficial, I would not want to possess those incredible gifts because of the burden they would uphold. Like Albert said, people would view it differently. Many people that possess special gifts are almost always criticized for it and many times, they don't have a say when it comes to the special powers they posses. I would not my gift to be any burden on others or myself as well. Even though I would love to help others (if I had either gift), it would be almost impossible to help everyone.
ReplyDelete