Loved the film, have one (probably dumb) question, though.
Why when Max was eating strawberries the whole way through the film was it the one at the end that he was allergic to?
Does it mean naything that was the first one he had after his "car crash"?
Thanks for any interpretations
Because of his new 'fearless'ness he had the ability to overcome his allergy to strawberries.
"Mind over matter."
It wasn't until his wife reminded him of his allergy that his doubts returned to him and he was affected. (:
when the body and mind experience significant trauma they're capable of changing so completely that even allergies may disappear until the victim has confronted the event and discharged the trauma/fear. Bridges spent the entire movie trying to re-experience the near-death. it was only when he directly confronted it that he became affected by his allergies and regained himself.
shareHe felt the guilt of survival, and was driven to save as many of the other's as possible; however, the burden was too much. He needed someone to save him, so he bit into the strawberry, asking for his wife to save him (as he had done to "save" Rosie's characters life from being ruined by guilt over the death of her child) and to release him from the burdens he was carrying.
shareYes, gkb2! I just posted some thoughts about the end of Fearless on another thread -- that it's the most romantic ending of any movie. He wants and needs someone to save him.
Loved the strawberry theme/scene!! It's loaded with potential meaning.
Clearly there's the trauma aspect and the endorphins/adrenaline that could explain his altered reaction to a previous poison. But what, really, is the difference between an unhealthy denial and a spiritual/physical breakthrough? Not sure! I've had a number of "mind over matter" experiences in relation to breaking physical limitations, some of which i think were based in trauma, and the differnce between what is healthy and what is not, is not clear to me. Max's character rides that wave of altered impervious consciousness with the drawback of becoming impervious, period. Can/should that altered state be used daily on a moment by moment basis? The movie doesn't seem to think that his traumatized (yet fearless, mind over matter) state was all negative, or else why would the waitress be named Faith? But, I still concluded taht Max must have decided he needed to remain more human in order to thrive in his human body while here on earth, which included feeling a greater degree of fear and needing to be rescued, himself.
"It wasn't until his wife reminded him of his allergy that his doubts returned to him and he was affected. (:"
That's not true at all. Almost immediately after the crash he sees his old high school friend and she reminds him that he was allergic to strawberries.
Too late to be known as John the First, he's sure to be known as John the Worst!
The whole film is about faith and the power of it. When ones faith falters, it has less power over our existence. If you notice, the moment that he gets the strawberries in the restaurant for the first time, the waitress is named Faith.
sharei know im fast but i just saw this movie, and i think that the point in strawbarries is that (besides overcoming allergie) is that in life, its the little daily things that one must enjoy, if one should live life at its fullest.
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You can never have had an alergic reaction to a food and then devolope one. Or you can have a fruit you've never had before and be fine on the first try, but the second and third go down with something.
So Max may have not had a strawberry for years, taken one and been okay, but by the second, the body began to react. It can be just a rash, but he went into full anaphylactic shock.
I don't think it's to do with spiritual matters.
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I pretty sure that even though Max had purchased strawberries several times, he did not eat any until the end of the film. He just looks at them, watches his high-school friend eat them and feeds them to Perez's character.
shareHe ate one at the diner with his old girlfriend.
shareI think the strawberry is very much like a lemon, but with a different colour, texture and taste.
What struck me most about the lemon theme running all the way through this film is the fact that many "lemons" ruin the broth.
add to this the near death and god theme, and you have lemeathgod, coincidence? i think not.
He choked on the strawberry I think.
He said he was allergic to them when he was little, that doesn't mean he was still allergic to them.