Harold and Maude

Last night, I watched the movie, Harold and Maude. The story begins with Harold, a twenty year old boy, pretending to hang himself. As the plot continues, Harold proceeds to pretend to slit his throat and pretends to drown. It is clear that Harold has a preoccupation with death and he later admits to a psychiatrist that he enjoys going to funerals. At one such funeral, Harold meets a 79 year old lady named Maude. She concludes that 80 is a good age to die at. Harold is attracted to Maude's vibrance and unique behavior. All with good intentions, she is a crazy driver and continually breaks rules and laws. Harold's mother trys to hook him up with a girl and takes away the hearse that he drive. Meanwhile, Harold is spending more and more time with Maude. Maude has been in a concentration camp in the Holocaust, and she teaches Harold how to live. Harold tells Maude about a time when he was in his boarding school chemistry room, mixed chemicals, and caused an explosion. He went home, but police came to his door and told his mother he was dead; she fainted. That's when Harold decided he liked being dead. All this while, Harold falls in love with Maude and becomes engaged to her; his mother and psychiatrist think he has something wrong with his brain. On Maude's 80th birthday, they get married. That's when Maude tells Harold that she's taken the tablets and she'll be gone by midnight. Harold is heartbroken. He rushes Maude to the hospital, but it is too late to save her. Afterwards, Harold crys, drives his hearse off a cliff, and goes away playing his banjo, dancing, and living. Maude finally taught Harold how to live instead of die.

There are a couple parts of the movie that I disagree with. Harold and Maude smoke opium; that is wrong. Harold and Maude sleep together before they are married. That is immoral. Lastly, Maude takes her own life. God never meant for man to take his own life. God has better plans for us. Besides, these beefs, I enjoyed Harold and Maude.

What I found interesting about Harold and Maude is the twisted sense of humor. Maude is always up to something. She is breaking the rules and getting away with hassleing the police. Harold is always trying to fake his own death, and his mother doesn't ever take him seriously. Also, there was one scene where Harold is introduced to a girl. He proceeds to show her how to use a harry carry knife. She sees that he is acting and then also proceeds to pretend to kill herself. Harold's mother walk in and says, "Harold, that was your third date!" It was also his last. He knew how to fake his death and ruin every date. However the third date seemed rather up his alley. I enjoyed the humor of the movie.