"Max" and "Mary".

The movie "Max and Mary" brought tears to my eyes. The movie is a claymation centred on a young girl, named Mary. She lives in a small Australian town with her alcoholic mother, her shed-loving father and her pet rooster. One day, she decides to write to Max who lives in New York to find out if babies came from the bottom of beer glasses as they do in Australia (as according to Mary's father). Max is a lonely, middle aged man with Asperger's syndrome. From there, a unique relationship begins between them. 

Many things could be learnt from this movie. It takes us on a journey to explore friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, obesity, kleptomania, sexual differences, trust, religion, self-worth, love, imperfections and much much more. This movie stresses a lot on relationships among people and animals, and mostly evolves around the theme of friendship. As Dr Bernard Hazelhof said to Max, I quote:

"We'd have to accept ourself, our warts and all, and that we don't get to choose our warts. They are a part of us and we have to live with them. We can, however, choose our friends. A true friendship is seen through the heart, not through the eyes."

It also teaches us the importance of forgiveness. Again quoting Max J. Horowitz,

"The reason I forgive you is because you are not prefect. You are imperfect, and so am I"

 This movie has an excellent 'dark' humors and its wittiness kept me laughing throughout the movie. I LOVE it how at the end, the director quoted:

"God gave us relatives... thank God we can choose our friends."

Below are few of the very quotes in the movie that touches me:

1. "Humans were endlessly illogical. Why did they throw out food when there were children starving in India? Why did they clear the rainforests when they needed the oxygen? And why did they create bus timetables when they never ran on time?"  

2. "Do not worry about not smiling. My mouth hardly ever smiles, but it doesn't mean I'm not smiling inside my brain." 

3. "I find the world very confusing and chaotic.""People often confuse me but I try not to let them worry me." 

4. "Love was not like Rubik's Cube. It could not be solved." 

5. "People often think I'm tactless and rude. I cannot understand how being honest can be ..... improper."

6. "You are not a magic beauty cream you can smooth on the world to rid it of its wrinkles."

7. "Everyone's lives are like a very long sidewalk. Some are well paved, others have cracks, banana skins and cigarette butts." 

One of the most important lesson I have learnt from this movie is the importance of loving yourself first before you can love someone else. We all know this, but still, at times I guess, we forget the simple rule to love ourselves first. Note to myself, ALWAYS ALWAYS love myself first. So must you okay? You, the one reading this, get this phrase into that brain of yours and shut it in and may it be a reminder for you every single time. In fact, I think that before people can actually utter the "I love you" phrase, they must be able to say "I love me" first without feeling awkward or whatsoever. I LOVE ME I LOVE ME I LOOOVEEE ME!

Hence, the next time you are feeling down or about to give up on life, just remember that there will always be a "Max" or "Mary" who will understand you, supports you and always be there for you to share condensed milk and chocolate hamburgers to lift you up again. See, the world is not all dull as what some of us claims it to be. With friends like "Max" and "Mary", your days can never be dull or lonely. I have found my "Max" and "Mary", have you? ;) 

Cheers! :)