Alright, let’s talk about this movie, “As Good As It Gets.” You know, the one with that grumpy old fella, Melvin. This here movie, it’s got a lot of head-scratchin’ stuff goin’ on, the kind that makes you wonder what’s wrong with some folks. So, let’s dive in, shall we? Don’t expect no fancy words, though, I’m just gonna tell it like it is.
What’s Wrong with Melvin?
First off, this Melvin fella, he’s got problems. Big problems. They call it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD for short. Sounds fancy, but it just means he’s got a bee in his bonnet about a whole lotta things. Like, he can’t be steppin’ on no cracks in the sidewalk, and Lord help you if you try to touch him. He’s always wearin’ gloves, wipin’ doorknobs like they’re covered in somethin’ nasty, and eatin’ at the same dang table at the same restaurant every single day. He even wants the same waitress, Carol, all the time. Can you imagine? Picky, picky, picky!
- He don’t like germs. Not one bit.
- He’s gotta do things a certain way, or he gets all riled up.
- He ain’t exactly Mr. Friendly, that’s for sure.
This OCD thing, it messes with his whole life. He can’t hardly work right, can’t make friends, nothin’. It’s like he’s stuck in his own little world, and ain’t nobody invited in. He’s scared of germs, scared of people, scared of things bein’ out of place. Poor fella, he’s a mess, I tell ya.
Is that OCD thing for real?
Now, some folks say the movie makes it seem like OCD is just bein’ a bit odd or havin’ a temper tantrum now and then. But let me tell you, it ain’t no joke. It’s a real thing, and it can make a person’s life miserable. Imagine not bein’ able to control your own thoughts, havin’ to do the same things over and over again, even though you know it don’t make no sense. It’s like your brain’s playin’ tricks on you, and you can’t make it stop.
More than just bein’ a grumpy old man
Melvin, he ain’t just got OCD, though. He’s also what you might call a “psychopath”, though that sounds a bit harsh. It just means he don’t care much about other people. He’s rude, he’s mean, and he don’t seem to have no feelings, not real ones anyway. He pushes people away, treats ’em like dirt, and don’t seem to care who he hurts. He’s like a lone wolf, but not the cool kind, the kind that bites if you get too close.
This part, it makes you wonder why he is the way he is. Maybe somethin’ happened to him when he was young, maybe he never learned how to love or be loved. Who knows? But it sure makes for a complicated fella.
Can this stuff be fixed?
Now, you might be wonderin’, can folks like Melvin get better? Well, they say there’s somethin’ called psychological therapy. It’s like talkin’ to someone who knows about these things, and they try to help you figure out your problems and learn how to deal with ’em. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t. And sometimes, they give you pills, too. But from what I hear, just talkin’ to someone can do a world of good.
For Melvin, maybe talkin’ to someone could help him understand why he’s so scared and angry all the time. Maybe it could help him learn how to be a little nicer, how to let people in, how to care about somethin’ other than himself. It wouldn’t be easy, that’s for sure. Changin’ old habits is hard, especially when you’ve been doin’ ’em for so long.
What other folks think of OCD
It’s a shame, really, how some folks look at people with problems like OCD. They think they’re just “sick” or “immature,” like they’re doin’ it on purpose or somethin’. But it ain’t like that. It’s a real illness, just like havin’ a bad heart or a broken leg. And these folks, they need help, not judgment.
So, what’s the bottom line?
So, this movie, “As Good As It Gets,” it shows us a fella with a lot of problems. He’s got OCD, he’s got this mean streak, and he don’t know how to connect with other people. But it also shows us that even folks like Melvin can change, can learn to love, can find a little bit of happiness. It ain’t easy, and it don’t always work out the way you want it to, but it’s always worth tryin’. And maybe, just maybe, we can all learn a little somethin’ from Melvin’s story. We can learn to be a little more patient, a little more understandin’, and a little less quick to judge. After all, we all got our own problems, ain’t we?
Who gets this stuff anyway?
Now, they also talk about “demographics” when it comes to these problems. That just means who gets ’em, you know? Young folks, old folks, men, women, rich, poor. It can happen to anybody, from any walk of life. And they also talk about the “origin” of the disorder, which is just fancy talk for what caused it in the first place. Sometimes it’s somethin’ that happened to you, sometimes it’s in your genes, and sometimes, nobody really knows.
The movie ain’t perfect, but it gets you thinkin’
The movie, like I said, it ain’t perfect. It might not get everything exactly right about OCD or bein’ a loner, but it sure does make you think. It makes you think about how we treat each other, how we deal with our own problems, and how we can find a little bit of good even in the messiest of situations. And that, I reckon, is a good thing.
