Today I stumbled across the 1945 classic “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. The film stars Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury and Peter Lawford. I am an avid fan of black and white horror films and once I knew what I was watching I couldn’t look away.
Whether you are a hard core “Autist” or just an average “QAnon” like me I would recommend you add this film to your must watch ASAP list. Read on to find out why.
I thought I knew the story of Dorian Gray. Modern Pedowood would have you believe the films plot is as simple as Dorian’s portrait ages instead of him and consequently he keeps it hidden away lest someone destroy it and end his immortality. You may have been under the same assumptions. However this only scratches the surface of the deeply meaningful themes of this outstanding film.
In the movie Dorian Gray has an artist commissioned to paint his portrait. In his studio the artist has an ancient Egyptian statue of the Egyptian cat god Bastet. He paints the statue into the picture with Dorian Gray. The artist also has a friend, Lord Henry Wotten, he introduces to Dorian. Lord Henry is a disciple of the teachings of occultist Aleister Crowley. Like the snake in the Garden of Eden, Lord Henry influences Dorian Gray that the greatest of virtues is youth and living selfishly and for one’s self. As his portrait is finished by the artist, Dorian Gray comments he would give his soul to always be as young as the artist has portrayed him. Later Dorian notices that the cat statue’s eyes in his portrait seem to glow and that his image bears the signs of aging while he himself remains youthful. He starts to understand what is going on, stores the painting away in a secret room and begins to exploit the situation to his advantage. As his time goes on and Dorian has fits of conscience Lord Henry always seems to be around to nudge him towards further evil. After descending further and further into debauchery and murder Dorian Gray returns to the secret room to view his portrait. It turns out that the portrait is not of his likeness but of his soul. It not only bears the signs of his aging but also the grotesque manifestations of his sins in the form of lesions, repulsive open sores, bizarre growths, deep gashes and eruptions of boils.
In exchange for his eternal youth, Dorian Gray is forced to examine the sins of his life born out as grotesque scars and disfigurement in the vivid visage of his portrait. He becomes, repulsed, terrified and repentant. However the evil overcomes him again and he kills a dear friend.
I won’t spoil the end but the messages are vitally important for all of us.
How much better people would we all be if we were forced to confront the actual image of our own souls with the horrible and visible image of ourselves and the damage done to that image by a lifetime of our sins. Not as the world sees us but an image as we truly know ourselves to be, showing the ruination to that image caused by our lifetime of sins. Only we know those sins. The rest of the world may never know but we know. Dorian Gray was confronted by this image and the profound sadness as he hoped for forgiveness but doubted it possible.
As we move to the justice phase for those responsible for heinous crimes about to be revealed by #The Storm, let us have a good long look into the image of our own souls. Be humble and contrite. Confront those sins. Ask God for forgiveness then forgive yourself. Be more concerned about your soul than revenge or retribution of the evil ones.
In the movie, at the very last second possible, there was forgiveness for Dorian Gray. There is forgiveness for all of us if we ask for it. In the coming weeks and months we will need each other. We will need a profound sense of understanding and forgiveness for everyone. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. There will be plenty of retribution and punishment delivered. Let us not revel in it. Let us accept what comes and pray the dark angel passes our door.
“I sent my soul through the invisible, some letter of that after-life to spell: and by-and-by my soul returned to me, and answered, I myself am Heaven and Hell.
**Omar Khayyam**
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20416825? ago
Pray for those who wrong you.
20417332? ago
I can't. I never understood this part.
20420968? ago
My mother abused me when I was a child. I was taken from her at around 2 because of neglect. Then around four years old my father and mother sobered up, got a rented house and regained custody. That's when the real abuse started. Thankfully, my mother and father parted again and my father took me on a long train ride and then abandoned me to my Grandparents once more. Fast forward 50 some years and a caregiver at a nursing home contacted me and told me my mother was in her care and had tasked her with finding me. I had for many years imagined the woman was dead and felt not much at all, or so I thought. At the news she was alive I was shocked and in emotional turmoil. Outrage that she would attempt to contact me, anger and other emotions I couldn't deal with. I wrote back about all the abuse that had been done to me. Over facebook I went back and forth with the caregiver as liaison for my mother and I. Oh, she would make it up to me I was told. That just enraged me more. Then, the caregiver told how my mother admitted everything and regretted how she treated me and had wanted to reach out to me for years. I began to soften. I just wanted to know why. Why? Why the torture, the unkind words, the constant terror I was put through during the time I was with her? Why? It was actually very simple. My mother grew up abused also, abused in many ways and felt a sense of inferiority. When she got me back from my grandparents she was paranoid of losing me again to them and felt like my affections were for my grandparents. In her own twisted way she was trying to force me to be loyal to her. I was told she now knew how wrong she was and how badly she behaved. She was sorry for the pain she caused me and just wanted me to know that. Emotionally, I couldn't give her the one thing she really wanted and that was a phone call. I just couldn't speak to her because it was too upsetting but I let her know I forgave her and wished her to have peace in her heart. Soon she took a turn for the worse and I stayed quiet for a couple weeks knowing what was coming. The caregiver told me that hardly a day went by but what my mother spoke of me. I had hand carved her a cane from an orange tree that really was quite nice looking. She was able to use it for a time before she became too ill and she proudly went around to the other people in the nursing home showing off the cane her son had made for her. She spoke how she always knew I was the smartest child she had and maybe she was a bit jealous of the intelligence I showed is a thought I have.
So, one day, being confined to bed and too weak to get up she asked the caregiver for an ice cream cone. She seemed to enjoy eating it and then when finished she told the caregiver, "Thank you for finding him for me." Smiled and then died, just like that. The doctor was called and sure enough, her heart had just stopped.
So, I'm glad I was able to forgive her, glad she died in peace and very glad to be released from years of suppressed anger. I was also able to pray for her and asked God to receive her with my recommendation. For the first time I do understand praying for someone who has wronged me.
20438278? ago
Thanks, what a great story.
20441736? ago
The caregiver sent me all her photos she had saved over the years. Some, I have no idea how she got unless my brother and sister passed them on. Apparently she had been through several more failed marriages and had several more children, one she gave up for adoption by a family she knew. What's odd is that about the time she was living rough in a desert community and skinning rattlesnakes for a living I was out of a job in my home town 500 miles away doing the exact same thing. Hunting snakes in the day to skin and sell the meat and hides. I kind of pitied her always getting married with losers and then divorcing when they mistreated her or abandoned her. What a rough life she led. I'm glad she found refuge in a nursing home and more glad she had a caring person to look after her in her last few months.
What's funny is that my brother flew out to visit her and show his "kindness" and true to form, he became abusive very quickly and upset her during his frequent calls. She finally told the caregiver to block all access to my brother. I laughed and told the caregiver I expected the fat bastard to be that way and I also have nothing to do with him. She then sent me a message where my mother said she always thought I was the best and brightest of her kids. LOL. I was trying to learn to read before I ever was in a class room.