I couldn't help but burst into tears when I was in the ** movie "Dog God" earlier, I thought this was a movie like "A Dog's Mission", but it turned out to be a very deep movie about the mutual warmth and redemption of humans and dogs, which revealed the ugliness of human nature, the trauma of the original family and the human desire to be accepted and stay away from the reality of loneliness. At the same time, it also allows us to see the tenacity and potential of human will, and the choice of good and evil in human nature.
The film tells the flashback of the beginning of the male protagonist (Douglas) who "uses" the dog to steal and brutally kill people who threaten his life**, and has a meeting with a psychiatrist (Evelyn) in the detention center in order to define the beginning of his crime.
Douglas didn't want to open up to tell Evelyn's story when he first met her, until he learned that Evelyn was divorced and raising her infant son alone, and Douglas knew that maybe he could open up to her. As at the end of the film, Evelyn asks Glass, "What makes you open up to me?"What makes you want to be open to me?”
Douglas looked into her eyes and said, "We both h**e something in common."We have the same thing. ”
In his recollection, Douglas talked about his father's lack of ability to love, his frequent domestic violence against himself and his mother, and his frequent hunger to train his dog to become a fighting dog. If he is found to have fed the dog without permission, his father will be violent against him.
Evelyn asked him, "Didn't you think about asking for help back then?"”
Douglas said: "Complaining only invites demons. ”
Douglas had sought refuge from his mother, who had been unable to protect himself, and he stopped asking for help.
In psychology, Douglas's behavior of not looking out for help is exactly what Segliman proposed as learned helplessness. In 1967, the American psychologist Seligman proposed [learned helplessness] when studying animals, he used dogs to do a classic experiment, at first the dog was locked in a cage, as long as the buzzer sounded, it was given an uncomfortable electric shock, the dog was locked in the cage and could not escape the electric shock, after many experiments, the buzzer sounded, before giving the electric shock, the cage door was opened, at this time the dog not only did not run away but did not wait for the electric shock to appear first fell to the ground and began to moan and tremble, could have taken the initiative to escape but desperately waited for the pain to come.
For individuals who have developed learned helplessness in childhood, they will face life situations negatively, often lack the willpower to overcome difficult situations, and be quite dependent on the opinions and help of others.
Douglas grew up in an environment full of exposure, and the existence of his mother has always been one of the spiritual pillars that he continued to endure ** beatings, until one day Douglas was again "reported" by his brother that he hid food to feed the dog and was beaten and put in a dog cage, his mother finally chose to cowardly abandon Douglas and flee in order to protect herself and the 7-month-old fetus in her womb from being treated like Douglas.
mom’s weak, but weak people always find their way to survive, at least in the short time.Mothers are vulnerable, but weak people are always able to find their way to survive, at least in the short term. ”
In Douglas's view, he was able to understand his mother's flight and abandonment. In a way, the loss of his mother also gave him the courage to defend himself. During his days in the kennel, Douglas learned a lot through the magazines his mother hid there, which made him see the light, feel the vastness of the world, and perhaps become his strength to escape the violent environment for himself.
Douglas was paralyzed by a bullet from his father's misfire while trying to protect his newborn and her baby, resulting in nerve damage to his spinal spine. The father and brother were also terrified of the unexpected accident, and it was not until Douglas asked the dog to attract the police that the hellish life ended.
Douglas is still loving and benevolent, but he is disappointed in people. It wasn't until he met Marla at the Children's Home that a woman full of love and warmth gave Douglas light and warmth, making him feel the warmth of the world again. When Marla left the home to pursue her dreams, Douglas worked hard to complete her studies in order to be able to match her.
No matter how many difficulties Douglas faced in life, his love for Marla became his spiritual backbone. It wasn't until the two met that Marla was already a wife and mother. The moment he watched Marla's husband be handsome and dashing, Douglas's trauma and sense of abandonment were reactivated, and the pain and unbearable loneliness and anger at the injustice of fate made him stand up of his own volition. It was the first time he had stood up since he was paralyzed, a moment of strength transformed by unbearable pain.
The ensuing closure of the dog shelter pushes him into the abyss again, and the power of love in Douglas's heart begins to shake, and his vision of the world is changing.
The weak want to become stronger, and the innate desire to become a better version of themselves makes Douglas a "messenger of justice", supporting and caring for each other with the dogs, as a family member, as a partner, wandering back and forth between angels and demons for the "justice" in his heart.
When Douglas's crime was discovered by an insurance investigator, the investigator broke into his home, and when Douglas returned the stolen items, he was enraged by the moment the investigator pointed a gun at himself and his dog. Douglas said, "It's all about the money."It's all about money. ”
During Douglas's childhood, his father's cruelty to his dogs and his cruelty to himself was due to money, as he fed the dogs so that they could not win the race due to hunger, so that his father did not receive the prize money.
At that moment, the latent wound was reactivated, and Douglas became apathetic, eventually allowing the dogs to bite the insurance officer to death.
Human willpower is the most powerful force in the world.
Just as Douglas caught the force to walk in order to protect himself, his home and his family (dog) when he felt the danger.
no one likes to be bad, it’s god’s arrangement.No one wants evil, it is God's arrangement. ”
When Douglas said this to psychiatrist Evelyn, he was not justifying his crimes, nor was he loving and feeling sorry for his tragic childhood. Because Douglas knew his sin, he not only betrayed the dog's loyalty and goodness, but also turned his back on the Lord Jesus**.
Douglas had been blinded by the trauma and pain of his own soul, and he tremb......led until the moment he witnessed the dog tearing the wicked man to deathIt was as if at that moment, he finally saw his face at this moment.
And the moment that really made Douglass feel repentance for his sins in the depths of his soul was when he was listened to, accepted, and empathized with by Evelyn. By being listened to and accepted, Douglas has rediscovered himself through recollection.
The last clip of the film shows Douglas walking out of the detention center in a suit and standing in front of the church, looking up at the cross of the ** religion.
In the sunlight, Douglas merges with the shadow of the cross, presenting a mirror image of Jesus** crucified.
i’m standing here for you.I'm standing here for you. ”
Douglas stood several times, once out of anger from unbearable pain, twice out of self-preservation and protection of others, and the last one for repentance and self-redemption, a standing that voluntarily accepted punishment for turning his back on the Lord and turning his back on his own goodness.
Good and evil are relative qualities that human beings possess and are not inherently evaluative. It does not arise from nature, but is shaped by acquired circumstances, and if it has to be judged, it must be in a specific context, such as morality. What is good in the eyes of one person can become evil in the eyes of others, and evil in the eyes of others may be "good" in the position and viewpoint of the evil person. Good can become the original sin in the eyes of the evildoer, and it can even be the reason why the wicked do evil for it.
Things in the world are not binary, and there is still gray between black and white, just like the shadow and alternation of light and shadow. The evil of most normal people is often manifested in front of interests. But at some point, the evil that a person presents may have nothing to do with money, nothing to do with profit. Their wickedness does not seem to need a reason, because their wickedness stems from their personality.
Good and evil are a choice, and which part of a person's gaze falls depends on his inner being, presented from the inside out. The world is a mirror that goes out of its way to reveal what is in the depths of your soul.