If you suddenly had an opportunity to clearly see your past, present and future, would you still live the way you do now?

Disney's latest animated film "A Christmas Carol" depicts such a story. The male protagonist in the story, Ebenezer Screech, is a super miser, "annoying, stingy, cold, and inhumane." But on Christmas Eve in 1983, he encountered four ghosts - the ghost of his deceased partner Jacob Mari, the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas future, thus seeing His past, present and future are a fate even more terrifying than that of Jacob Mari.

This strange experience caused Screech to change drastically overnight, from a miser to a kind, tolerant, tolerant and enthusiastic philanthropist.

This film is adapted from the work of the same name by the British novelist Charles Dickens. It is because of this masterpiece of Dickens that the popular phrase "Merry Christmas" and many Christmas greetings came into being. It was also because of his novel that the holiday rituals became popular.

Superior novelists all have the ability to weave stories that, if inferred from psychological theories, you will find to be completely tenable. Dickens, who wrote such masterpieces as "A Tale of Two Cities", "Oliver Twist" and "David Copperfield", is undoubtedly a superb novelist, and the story he outlines in "A Christmas Carol" is not only It is an illusory ghost story.

For example, it can be said that if there are very good psychotherapists who can help people like Screech clearly see his past, present and future, then he will inevitably change from a miser to a miser. Become a philanthropic person.

Everything is nonsense, only money is reliable

The image of Screech as a super miser is portrayed from the beginning of the film.

His partner Mari died, and Screech served as "sole executor, sole administrator, sole assignee, sole residuary legatee, sole Friend and sole mourner", conducted the funeral for Mari.

Both Mari and Screech are "good businessmen" and know how to save every coin. However, when the priest who was organizing the funeral reached out to Screech to ask for the related fees, the ghostly smile on his face frightened Screech. The hand was like a devil's hand, trying to strangle him around the neck. He reluctantly gave a coin, but the hand still didn't fall, so he had to give another coin.

The priest's hand finally fell, but Screech was mentally unbalanced. He suddenly reached out to Mari's body and neatly took back the two coins covering Mari's eyes. , and forced out a few words from his throat: "Two pennies, two pennies are also money!"

This tradition of placing a coin on each eye of the deceased originated from ancient times. Greece. There are statues of gods on ancient Greek coins. Covering the eyes of the deceased with such coins allows the gods to see the clear life of the deceased through the eyes of the deceased, thereby helping the deceased to rest in peace better.

There is also a more common saying that when the soul of the deceased crosses the River Styx, it must give two coins to the boatman for boat fare, otherwise it will become a lonely ghost with no home.

No matter what the legend is, Screech doesn't accept that. He would rather get the two coins back so that he can find balance in his heart.

Besides, is there anything more reliable than money?

Not only that, Screech also believes that all the claims about Christmas are also lies. Christmas? What is Christmas? Everyone can be blessed by God on Christmas and everyone should care for each other on this day? Why? ! This is a scam.

Screech only believes in money. Money is the only thing that can bring him happiness, satisfaction and security. To hell with everything else.

Perhaps this belief gave him a murderous aura. When he walked on the road, beggars did not dare to come to him for begging. People who sang carols would stop because of the cold. Children saw him. He is no longer naughty and just wants to run away. Even dogs will run away when they meet him.

It was like this when Mari died, and it was still like this at Christmas 7 years later.

No one dares to approach Screech. There was a clerk in his office named Bob Clechit, who was paid 15 shillings a week. Screech was cautious and worried about losing the job that could barely support his family, so he never left Screech.

Screech's nephew Fred is also an exception. No matter how indifferent Screech was, Fred wanted to bless and hug his uncle, wanting his fiery enthusiasm to melt the coldness emanating from his uncle. He broke into his uncle's office and shouted happily: "Uncle! God bless you!"

"Nonsense!" Screech retorted impatiently.

"Merry Christmas!" Fred continued to wish his uncle cheerfully.

"What happiness do you have? You are so poor." Screech mocked.

"Why are you so depressed? You are so rich." Fred asked, but his expression dimmed.

There is nothing to be happy about, Screech continued, he hates Christmas, "Christmas means being able to buy things without money, it means being a year older without having any more money. ”

“Let’s have dinner together on Christmas, uncle.” Fred insisted.

"Unless I die."

"But why? Why are you so cold? Uncle."

"Why did you get married?"

"Because I love her."

"Because, you, love, her?" Screech's eyes became sharper. Fred finally couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to run away, but before he could escape, , he still hugged his uncle and shouted "Merry Christmas!" again.

The fiery Fred didn't seem to melt even a little bit of his uncle's coldness. Next, when someone came to the office to collect donations for the poor, Screech said with great coldness: "Is there no prison... Are the labor relief houses still open... I think you know how to arrange them... (If the poor If you can't survive) then just die, which will just reduce the excess population."

Like Fred, the fundraiser also fled.

However, Screech's heart is not completely frozen. He still has a small crack that can reveal a little bit of humanity. Although he was extremely reluctant, he still endured the torture of "unfairness" and gave Clechit a "paid leave" for one day.

How Screech’s heart froze little by little

A legend says that God once felt compassion and wanted to save an evil ghost from hell, but instead He couldn't find any kind thoughts in his heart, so he had to give up.

Perhaps it was because Screech still had a little compassion for Clechit that God decided to send four strange spirits to Screech's home to enlighten him.

The first to arrive was the ghost of Mari. He dragged several long iron ropes, the end of which was a useless money box, and shouted to Screech, who was scared to death: "It's hard! I'm so miserable!"

Why is it so painful? "Mali" said with infinite regret: "While I was alive, my attention never left our accounting room or this small area. What I am facing now is an endless journey."

"Always I’m all walking and searching, no rest, no peace. I’m so confused! I can’t see through my life! It’s so hard for me to waste my life!”

Screech comforted, There are also bright spots in your life, "You have always been a good businessman."

Unexpectedly, this is what "Mali" feels sad about, and his jaw dropped in lament, "Business? Me Business is supposed to contribute to humanity, it is supposed to be charity, tolerance and kindness."

Finally, "Mali" said to his old friend, "You still have a chance, a glimmer of hope to escape my fate." , three souls will come to him.

Before "Mari" left, he dragged Screech to the window. Screech saw countless ghosts outside the window shouting remorsefully, and many of them were throwing money boxes at themselves. The head, and a ghost shouted to a homeless beggar on the street: "Sorry, I can't help you-"

Screech was so frightened that he hid in the bed. But when the bell rang on Christmas Day, the first supernatural spirit - the spirit of Christmas past arrived as expected, and he took Screech back to the past.

Obtaining a link with the past is a very important task in psychotherapy. Because we always close our hearts because the past was too painful. Originally, what we wanted to close was just the link with a few painful past events, but in the end, what we closed was the entire channel of the heart, thus losing the connection with other people and even everything. link.

For example, Screech's office and home have several locks, and he is always worried about locking the door and has to check it. But what is he really trying to lock away? A thief, or a feeling of fear, helplessness and hurt inside?

It is not easy to open these locks during treatment. It usually takes a while for the psychiatrist and the client to establish a deep trusting relationship. Only then will the client's heart locks fall off and some of the memories hidden in the heart will be released. emerge.

The alien does not need to do this, he can just take Screech back to his childhood. But as he stood in his hometown, Screech burst into tears. The Ghost of Christmas Past asked him: "What's on your face? Tears?"

"No!" Screech replied, "It's sand in your eyes."

< p> At this time, Screech was still clinging to a false strength that had helped him defend himself against the hopelessness caused by the pain of the past.

Indeed, his childhood was very unfortunate. One Christmas, all the children in the huge school went home to reunite, and there was only "one lonely child, staying here quietly." Old Screech lamented that "I was not happy at Christmas at that time." However, little Screech's heart was not completely frozen. He was still humming Christmas carols while sitting alone in the empty classroom. .

It was the same on another Christmas. Screech, who was already a teenager, was still sitting alone in an empty classroom, but the situation had changed. His sister Fanny ran to him and shouted excitedly : "Ebenezer, Ebenezer, I'm here to take you home."

It turns out that the reason Screech can't go home is because his alcoholic father doesn't like him, but before Christmas Dad became kind, and Fanny begged Dad to let his brother come home, and he agreed.

At this time, the sister can still break into the young Screech's heart that has not been completely frozen, but her son Fred cannot break into the old Screech's heart. This is not because the pain is accumulating day by day, but because he wants to escape these pains and gradually closes his heart, and money is one of the best tools to help us close our hearts.

Another Christmas, Screech was already a young man, working as an apprentice in a firm, and the master was a happy man. On Christmas Eve, they vacated the office and held a grand ball, and it was during this Christmas that Screech's love came. At that moment, his life seemed to be illuminated by the light of love.

But love is also the key to completely closing Stritch's heart. Many years later, on another Christmas, Stritch was already a capable adult, but his wife said to him, "I want to break off the engagement" because "something else has replaced my place in your heart."

"What?" Screech asked.

"Money." the wife replied.

Screech did not want a divorce, but he refused to express this directly. Instead, he asked: "Did I send a signal that I wanted to break off the engagement?"

"Not in words. "The wife replied.

"Where is that?"

"Your soul and lifestyle have changed, and my love for you is no longer important.

"The wife pressed him and asked him, if you were as rich as you are now and I was still a poor woman, would you love me?

Screech continued to ask: "Do you think I won't?

The wife continued: "You measure everything by money. I give you freedom and hope you find happiness in the lifestyle you choose." "

She turned and walked away.

When the heart is opened, you can see the pain of others.

In this conversation, they are all fragile . Screech must not believe that money is more important than her, but he does not have the courage to admit it.

Looking at this Christmas scene before his eyes, Screech felt miserable. At the point of extreme regret, he did not dare to open his heart. He roared and let the spirit of the past take him away. Finally, he covered the light of the spirit of the past with his hat and used all his strength to treat him in the same way. The pain of the past.

He won, the light of the spirit of the past was completely gone, and the pain was no longer visible. At this time, there was a special smile on his face, with pain.

But suddenly, the hat of the spirit of the past shot Screech into the void like a rocket, and finally disappeared completely. Screech began to fall without any support.

This. This scene also has a strong symbolic meaning. People who have too much pain hidden in their hearts are very afraid of losing control, and falling freely from the air is one of their biggest fears. I don’t know how many people have said this to me: “Losing control equals death. ”

Complete loss of control does not bring death, but often brings freedom. When Screech connects with his past, he can open his eyes and fully see his present. Life status, including being able to see the existence of other important people.

In psychotherapy, I have repeatedly found that once a person has gained a link with the pain of the past, a person can feel better about others.

The same is true for Screech. He fell from the void, and instead of dying, he came to the space of the Christmas present spirit, "from heaven." He looked at everything in his world from a "perspective", and he began to see the suffering of the poor. He asked the spirit of the present, "Why do you close a place where the poor can only have one decent meal a week?" ”

What touched Screech the most was his clerk, the Clechit family. They were very poor, but their family was full of warmth. They were satisfied with a roast duck for Christmas.

Moreover, before the meal, Cleitch actually proposed a toast for Screech. Although his wife was very reluctant, they still blessed him together

Screech's heart was completely frozen. Melted, he noticed that Little Timmy, Clechit's son, seemed to be seriously ill, so he asked the present spirit worriedly, if Little Timmy would die, could you help him?

Now the spirit replied that little Timmy was indeed in serious trouble, but why should he help him, "If you want to die, then die, so as to reduce the redundant population. "This is exactly what Screech said before. Now hearing such cold words again, Screech feels painful.

Now the spirit brings him to Fred's house again. The same thing, although Red teases his uncle with charades, but when he proposes a toast in his uncle's honor, everyone raises a toast to Screech.

Christmas is coming to an end, and now the spirit's life is coming to an end. . He showed Screech two human children, the boy named Ignorance and the girl named Greed. The two of them repeated his past words in Screech's ears over and over again: "Is there no prison?" Are there no labor camps? ”

The present spirit came and died laughing. Next, Screech’s most feared Christmas future spirit appeared. Screech said to the future spirit, He was scared, but he was still ready to see his future accompanied by the spirit of the future.

What kind of epitaph do you want to have in the future? It was Screech who died.

According to Buddhism, for souls who lack awareness, in the space between life and death, the wind of fate is like a violent whip, which frightens these souls so much that they run wildly and are reincarnated invisibly.

Dickens was supposed to be a Christian, but the movie focused on portraying this scene. Screech's soul is chased by a ghost carriage from hell. He ran for his life and accidentally reincarnated twice. He escaped from the soul-holding carriage once, but the second time he completed the reincarnation process and became the baby of a poor and terrible family. The male owner of that family is a terrible thug with no emotional control, and the female owner turns out to be Screech's servant Mrs. Dilbo.

It was scary enough to be reincarnated into such a family, but what was even scarier was that no one seemed to grieve the death of Screech. Mrs. Dilber didn't, nor did the couple who owed Screech a debt, but they were happy. The Clecht family was grieving, but they were grieving the loss of little Timmy.

"When a person is about to die, his words are also good", because at the moment of death, people will suddenly have the ability to see their own life. At that time, countless people will be extremely regretful, but It's too late to regret it. Screech not only saw his past life, but also saw a terrible and desolate future. His future father will be even more terrifying than his alcoholic father.

Therefore, when the spirit of the future took him to the cemetery and showed him the tombstone inscribed with "Ebenezer Screech", Screech was extremely frightened. Desperately asking: "What kind of person will have what kind of ending. If the person changes, the ending will also change... Tell me there is still a possibility of change, just change your life... I will not forget the past, present and... Lessons learned from the future. "

The spirit of the future didn't make any answer. He pushed Screech to hell, and Screech kept falling to hell...

But it was okay. , it all seemed like a dream. When Screech woke up, he found that he had indeed fallen, but he fell from the bed to the ground. At this time, it happened to be Christmas morning.

At this moment, he was extremely happy, he was as light as a swallow, and he jumped for joy. Although the four foreign spirits did not teach him what to do, he completely understood. He first sent a gift to the Clechit family - turkeys as big as two little Timmies.

After his heart was opened, he played like a "bad boy", and his aura was also opened. He could notice everyone's presence and greet them with joy. When he met the fundraiser, he promised to donate a lot of money to him and thanked him sincerely, because he knew that it seemed that he was helping others, but actually he was helping himself. He was grateful for having such an opportunity.

He sang Christmas carols with passers-by, and he attended Fred's dinner party. He didn't break his promise, he did it only after his own death.

The next day, he gave Clechit a latecomer a raise and changed his working style. He and Clechit had to drink while guarding the heater.

The murderous aura in him dissipated, and his heart changed from solid ice to a passionate flame. In the end, this fire warmed the entire city, and he became the best Christmas person in the city.

The person who knows how to celebrate Christmas best is Dickens himself. His work taught the British and even the whole world how to celebrate Christmas, so much so that he was called "the man who invented Christmas." When he died, many children asked their parents, how could Santa Claus die?

Interestingly, this movie received completely different reviews on the two websites Xunlei and Douban. On Xunlei, it received a high score of 9.7, while on Douban, it only received a score of 6.8. On Xunlei, many netizens said they were moved, while on Douban, many netizens said they felt the movie was like a horror film, and particularly disliked the didactic nature of the movie.

However, as a psychotherapist, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and did not find it preachy at all.

Because, what if all this could be true?

At least, I found in therapy that when a person can gradually connect with the past, his heart will change dramatically. When a person can learn to see himself from the perspective of others, he will Your heart will also undergo considerable changes.

As for seeing the future, American psychologist Irving Yalom often uses a technique in therapy - imagine your epitaph. If you died now, what would it look like on your tombstone? epitaph, is this epitaph what you want?

Many philosophers also say that death is the most serious philosophical issue. This also means the same thing. When you die, your heart will suddenly have the ability to see your life clearly. But at that time, you have no possibility of changing. If it is serious regret, what kind of torture will it be?

I really like the epitaph of Stendhal, the author of "The Red and the Black", "Lived, Loved, and Wrote". I also like the epitaph of another celebrity whose name has been forgotten: If this It’s life, well, please do it again.

What about you? What kind of life do you want?