Tag: school

The Holdovers (2024) Oscar Nomination and Dementia

The Holdovers (2024) Oscar Nomination and Dementia
HOLDOVERS_FP_00406_R Dominic Sessa stars as Angus Tully and Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of FOCUS FEATURES / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Spoiler alert

The Holdovers deserves its Oscar nomination, it is a film about odd couples and barriers. It is also, to a much lesser degree, about Dementia. Written by David Hemingson who has taken that long leap from television. He has 23 gigs to his name, 22 of which are TV related. Oscar winner Alexander Payne (For the Descendants.) directs this one and it shows.

the plot

Thoroughly unpleasant teacher Paul Hunham rides roughshod over his students in this all male school near Boston. As played by Paul Giamatti, who is no stranger to the Oscars, Hunham is a mass of contradictions. The man also lives in the past, providing quotes from an ancient world gone by. He lives in and through his history books.

Christmas comes to the Barton Academy and a small handful of students must remain behind. They are referred to as “holdovers.” Hunham must look after them. Respite comes in the form of a helicopter. All the lads, barring Angus Tully, leave. Tully, who sees Hunham as the bane of his existence, is plunged into rebellious despair.

The Film

Following the day by day trials of all the players, including Mary the cook, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, is almost a guilty pleasure. We see the trio bonding and at the end of the film, after all is said and done, we have a lump in our throats.

The Dementia

As stated in the title, Dementia is a part of this film. Not a major part, but one that sticks out like a sore thumb. Tully tries to sneak out and visit his late father. Hunhan finds out and assists him. To his astonishment, the cab they hire pulls up to a Sanitarium. Tully’s father is not dead after all. He has Dementia.

The Dementia inclusion to the plot and film was a jolt. Many of us have had parents, loved ones and friends lose themselves and/or their humanity. It has overtaken cancer as the killer disease. Look back over the past few decades and compare those heartbreaking film/television scenes at a bedside.

Or a living room.

Or a city street.

We are not saying that this is the new killer of our loved ones, it is just more prevalent. And make no mistake Parkinson’s ,Alzheimer’s and Dementia kills you.

Slowly.

As I was recently watching television I noted a huge number of characters with Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Parkinson’s is also on the rise. Some unfortunate people suffer from both. This leads to a 1-2 punch that sears out their personality and their daily “reality.”

That combination has not made it into any television shows just yet. The old 1-2 might still be rare enough that filmmakers haven’t noticed it. Or worse, lived through having a family member who has suddenly become a stranger. To themselves.

While Dementia sufferers start losing parts of their lives at a pretty steady rate, there are some parts of their world that still work. Talk to a loved one on the phone and they know exactly who you are. Come visit them and they may just shoot you for a stranger.

Dementia is on the rise. So is Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. All three are terrifying. The idea of having both of either one at the same time scares me silly. My son once asked me if death frightened me. I replied in the negative. My response that followed was heartfelt. “I am terrified of waking up one day and not know who anyone is.”

In that case, the waking up scenario mentioned above is horrible. It is death, the death of everything you hold dear. The exchange between young Mr Tully and his father is heartbreaking on so many levels.

The Holdovers presents this new cancer very well. Watch it and bring your kleenex. It is a very small segment in the overall film, but, this one will break your heart.

*Side note: Talk to anyone and mention Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Dementia and they all have a family member who has one of these devastating diseases. Watch almost any number of television shows and someone will have one of these life altering diseases.

Jobs

English: Chris rock at the Madagascar 2 premie...
English: Chris rock at the Madagascar 2 premiere in Israel. עברית: כריס רוק בבכורה של מדגסקר 2 בישראל (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The comic Chris Rock does a brilliantly funny routine about jobs versus careers. Chris says, ” When you’ve got a job there’s too much time. When you have a career you don’t have enough time.” “People who have careers need to learn to shut the f**k up around people who have jobs. Don’t let your career make someone else sad!” I love his whole routine about the differences between the two.

It did make me think though. My whole life has been spent doing jobs. When I was younger  I had an idea of what I wanted to do for a career. But that, unfortunately, never panned out. And I have had jobs that, like Chris says, made me shout, “I HATE THIS JOB…I HATE IT!”

So what differentiates a job from a career? The definition I hear most folks use is this: “I can’t believe how lucky I am to get paid to do this! I’d do it (what-ever it is) for free!” This is always said by someone who has a career. You know who I mean; actors, musicians, writers, etc. I have never heard someone who has a job say this. By job I mean; street sweepers, meat packers, factory workers, et al.

But not everyone has the same idea of what defines a job or a career. I personally think the main difference between the two deals with passion. Most people work jobs that they loathe, just so they have the money to (besides taking care of their basic needs) indulge their passions. At the risk of sounding like a school ma-arm I will go ahead a call these passions hobbies.

Most people have hobbies. Whether they collect stamps, train-spot, or bird watch these folks all share a common feeling. A passion for their hobby. Most of us have to live our lives working jobs that enable us to indulge our passions. A select few have  been lucky enough to get paid to ‘work’ at their hobbies.

So while it is irritating to not have the privilege of getting paid for our passions, we can at least take comfort in knowing that a lot of folks share our fate. And like the old saying goes, “Misery loves company.”

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