FREE ESSAY ON WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, IS THERE A LIFE AFTER DEATH?

WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, IS THERE A LIFE AFTER DEATH?

What Dreams May Come, is there a life after death? The movie What Dreams May Come gives a
rather positive view on the afterlife. I think most of the ideas and views shown in the
film are related to many of society's main beliefs pertaining to death and the afterlife,
but the views are left broad enough so they can relate to any specific religion.
Personally, I have no concrete belief concerning the afterlife, or whether or not if
there even is life after death, but I can see why many people would agree with many of
the films perspectives. The movie is shown through Robin Williams's character, Chris
Nielson who's first personal encounter with death is when his two children, Marie and Ian
both die in a car accident. Four years later he dies himself after being hit by a car.
After the accident, he sees himself on the ground from an outside perspective. The next
thing he knows, he is able to see himself lying in a hospital bed, and at the same time
there is a very gentle voice talking to him asking him if he understands the things
happening to him, but at this point Chris is still very confused. In an instant, Chris is
at his own funeral where he begins to see his physical body appearing around him.
According to the voice means he is finally understanding that he has passed on. He then
wanders his house, and is reluctant to leave his distraught wife Annie. Next, a blurry
figure appears, speaking with the same gentle voice. The figure comforts him and tells
him it is time to leave and basically helps him grasp his death and travel to the next
world. Afterwards, Chris is willing to leave, and he suddenly finds himself running down
a dark tunnel towards a light, and then he appears in a colorful world resembling one of
his wife's paintings of where their dream house is supposed to be. Here, he is reunited
with his dog who had died earlier in the movie. Also, the blurry figure becomes clear and
turns out to be his old doctor friend Albert, who later turns out to be Chris's son Ian
just masking himself in the physical body of Albert. This form is chosen by his son
because the doctor was one of the only people Chris had ever listened to while he was
alive. Albert(Ian) basically helps him understand that he is dead and that people have a
soul or an identity that lives on after the physical body has passed. He learns that
there is a God, and he learns of this new realm, and how everything within it is left to
his power of imagination. He is told that where they are is supposed to be Chris's
version of heaven. He also learns that after death, you can choose to be reborn. Chris
later meets his daughter, who has taken the physical form of an Asian girl Chris had
found attractive when they were alive, and the daughter is living in a place that is
supposed to be her version of heaven. The turning point in the movie is when Chris learns
that his wife Annie, who he learns is his soulmate, has committed suicide. He is told
that in this world, all those that kill themselves do not go where he is, but instead to
more or less a hell. Albert(Ian) and Chris get a tracker, who is the real Albert, to go
and find Annie. It turns out that Annie is living in her own self denial, she believes
she is at fault for her two children's deaths, and she is cursed for eternity to believe
this and to never know or understand that she herself is dead. Chris manages to save her
by being willing to spend an eternity with her in hell. In the end the whole family is
reunited and then Chris and Annie decide to be reincarnated. I do not know what happens
when we die. In this, I mean I have had no experience such as a near death experience, or
have any physical proof that there is or not an afterlife. It is possible for me to
comprehend the possibility of an afterlife, and understand in some aspects why many
people both believe there is and is not an afterlife. Most of the movie is probably
accepted by many viewers because the majority of America's population believes there is a
God. I'm also sure that many of these people probably liked the ideas in the movie
because of the idea that heaven is what you make of it. I am also pretty sure that many
of the same people believe that the true afterlife is not as shown in the movie. For me
if there is any part of the movie I could possibly believe, it would have to be the first
half of the movie, but I question the rest of the film. The beginning of What Dreams May
Come is very believable because of the similarities many documented near death
experiences(NDE). Raymond Moody talks about these near death experiences in his book Life
After Life. According to Moody many of the NDE's follow a similar pattern. After the
person is clinically dead, they usually hear a loud sound, often a ringing. They suddenly
travel through a dark tunnel towards a light. Then they see themselves from an outside
view. Afterwards they are met by a deceased friend, relative or being of light that helps
to calm and guide them. The being will asked them questions that make them reflect on
their life. They then travel down a tunnel toward a light and feel peace and love
throughout the time this experience is occurring. In the film after the car hits Chris,
he is able to see himself lying on the ground, then the hospital bed. Much like a part of
Moody's description of NDE, "…he suddenly finds himself outside of his own physical
body, but still in the immediate physical environment, and he sees his own body from a
distance, as though he is a spectator."(Moody p.21-22). Chris also hears Albert's voice
when he is looking at himself in the hospital bed asking him questions about if he
understands what is happening. He eventually sees Albert(Ian) who has come to guide him
to the afterworld and help him understand everything. This goes along with Moody's
description also, "…others come to meet and help him. He glimpses the spirits of
relatives and friends who have already died, and a loving warm spirit of a kind he has
never encountered before- a being of light-appears before him. This being asks him a
question, nonverbally, to make him evaluate his life…"( Moody p.22). In the film,
there was no being of light, but Albert(Ian), who was an old friend of Chris's, did come
to help guide him and he did in fact ask a few questions. Chris eventually travels up a
dark tunnel towards a light, which also occurs in many NDE's, but usually in the
beginning opposed to the end of their experience. The last believable idea to me in this
movie is that people who commit suicide go to hell (or at least some place worse than
heaven). I believe this not only because killing yourself is bad in nearly every
religion, but also according to Moody, a man who tried to commit suicide from a gunshot
wound (after his wife died) stated, "I didn't go where [my wife] was. I went to an awful
place….I immediately saw the mistake I had made….I thought, "I wish I hadn't
done it."(Moody p.143). And in other NDE suicides, people have said that when they were
dead they felt like they were in the wrong place, and that they were going to be there
forever. Everything that occurs after William's character travels to heaven is
questionable to me as I am not sure what the author based them upon(unlike the beginning
of the movie, which could have at least been based on a NDE). The rest I am guessing the
author based on his interpretation of the bible or any religion with God, but I still see
many questions the movie left unanswered. One question I have is how are suicides
decided? What if the person pays someone else to kill them? In Annie's case, what if she
went insane and then killed herself, would she still go to hell? Also, after she is saved
from hell by Chris, is the author saying anyone can be saved from hell if they have a
loved one willing to sacrifice their souls, What is this based on? One of my big
questions was if heaven is based on your perception and imagination, then what if your
idea of heaven is being with a certain person? Then would that person be a fake or a
copy? Showing that there is an afterlife, shows that we have souls, so can there be
copies of souls? All this could mean, maybe you don't get everything you imagine in
heaven. Another big question I was thinking of while watching the movie was that since
the afterlife is based on personal experiences in the physical life, what happens if you
die as a baby or while still in the womb? What experiences would your afterlife be based
on if you have no idea of what heaven would be? Who would guide you there? This idea of
an afterlife being based on many of your significant life experiences is constantly
detectable throughout the entire film. Mainly after Chris goes to his version of heaven,
and also when he sees his daughter and she has her heaven based on a toy model she had in
her physical life. Another example is when she tells him her new physical appearance is
based on what he had said when they were both alive. Overall, I thought this movie was
pretty entertaining, especially with all the special effects. I even think the ideas
about the afterlife are pretty idealistic, but I see no solid reason to believe any of
it. Any part of this movie could be possible, because I(like everyone else) do not know
for sure what happens after we die. However, if there is one part I can find believable,
it is the first half. The part when Robin Williams first dies up to when he travels
through the tunnel, because it relates to so many peoples' near death experiences. I
still think this movie left too many questions, but I would like the afterlife to be like
what the movie portrayed, because I don't plan on killing myself anytime soon, and it
would be nice to know that I am going to still exist after I die and be reunited with my
family.