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Written by David Pierce

Click here to contact David Pierce and see his website: Friends Along the Road

Hollywood - in the tradition of classic mythopoeia - tends to use bereaved parents and spouses in pivotal roles. They are often examples of those who’ve been through life’s worst extremes, and play lunatics, killers, shamans, and heroes. Because they have been eaten raw by the universe and regurgitated into something new, unpredictable, and powerful, the severely bereaved are regarded in classic high literature with more than pity, with a mixture of fear and awe. This attitude is rendered clearly in “Lady in the Water,” a film by the director of “The Village” that left Judy and me in grateful astonishment, because it lay bare the path of our souls and rallied us to keep on going.

The protagonist is the stuttering caretaker/handyman of an apartment complex in Philadelphia, who discovers a sea-nymph in his quarters. She has been living underneath the swimming pool but has been sent to the surface by her people in order to impart inspiration into the life of one young man, an apartment resident who is a writer and whose book is destined to positively change the world. It turns out that the caretaker was once a doctor, but his wife and children were murdered, and ever since he has sought anonymity in his terrible grief. Yet he is chosen for a heroic role as a facilitator between the nymph and the person she must contact. To accomplish this goal, he follows the patterns of the great myth and draws upon the unique archetypal strengths of each of the residents, seemingly ordinary and disparate individuals who come together in a profound whole. With the help of everyone in the complex, the caretaker becomes The Healer, uniting the powers of The Interpreter, The Guardian, The Guild, and The Seven Sisters.

This is the story I have always dreamed of - of common people united in a great purpose. This movie has everything to say to those having lived for years with deep grief, who have risen, been crushed, risen again, foundered, and kept on going. It shows that even those from whom almost all has been taken may have an important purpose…something that can unite us all.

©Copyright 2007 David Pierce. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact David Pierce and see his website: Friends Along the Road