ever hope to enter. After her mother’s death, a country doctor
attempts to bridge the gap and gradually ease her into the wider
world, but a psychology student and her boss have plans that
cannot wait. Nell’s extreme cultural isolation and her odd
speech threaten to land her in an institution. But despite those
seemingly insurmountable obstacles, her indomitable spirit
refuses to buckle.
Viewing Suggestion:Watch how Nell faces the challenges
of being different and yet still stays true to herself.
Exercise: Remember a situation in which you
actually liked being different or received positive
feedback for it? How would increased self-
acceptance serve you?- I am stuck and do not have the capacity to change my
situation.
Groundhog Day (1993)
The word “stuck” somehow does not even come close to this
man’s situation. Phil, a nasty, self-centered weather forecaster
who is bored with the same old assignment and same old co-
workers, wakes one day to find he is condemned to live the
same exactday over and over, seemingly forever. Upon first
discovering his plight, he allows his selfish nature to take
advantage of the situation, using his foreknowledge of what
others will do to get the upper hand. But in the end, life on a
perpetual “unchanging” merry-go-round shows him how to
convert himself into a much more pleasant fellow.
Viewing Suggestion:Watch for the transformation Phil
goes through after he moves beyond denial and resentment
over the conditions of his life. When he becomes authentic and
compassionate, his life circumstances change too.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
A New England banker, Andy Dufresne, is convicted of mur-
dering his wife and her lover and is sent to Shawshank State
78 E-Motion Picture Magic