- I am not capable of coping with the hard choices in my
life.
Cider House Rules (1999)
Homer is an orphan informally “adopted” by benevolent
orphanage director Dr. Larch who trains him to someday take
over his duties, which include the occasional illegal abortion.
Having learned everything his mentor wanted for him, Homer
decides to leave the orphanage to follow his own destiny. He
travels with acquaintances to an apple farm where he works
hard, falls in love with the wife of a soldier who is off fighting
the war, and despite his own beliefs against abortion, performs
one for a victim of incest and rape. Later, he returns to the
orphanage where, following the doctor’s death, Homer finally
decides to take on the role envisioned for him.
Viewing Suggestion:Watch how Homer has to make very
difficult moral choices about performing abortions early in his
life.
Exercise: Remember one situation in your life
when you were confronted with a difficult choice
and were able to face it as Homer did. If you were
able to cope then, it may be possible again, when
the need arises.- I will never be able to heal.
The Horse Whisperer (1998)
A young girl, Grace, and her beloved, prized horse are seri-
ously injured in a bad accident that leaves them both psychi-
cally scarred. Believing that the best hope for healing her
daughter is to heal the horse, the mother, Annie, travels to
Montana with Grace and her horse to seek the aid of master
trainer, Tom. His technique involves almost mystical efforts to
understand the horse and slowly gain its trust. Tom’s unortho-
dox ways not only heal horse and daughter, they also unearth
Annie’s long-repressed pains and passions, forcing her to
“We can, and probably
most of us unconsciously
already do, use film to
incubate fresh ideas to
current dilemmas.”
Marsha SinetarNegative Belief Index 81