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The Freedom to Be Authentic

Dead Poets Society is one of my favourite movies of all time. Released in 1989, this movie is a reminder to everyone to be their authentic selves and to allow others to be their authentic selves. Through the character of Neil Perry, it shows the turmoil of being restricted from doing something that means the world to you. Let me elaborate. And if you've not yet watched this movie, well- spoilers ahead.

Neil Perry is one of the students at an elite all-boys preparatory school. He is pressurized by his father who is always breathing down his neck to make him excel academically. But academics is not where his heart lies. It is in theatre. He has an immense love for acting and wishes to make a career out of it. But his father never understood this. So, without his father's knowledge and with the encouragement of his English teacher, John Keating, Neil auditions for a local production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. "For the first time in my whole life, I know what I want to do. And for the first time, I'm gonna do it", were his words as he dared to break his father's rules and make an attempt at his dreams. He gets through the audition but his father finds out about the play and restricts him from going to it the day before the performance. But still, Neil performs on the night of the play despite his father's warning. His father does not understand his heart and sees his actions as an act of defiance. His father angrily insists that he drop all theatrical aspirations and focus solely on his studies. Feeling trapped and desperate to assert his independence, Neil makes a tragic decision and ends up taking his own life. And oh, how my heart broke then. All Neil wanted was to do the one thing he loved to do. He had a talent for theatre and he proved it too and still, his father failed to understand and support him.

There are many Neils in this world- Neils who have something they excel at- something that they're over the top passionate about. However, they do not get the proper support system to achieve the heights they can. Some parents have a tendency to over-pressurize their children about academics. They make their child cut ties with every single one of their hobbies so that they can excel academically. They fail to understand where their children's hearts lie. They do not see how the spark in them fades away little by little by little each day.

It is one of the greatest follies on earth to restrict a person from being their authentic self. To not let them chase after their dreams and become the truest version of themselves should be criminal indeed. Physically stabbing a person leaves marks in blood. But killing someone's self-identity leaves no mark so it's not really seen as that much of a sin. But in truth, it draws out their very soul and renders them a living corpse.

Do not allow yourself to ever become a living corpse. Do not let your actions or words ever make someone else a living corpse either. 

Remember,

CARPE DIEM!



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