A Beautiful Mind

The film “A Beautiful Mind” was a very inspiring and touching movie.  It centered around the life of John Nash, a mathematical genius, and provided a glimpse into his developing mental illness.  Nash was completely driven by his ambition to think up an original idea, that he didn’t attend any of his college classes at Princeton, regarding them as ruining creativity.  After much hardship and effort, Nash utilized his imaginative powers to create an original idea that catapulted him into an academic elite.  

Soon after graduating he held a position at MIT developing his ideas and teaching classes.  While there he was approached by a government agent and asked to break an extremely difficult code.  After successfully cracking the code he was offered to work as a spy for the government against the Russians.  It was eventually discovered that Nash imagined the whole government operation and it did not really exist.  His mind was so powerful that he successfully convinced himself of imaginary characters actually existing.  

After the delusions of working for the government grew out of control, he was admitted into a psychiatric ward and began to take medication for his illness.  Nash for the first time in his life, tried to reconcile the fact that a lot of important memories, people, and experiences did not actually exist.  This drove him to the border of insanity, but with the love and support of his wife Alicia, he was able to endure his deceptive imagination and maintain a functioning life.  

Summary of "How Wanderer Alice became Warrior Alice, and Why"

In her article, Aikens covers Lewis Carrol’s Alice and the more recent Tim Burton and Linda Woolverton’s version.  Throughout her writing she pinpoints specific situations in the famed story that involve feminist themes, and also gives examples of Alice’s influence on popular and  countercultures. Her adventurous spirit and insubordination to authority is a vast contrast to the normal Disney female role. Compared to past female characters, Alice is a breath of fresh air from the traditional domestic oriented female figures portrayed in books and film.  Aikens writes, “Marriage is never her concern, and certainly not a goal.”  She is full of thoughts and ideas and even shows some ambition when suddenly full size she remarks, “There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought!  And when I grow up I’ll write one.”  Unlike most popular women characters of famous stories who display a powerful curiosity, Alice is shone in a positive light.  

Its this untamed curiosity that Aikens says is “the most famous characteristic” of Alice. It may land her in some uncomfortable situations, but it also is the driving force that governs her actions. “Alice is an experimenter in the purest sense” writes Aikens as this innocent child encounters this foreign land with curiosity and “a fearless spirit” to guide her way.  “Her appeal transcends gender identification” and the reader can really identify with Alice as she wanders and explores the new territory of Wonderland.  Instead of the damsel in distress and women sidekick that inadvertently influence women, Alice “represents an alternative way to be female”;  Rather than identifying with the hopeless princess nervously awaiting for the Prince to save her, Alice makes it acceptable to “chase something interesting, and ask too many questions.”