FREE ESSAY ON DOES WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, HAVE ANY TRUTH TO IT?

DOES WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, HAVE ANY TRUTH TO IT?

What Dreams May Come, is there a life after death?
The movie What Dreams May Come gives a rather positive view on the afterlife. I think
most of the ideas and views shown in the film are related to many of society's main
beliefs pertaining to death and the afterlife, but the views are left broad enough so
they can relate to any specific religion. Personally, I have no concrete belief
concerning the afterlife, or whether or not if there even is life after death, but I can
see why many people would agree with many of the films perspectives.
The movie is shown through Robin Williams's character, Chris Nielson who's first personal
encounter with death is when his two children, Marie and Ian both die in a car accident.
Four years later he dies himself after being hit by a car. After the accident, he sees
himself on the ground from an outside perspective. The next thing he knows, he is able to
see himself lying in a hospital bed, and at the same time there is a very gentle voice
talking to him asking him if he understands the things happening to him, but at this
point Chris is still very confused. In an instant, Chris is at his own funeral where he
begins to see his physical body appearing around him. According to the voice means he is
finally understanding that he has passed on. He then wanders his house, and is reluctant
to leave his distraught wife Annie. Next, a blurry figure appears, speaking with the same
gentle voice. The figure comforts him and tells him it is time to leave and basically
helps him grasp his death and travel to the next world. Afterwards, Chris is willing to
leave, and he suddenly finds himself running down a dark tunnel towards a light, and then
he appears in a colorful world resembling one of his wife's paintings of where their
dream house is supposed to be.
Here, he is reunited with his dog who had died earlier in the movie. Also, the blurry
figure becomes clear and turns out to be his old doctor friend Albert, who later turns
out to be Chris's son Ian just masking himself in the physical body of Albert. This form
is chosen by his son because the doctor was one of the only people Chris had ever
listened to while he was alive. Albert(Ian) basically helps him understand that he is
dead and that people have a soul or an identity that lives on after the physical body has
passed. He learns that there is a God, and he learns of this new realm, and how
everything within it is left to his power of imagination. He is told that where they are
is supposed to be Chris's version of heaven. He also learns that after death, you can
choose to be reborn. 
Chris later meets his daughter, who has taken the physical form of an Asian girl Chris
had found attractive when they were alive, and the daughter is living in a place that is
supposed to be her version of heaven.
The turning point in the movie is when Chris learns that his wife Annie, who he learns is
his soulmate, has committed suicide. He is told that in this world, all those that kill
themselves do not go where he is, but instead to more or less a hell. Albert(Ian) and
Chris get a tracker, who is the real Albert, to go and find Annie. It turns out that
Annie is living in her own self denial, she believes she is at fault for her two
children's deaths, and she is cursed for eternity to believe this and to never know or
understand that she herself is dead. Chris manages to save her by being willing to spend
an eternity with her in hell. In the end the whole family is reunited and then Chris and
Annie decide to be reincarnated. 
I do not know what happens when we die. In this, I mean I have had no experience such as
a near death experience, or have any physical proof that there is or not an afterlife. It
is possible for me to comprehend the possibility of an afterlife, and understand in some
aspects why many people both believe there is and is not an afterlife. Most of the movie
is probably accepted by many viewers because the majority of America's population
believes there is a God. I'm also sure that many of these people probably liked the ideas
in the movie because of the idea that heaven is what you make of it. I am also pretty
sure that many of the same people believe that the true afterlife is not as shown in the
movie. For me if there is any part of the movie I could possibly believe, it would have
to be the first half of the movie, but I question the rest of the film.
The beginning of What Dreams May Come is very believable because of the similarities many
documented near death experiences(NDE). Raymond Moody talks about these near death
experiences in his book Life After Life. According to Moody many of the NDE's follow a
similar pattern. After the person is clinically dead, they usually hear a loud sound,
often a ringing. They suddenly travel through a dark tunnel towards a light. Then they
see themselves from an outside view. Afterwards they are met by a deceased friend,
relative or being of light that helps to calm and guide them. The being will asked them
questions that make them reflect on their life. They then travel down a tunnel toward a
light and feel peace and love throughout the time this experience is occurring.
In the film after the car hits Chris, he is able to see himself lying on the ground, then
the hospital bed. Much like a part of Moody's description of NDE, "...he suddenly finds
himself outside of his own physical body, but still in the immediate physical
environment, and he sees his own body from a distance, as though he is a
spectator."(Moody p.21-22). Chris also hears Albert's voice when he is looking at himself
in the hospital bed asking him questions about if he understands what is happening. He
eventually sees Albert(Ian) who has come to guide him to the afterworld and help him
understand everything. This goes along with Moody's description also, "...others come to
meet and help him. He glimpses the spirits of relatives and friends who have already
died, and a loving warm spirit of a kind he has never encountered before- a being of
light-appears before him. This being asks him a question, nonverbally, to make him
evaluate his life..."( Moody p.22). In the film, there was no being of light, but
Albert(Ian), who was an old friend of Chris's, did come to help guide him and he did in
fact ask a few questions. Chris eventually travels up a dark tunnel towards a light,
which also occurs in many NDE's, but usually in the beginning opposed to the end of their
experience. The last believable idea to me in this movie is that people who commit
suicide go to hell (or at least some place worse than heaven). I believe this not only
because killing yourself is bad in nearly every religion, but also according to Moody, a
man who tried to commit suicide from a gunshot wound (after his wife died) stated, "I
didn't go where [my wife] was. I went to an awful place....I immediately saw the mistake
I had made....I thought, "I wish I hadn't done it."(Moody p.143). And in other NDE
suicides, people have said that when they were dead they felt like they were in the wrong
place, and that they were going to be there forever. 
Everything that occurs after William's character travels to heaven is questionable to me
as I am not sure what the author based them upon(unlike the beginning of the movie, which
could have at least been based on a NDE). The rest I am guessing the author based on his
interpretation of the bible or any religion with God, but I still see many questions the
movie left unanswered. One question I have is how are suicides decided? What if the
person pays someone else to kill them? In Annie's case, what if she went insane and then
killed herself, would she still go to hell? Also, after she is saved from hell by Chris,
is the author saying anyone can be saved from hell if they have a loved one willing to
sacrifice their souls, What is this based on?
One of my big questions was if heaven is based on your perception and imagination, then
what if your idea of heaven is being with a certain person? Then would that person be a
fake or a copy? Showing that there is an afterlife, shows that we have souls, so can
there be copies of souls? All this could mean, maybe you don't get everything you imagine
in heaven. Another big question I was thinking of while watching the movie was that since
the afterlife is based on personal experiences in the physical life, what happens if you
die as a baby or while still in the womb? What experiences would your afterlife be based
on if you have no idea of what heaven would be? Who would guide you there? This idea of
an afterlife being based on many of your significant life experiences is constantly
detectable throughout the entire film. Mainly after Chris goes to his version of heaven,
and also when he sees his daughter and she has her heaven based on a toy model she had in
her physical life. Another example is when she tells him her new physical appearance is
based on what he had said when they were both alive.
Overall, I thought this movie was pretty entertaining, especially with all the special
effects. I even think the ideas about the afterlife are pretty idealistic, but I see no
solid reason to believe any of it. Any part of this movie could be possible, because
I(like everyone else) do not know for sure what happens after we die. However, if there
is one part I can find believable, it is the first half. The part when Robin Williams
first dies up to when he travels through the tunnel, because it relates to so many
peoples' near death experiences. I still think this movie left too many questions, but I
would like the afterlife to be like what the movie portrayed, because I don't plan on
killing myself anytime soon, and it would be nice to know that I am going to still exist
after I die and be reunited with my family.