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A Man Named Ove – By @BeaaaBergman

Bea Bergman

By Bea Bergman

 

A Man Named Ove

 

My first day home in Sweden my mum asked me if I wanted to go and see a film with her and my dad the Sunday after Christmas. The film was based on a book she read this year so I was already told about the storyline before even knowing of the film.
It was meant to be just another ‘funny’ Swedish film about a bitter old 59 year old man who terrorises his neighbours and lives in the past. Really not a film I’d go to see myself, but I was still interested enough to accept the offer of an evening at the local cinema.

The cinema itself was just as I remembered, small, crowded and with the mandatory cinema stench of butter drenched popcorns.
We found our seats and I found a face I recognised sitting not far away from us. Not that I would say hello, not that this person would remember me. That’s part of the charm of a being from a small city in Sweden, even if you used to know people, not acknowledging their existence is not rude but normal.

As previously mentioned I had prepared myself from a semi funny film with a few laughs, instead I was in for a cry fest. I was not prepared and I held my tears back through the entire film, it was incredibly depressing.
In case you ever plan to see this film for whatever reason the title is: A man named Ove – if that’s a title on your to watch list, you should stop reading now.

*space to give last alert for spoilers*

The reason this film was so depressing is that this man continuously tried to kill himself, but got interrupted every time. He had lost everyone he loved in horrible ways and was just so socially awkward it was painful. The last person he lost was his wife who’s tomb stone he paid a visit to everyday with roses saying how much he missed her. Now that’s some pretty heavy stuff to sit in your home city and watch when there’s a lot of ghosts around.

I was most definitely not prepared for the flashbacks this provoked, and I was feeling pretty down walking out of the cinema.
Which was just what I needed. I have left so much behind me in this city, that I should have dealt with ages ago. I know I might not have been ready before, but then again some things you’ll never be ready to deal with.

So I went home and I went online, and I’ve finally made the decision to do something about it. I’m going to go back in time and pick up where I left, because I do care about my life and my dream to change the world and I can’t do that unless I have fixed what is broken within myself.

This is why I think it’s worth going places you wouldn’t go, reading and watching things you normally wouldn’t and talk to people you normally would never speak to.
Nothing’s as far away from yourself as you imagine it to be. Everything unknown is there to be discovered, and when it is – it’s all yours and it’s all you. Your discovery will never be what someone else’s discovery was.

My mum always taught me knowledge is power, I believe the best knowledge found is the knowledge that you’d never thought you’d benefit from.
The things you consciously search for, you probably already know – so what’s the point of it? Search for the things you wouldn’t normally search for.

Now get out there for some sessions of self torture, it will take you places you need to visit.
Then you use that knowledge and you change the world, for yourself, someone else or everyone.

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