Harold and Maude

Harold and Maude is a cult film that came out in 1971. The story is about a 19-year-old boy named Harold who is very rich, but does not care about his mother's wealth and is very interested in death. He constantly fakes suicide around the house to scare his mother and instead of attending parties (7:2) he attends funerals of people he does not know, arriving there in his very own hurse. His mother sets him up on blind dates but scares every girl away by "commiting suicide." He also gets his hurse taken away and is replaced by a jaguar, but he again converts it into a hurse. After attending a few funerals he meets an old woman who teaches him about life and living everyday to the fullest. (11:8-9) Her name is Maude and she fits chapter 11:8 because she is bubbly and fun and care-free and lives her life to the fullest and wants to share her experiences and thoughts on life with Harold. She even steals a cop car!

The movie reminded me of many passages in Ecclesiastes. Harold focuses on death and could careless about being rich and wealthy. Maude goes to funerals to experience life and cherish every single day since she is old. Both subjects are spoken by Qohelet several times.

7:2-4

Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all everyone dies-

so the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

11:8

When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life.

11:9

Young people, it's important to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do, take it all in.