In the highly underrated 1991 Meryl Streep film "Defending your Life", people after death are ushered into what is esentially a waiting room before the afterlife. It is called Judgment City. The main character Daniel, played by Albert Brooks, is hit by a bus and killed at a relatively young age. He finds out that his entire life has been videotaped (essentially) and during the day he must appear in a court like setting to defend himself and his actions while on Earth. The purpose of this is to show that he successfully overcame his fears during his life. He struggles with this as the life we are shown snippets of is quite pitiful.
He is not the only one there. As a matter of fact the city is full of people reviewing and defending their lives. One of these is Julia, played by Meryl Streep. As the movie continues we see that Julia has lived a full and brave life. She makes the jurors laugh and weep along with her and soon Daniel finds himself falling for her.
There is a bit of magic to Judgment City. For example at night, you can eat as much as you want and never gain a pound, and night is when Julia and Daniel find themselves falling in love.
As Julia's life unfolds we see that she lived with courage and honor and grace, and Albert is her polar opposite. It becomes a concern that they may not see the afterlife together. Because, if Albert cannot successfully defend his time on Earth, he will have to go back to live his life all over again and try to get it right.
If you have a free Friday night, I highly recommend renting this (available through Blockbuster and Netflix). I first saw this movie years ago when it was on tv one Saturday afternoon and think about it often. It had a huge impact on me.
I don't know anything about the afterlife. I have so many hopes for what it may be. But I think, if there is a Judgment City, I want the jurors to look at the story of my life and see that I lived a life of integrity and that I had the courage to stand up for my convictions and to do at least one thing that scared me everyday. At the end of this life, I want to look back and know that I left no stone unturned, no tear uncried and no laugh silent.
I guess the way I look at it is this, for all we know, we only get to do this life one time. This life, this year, this day, this minute. We only get one shot to make it right, to make it count, to make it joyful. Why spend our time doing anything but feeling thankful for these moments? It's all about attitude and perspective. And for me, well, I can't see wasting even a second of my time here. I've a lot of life to live!
"Fear is like a giant fog. It sits on your brain and blocks everything -- real feelings, true happiness, real joy. They can't get through that fog. But you lift it, and buddy, you're in for the ride of your life."
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