|
« Shorts 7 "Life Lessons" Part One |
Main
| Shelter Me - the Movie »
This Dust of Words - the Movie
After the Shorts I ran right back into line to get into the next movie, This Dust of Words. I had sadly missed this last weekend and was really glad I had a chance to see it today. I was not disappointed. It is the story of Elizabeth Wiltsee, a Stanford graduate and English major with an IQ of 200. As a young girl she taught herself to read ancient Greek and other languages, and even translated Homer herself to make sure she had an accurate translation. She was a prolific writer but never got published. And one day, she just went away. It appears that she must have suffered from some sort of mental illness, but I don't believe it was explained (or maybe not known) exactly what it was. At any rate, she separated herself from her family and friends, became paranoid, and eventually showed up on the steps of a church in Watsonville, homeless. The documentary is told through Elisabeth's writings and interviews with her family and the parishioners who knew her. Many of them were very honest about their fear of the angry homeless woman. And many of them became her friends, at least to the point that she would let them. It appears that she was homeless because she wanted to be outside, she did not want to be inside any buildings. She often was mesmerized by animals and birds she saw, and many people had seen her talking to the Watsonville welcome sign as if she were speaking to God. Eventually she leaves Watsonville after saying that she is "going home" and six months later her body is found floating in a lake many miles away. From what I understand, it is believed that she just stopped eating and walked herself to death. She also had $7000 in a bank account. I was fascinated by this story. I felt in a way that I understood her a little, at least before she became really far gone. But I was not sad when the film explained that they had found her body. I felt like Elizabeth really had finally gone home, to a home where she had wanted to be. I felt like she was finally free like the birds she used to watch, and that her mind, which used to race all the time, was finally free to rest. I give it an A+, and you should see it if it ever shows up on TV or a festival near you. You can read more about Elizabeth Wiltsee at these links: Comments
An IQ of 200 is about 6.3 standard deviations from the mean. The standard normal distribution is then about 0.0000000001. The U.S. population is about 360,000,000. The number of people in the U.S. with a 200 IQ is about 0.0000000001X360000000 = .036. That is, probably nobody has an IQ of 200. The average Ph.D. in physics, humanities, or math is about 140. Statistically, there are only about 200 people out of 360 million with an IQ of 160. Edited by Pischina to say: Are you kidding me Wayne? You spent all that time to tell me that when I was just repeating something stated in a very very very good documentary? I don't quite know what to say about that. Posted by: wayne at April 18, 2008 1:57 PMHi. Belatedly I wanted to thank you so much for your thoughtful and kind words for my doc, THIS DUST OF WORDS. These early reviews, both in the press and from blogs are HUGE as we take our first steps out into the festival world. Keeping my fingers crossed. Feel free to write me anytime at Bill@thisdustofwords.com. Oh, and please rate DUST on IMDB! All the best Bill Posted by: Bill Rose at May 13, 2008 12:18 PMmy mom, bernadette bell, hired liz wiltze as a child sitter during the late 60's-early 70's while living in Palo Alto, and working at Stanford. She and I were happy to hear of her at the same time grieved to be informed of her death. We'd love to hear more about her and of any future showings of the 'dust'. Posted by: paul benjamin at June 11, 2008 3:37 PMPost a comment
|
Site Recent Entries Categories January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 links |