Comments from Charlie Smith about the movie:
Many American Indians live on or come from a Reservation, a place they were forced to enter, with rules and limitations over which they have no control.
This week, my Indian friend Robert said that, I too, as an American and a white man, Iive on a Reservation with its own benefits, beliefs and limitations.
In both cases, culture is largely decisive with it’s own force of gravity
The Hillbilly Elegy movie shows a Reservation with all the power and effect of the pull of gravity on people on earth.
To get into space from earth requires 17,500 miles per hour of propulsion to achieve escape velocity.
For me, telling the truth about my present experience creates escape velocity.
This never happens in the Elegy family, in the Elegy culture, and rarely in most cultures I’ve been in.
Therapy is usually the opposite except on a Reservation, it is forbidden.
What to do?
Charlie Smith
