The Jacket- Elizabeth Rhein

The week we watched "The Jacket," was the week where the theme was sacred journey. The point of that week was to illustrate how the three different realms, heaven, earth and hell, were connected. I found it interesting how the film about Cabeza de Vaca was used to open up to the main film. The film was trying to show how ordinary humans can experience out of body experiences and from those, learn how to communicate to the other realms and therefore receive divine qualities and a higher sense of being.

As for the film "The Jacket" itself, the character Jack Starks learns how an out of body experience through drugs makes him capable of communicating through the three different realms. Jack basically gains the supernatural ability to live in the future, and eventually learns he is capable of changing people's lives. His experiences soon change his sense of purpose as he transitions from only being concerned with himself to spending his last moments trying to help change the lives of others.

As for the symbolism of the three realms in the film, I thought hell was the easiest to recognize. It became obvious that Jack was in hell when he was pushed downstairs into a used morgue. This little room became Jack's personal hell as he was given drugs and placed into a morgue drawer, representing a tomb. It seemed here that Jack might also represent something more. That maybe he was symbolizing Jesus, for Jesus was killed on the cross, buried in a tomb, and rose again to walk among the living once again. Jack had also said he had died twice, the first time occurring during the war. The film also took place during winter and interestingly enough, winter is the season of death because everything dies at that time and under snow is new life. In all, it seems that Jack definitely gained a divine sense of being from his aesthetic state. Even so, I'm still not exactly sure what heaven was even though I could clearly make out what symbolized hell. Other than that, I thought the film clearly was able to give a sense of what supernatural powers people may gain if they cross the three realms.