Vicious Cycles…and Stair Phobias
#OtherWorlds2019 approaches! To gear up, staff members are sharing the feature films they’re most excited about and why. Up first, Outreach Director Tessa Morrison:
Ever have that dream where you are looping, walking up or down stairs? You’re stuck on a path and having some serious feelings about fate, destiny, and the inevitable. Do you ever feel like you are doomed to repeat the same mistake over and over again? (Like eating food that gives you really bad heartburn and, subsequently, weird looping dreams.) What if you could change that vicious cycle? (But I love spicy wings!) It can be difficult for sure. THE ASCENT tackles these issues, along with loyalty versus following your own moral compass.
That's some heavy stuff, so instead let's talk about my slight backless stairs phobia. I HATE THEM. They creep me out. I always assume something is going to be hiding behind them ready to grab my ankles. After watching THE ASCENT, I will be hopping up stairs a touch quicker than usual. There is that irrational fear coupled with the thought that they are just not as structurally sound. A combo of my heights phobia, accompanied fear of falling, and general anxiousness made me butt scoot down and crawl up certain types of stairs as a child much like Chihiro in SPIRITED AWAY. However, I would run around our house in socks, slip, and then fall down the freshly polished wooden standard-backed L stairs more times than I'd like to admit. (Why did you clean them so often Mom???).
Actual footage of Tessa as a child
Minimalist backless stairs in a museum with clear glass sides and even clear planks? Are you trying to give me a heart attack, contemporary museums? Get out of here with that. Going urban exploring into dilapidated buildings with crumbling or nonexistent hand rails?....EEEEK. NO.
I eventually tried to get over my fear of heights and assumption that I am an accident-prone klutz by signing up for trapeze classes several years ago. And it helped some! Bonus, I didn't fall to my death. Though I still avoid ladders when possible.
What am I saying here? THE ASCENT: it’s an action-packed time-loop thriller that made me think serious thoughts…and reassess my relationship with stairs. The film is screens at #OtherWorlds2019 twice: on Saturday 12/7 at 7:30pm and Sunday 12/8 at 2:15pm.
