Great Characters: Maude (“Harold and Maude”)

In light of this week’s theme for Daily Dialogue — philosophy of life — I could think of no better choice for today’s Great Character series than Maude from the classic 1971 movie Harold and Maude. The IMDB plot summary:

Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

Written by Colin Higgins and featuring a soundtrack of songs by Cat Stevens, the evolving relationship of Harold (Bud Cort) and Maude (Ruth Gordon) is one for the cinematic ages. By the story’s end, he comes to think of her as an Attractor, indeed proposing marriage even though she is over 60 years older than him. But in reality, she is a Mentor providing an embrace of life to counter his obsession with death. Here are a few choice philosophy of life quotes from Maude:

Oh, big issues. Liberty. Rights. Justice. Kings died, kingdoms fell. I don’t regret the kingdoms — what sense in borders and nations and patriotism? But I miss the kings.

Vice, Virtue. It’s best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you’re bound to live life fully.

A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They’re just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.

It is ironic this woman who is so full of life decides upon her 80th birthday to end her own. That is her choice, of course, and perhaps not just about her own destiny, for her departure from this earthly plane does two things for Harold: Provides a significant emotional test to see if he can overcome his grief and not actually commit suicide, and set him free to live life on his own.

These two clips are a set-up and payoff tied together with the Cat Stevens song “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out”: 

Maude’s philosophy

The ending of the movie

Those two scenes show the transformative effect Maude has on Harold.

Maude: A truly great character in a truly wonderful movie. 

Any Harold and Maude fans out there? Let’s here what your thoughts are about the movie.

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