Harold and Maude…
“Reach out! Take a chance! Get hurt maybe. But play as well as you can…”
MAUDE: Like a puff, Harold?
HAROLD: Well, I really don’t smoke.
MAUDE: It’s all right. It’s organic.
HAROLD: I sure am picking up on vices.
MAUDE: 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 – well then you are bound to live it fully.
HAROLD: I haven’t lived. I’ve died a few times.
MAUDE: What was that?
HAROLD: Well, the first time was when I was at boarding school in the Chemistry Lab. I was in there cleaning it up. So I thought I’d do a little experimenting. I got all this stuff out and began mixing it up. It was very scientific.
There was this massive explosion. It knocked me down. Blew out a huge hole in the the floor. There was boards and brick and flames leaping up. I figured, y’know, time to leave. My career in school was over. So I went home.
My mother was giving a party so I just went right up the back stairs to my room. Turned out the light, and I got this funny feeling. Then the doorbell rang. I went out over to the banister and these two policemen came in, found my mother and told her that I was killed, in the fire.
And she put one hand up to her forehead. With the other she reached out, groping for support. And with a long sigh – she collapsed in their arms.
I decided then, that I enjoyed being dead.
MAUDE: Yes. I understand. 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 maybe. 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’ll have nothing to talk about in the locker room…
From Wikipedia: Harold and Maude is a 1971 American comedy film directed by Hal Ashby. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama, with a plot that revolves around the exploits of a young man intrigued with death, Harold (played by Bud Cort). Harold drifts away from the life that his detached mother prescribes for him, and develops a relationship with an elderly woman named Maude (played by Ruth Gordon).
The film is ranked number 45 on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Funniest Movies of all Time, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1997 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was a commercial flop in its original release, and critical reception was extremely mixed. However, it has since developed a large cult following.
Harold and Maude
Directed by Hal Ashby
Amazon Video on demand ($9.99)
DVD version
Average Customer Review 4.7 out of 5 stars 
(356 Reviews)
A teenager with a death wish and a 79-year-old high on life find love in Hal Ashby’s cult black comedy. Deadpan rich boy Harold (Bud Cort) keeps staging elaborate suicide tableaux to get the attention of his mother (Vivian Pickles), but she keeps planning his brilliant future for him instead. Obsessed with the trappings of death, Harold freaks out his blind dates, modifies his new sports car to look like a mini-hearse, and attends funerals, where he meets the spirited Maude (Ruth Gordon). An eccentric to the core, Maude lives exactly as she pleases, with avid collecting and nude modeling among her many pursuits. To the disgust of Harold’s relatives and the befuddlement of Harold’s shrink, Harold falls in love with her. As lilting Cat Stevens tunes play on the soundtrack, Maude teaches Harold a valuable lesson about making the most of his time on earth.
Fantastic 
B. Emory (Wilmington NC)
I had heard about this movie through friends but was never impressed by the story. A reclusive anti-social kid who befriends and falls in love with an elderly (though young at heart) eccentric. I wrote it off completely until I saw a bit of it on television and thought it was hilarious and as it turns out I rented the movie and was extremely hooked. Harold is a rich kid with a high strung, selfish mother who tries anything to find a suitor for him, in turn Harold escapes from his home to overshadow funeral processions and memorials. At a number of these events, Maude is in attendance and she lights up the scene with her off the wall, and positively upbeat personality that horrifies and amuses Harold. After a while they become unlikely friends. Maude helps Harold live a little and in turn he develops true affection to Maude. With Ruth Gordon’s charm and incredible acting abilities, and Cat Steven’s classy soundtrack, its not hard to find yourself feeling happy and free after the movie is over. It really teaches you a message about being your own person and enjoying life.
For more information about “Harold and Maude” visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
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