Customer Reviews

A Gathering of Men [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
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I really loved this video. I first got it out at my local libary and watched it many times before I grudgingly had to return it. Robert Bly is a very wise and initiated Man, with the ability to point his finger right at the wounds that men carry secretly. His call for a new understanding of what it means to be a son, father, brother or partner, gives the "everyman" a real chance to reclaim masculinity as a vibrant, necessary and creative force in the world. This is a video about healing and not blaming others for thier mistakes. Every male(boy or man) should watch and discuss this video.

The material covered in this tape is essentially the basis for Robert's classic, Iron John, but here, his ideas are fully rounded and expanded in context - partly due to the excellent interactions with Bill Moyers.

I have never seen Robert be so clear, coherent and powerful as in these insightful exchanges. He is the living embodiment of the male mentor, the older wise male who can help the younger men through various developmental transitions that are usually so problematic in a society in which there are no true male initiatiion rituals.

I would strongly recommend watching this video before reading Iron John.

Outstanding.

If you're male, this is perhaps the most politically-incorrect viewing you'll ever see. Men talk about love, painful relationships, lost, absent and unexpressed feelings, the Modern Missing Father, and (gasp)a healthy flowing of tears. The fact that this film earned only a couple of entries here in over 20 years speaks volumes about today's desensitized society, particularly the epidemic of depression that's become the common cold of mental health.
Unless you're a flaming Feminazi, you'll find no anti-female sentiment in this gathering of men.