MovieChat Forums > The Horse Boy (2011) Discussion > So does the witch doctor heal the boy?

So does the witch doctor heal the boy?

posted 15 years ago by johnyzero_2000
12 replies | jump to latest

Please spoil the movie for me otherwise i'm not pissing away 8 dollars.

SPOILERS AHEAD .... SPOILER AHEAD .... SPOILER AHEAD ....

Yes ... in a manner of speaking, although I still think the ending was a coincidence, more than an outright miracle

[–] jeannie-45 14 years ago

No, he was not cured. Certain elements improved, but autism is still incurable.

I like to watch.

[–] DogtownGirl 14 years ago

The boy looked to be cured to me, although the film made it all out to be more of a miracle (as I have stated earlier here) than the reality.

If you don't think Autism can be "cured", by whatever means, then don't talk to Jenny McCarthy, please. She's adamant about it not being present in her son, any longer.

Try not to gossip about who / what you don't know. Words are just cruelly speculative.

[–] suddenflight 14 years ago

Jenny McCarthy's son never had autism to begin with, and the original study linking autism to vaccinations was falsified.

Autism can be treated, but there is no cure. Like the family in this film stated, they have managed to knock out a few of the behaviors associated with autism, but Rowan is still an autistic person and will remain one for the rest of his life.

[–] Aeneas21 14 years ago

...and the important thing to take away from this documentary is that it isn't necessarily a bad thing that Rowan will always be autistic, as such people have their own special and extraordinary gifts.

[–] suddenflight 14 years ago

Exactly!

[–] lucy_glitter 13 years ago

Indeed.

He didn't cure the boy, but I suppose I can settle with actually believing he helped his disposition. I am a skeptic, but there is something about that... I don't know. I think I actually believe it helped.

So, yes.

I recommend it. It's a brilliant doco.
Hi puddin, miss me?

[–] maileehawj 14 years ago

"Witch doctor"???? I find that very very very insulting. My people still practice shamanism today and we are anything but witches. This is not a lost religion. It is one of the oldest religions out there and is still widely practiced. Just because you do not believe in it, does not mean you have the right to name it something negative.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gwaring2002 14 years ago

Get over yourself.

[–] lldeland 13 years ago

Don't get me wrong about Jenny. She's a great person, but I agree that her son never had autism. My son as Asperger's and there was no noticeable moment (after vaccinations) where he suddenly shut down. Jenny's son had seizures and high fevers - I read her book. That's not typical for autism.

In regard to the movie, the boy was not cured and his parents don't state that he was. Some of his symptoms were alleviated. Was that the Shaman or just being forced to function in an unfamiliar enviorment? Who knows? Does it matter? He was helped. That's the bottom line.

[–] decroissance 13 years ago

I think the people who are saying "witch doctor" have no idea that they're using a pejorative term. Most people just don't know anything about shamanism.

Also it's possible that these posters watched the special feature of interviews with "experts". One of them was an anthropologist who used the term "witch doctor" over and over in reference to an African healer. He also used the term "shamanism". This anthropologist seemed to have a good understanding of how shamanism works and even respect for it, so it bothered me that he kept saying "witch doctor."

I think the Mongolian healer did cure the boy to the extent that his most troubling symptoms no longer were present. I can see how people who have no knowledge or experience of shamanic healing would not be able to believe that such a thing is possible.

The Canadian government did a study of a healer from the Cree nation, and it documented the effectiveness of shamanic healing in cases of psoriasis. They chose this disease because it was easy to assess whether the treatment was effective. The patients who came to this healer had been unable to find relief by any other method.

Because of this man's work (his name is Russell Willier), some hospitals in Canada now have a healer on staff who uses the traditional techniques of whichever tribe he or she belongs to. There's a book about Russell Willier, and shamanic healing in general, called _Cry of the Eagle: Encounters with a Cree Medicine Man_. It's out of print but you can get a used copy from Amazon. I got one from my library. It's by a trio of anthropologists from the University of Alberta.

Another book on the same topic is called _The Dancing Healers_, written by a psychiatrist from the University of Arizona, Oscar Hammerschlag. It's about American Indian medicine men in Arizona.

Both these authors were present at shamanic ceremonies and both reported events that they could not explain. They also both document cases of shamanic healing.

These healings are not miracles. These shamans are able to work with forces that exist in the world. Modern society doesn't understand it because our worldview has changed so drastically.

I encourage people to seek out shamanic healers and judge for themselves. There are even plenty of "white people" who have learned some of this art as well.