For the second time in two days, I’ve watched a movie involving someone being mute for long periods of time. Yesterday, I watched Paris, Texas with my cousin. And today on the airplane, I watched The Patience Stone. Coincidence or not, it’s given me food for thought.

In the first movie, Paris, Texas, the man is mute after leaving his wife and son and wandering in the desert for four years. He was really traumatized by the person he became in relationship to his wife, and needed to be mute for a while to escape and reflect. When he finally can talk, the story is shocking and allows him to move on.

In the second film, the woman is caring for her husband in a coma. He is normally a terrible husband, but in this state, she can tell him anything without fear of reprisal. And what she reveals is shocking. He can’t take her secrets and she has to kill him in the end.