Maude was selfish for...

This is true but she had made up that decision long before she met Harold, and she was all about living your own life. In the book it's slightly better explained, Maude is starting to lose her mind, she has empty picture frames, saying she removed the pictures because there wasn't any point because she couldn't remember who the people in them were anymore. But I've always felt that Harold was partly at fault for what happened too, he had heard her say more than once 'it's all going to be over after Saturday' and he never asked what that meant.

Jesus!
Now I can't watch it

Well, i dont know if i agree with first part of OP comment, ie her been selfish.

I guess thats because i look at it from different angle, so i will comment this sentence:

"I think if he really felt that attached to her, the more realistic ending would have been him killing himself for real. Not cynical, just realistic."

I think that one of the points in this movie was growing up. She has taught him to look life from perspective free of all BS that people usually have in their way.

And i think that the point is that her death enabled him to grow even more.

We always look at everything like: "Oh, yeah, love is great", "love hurts", "this is good", "this is bad", "they are wrong", "comments for this movie should be deep and eyes opening, since movie is deep and touching", /insert any of the "i know this should be this way" comments here/...

Well, in my opinion, this movie told "*beep* you, and your stupid learned rules" to everyone. And not in stupid "i am rebel" way, nor its only point of this movie.

Anyway, just my 2 cents, and i must brag its my first comment on IMDB (and sorry for little crappy English :) )

Nothing wrong with being selfish. One's life is the one thing a person owns outright and no one else has a right to. We make connections with other people but in the end, our soul is on its own individual journey and your responsibility is to your own soul. No one else's. If she had to think twice about taking her own life because of Harold, that would have negated her sense of spirit- her sense of self and in turn, her very essence of who she was.

Her life. her choice. Harold's life. Harold's choice.

If one's reason for living is tethered to another person's life, then you don't own your own life and you need to re-evaluate what your life really consists of.






My "#3" key is broken so I'm putting one here so i can cut & paste with it.

I agree with the OP.

I love the dynamic between Harold and Maude- I just wish they kept the relationship platonic though! I know age-gap relationships happen, but 19 and 80 is just too extreme and unrealistic.

The fact that Maude let the relationship get to a romantic level and then abandoned Harold (who appeared to be seriously in love with her) so glibly doesn't sit well no matter what perspective I try to look at it from.

Yes, one's life is his/her own. I am all for voluntary euthanasia, but it's not fair to let people in to your life at the last minute (and let them believe that they can share their lives with you) and then cruelly leave them like that! That's just taking it too far and is the most selfish thing one can do!

Poor Harold! It's good that he didn't remain an emo!

She was not selfish. At 80 years old Maude had led a full life and wanted to end it on her own terms. In contrast, Harold was young and had so much more living to do of his own. It was a matter of quantity + quality of life being important. She leaves him by telling him to "go love some more!"

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I like to think that Maude throwing away the little coin Harold made for her in the ocean saying "So now I will always know where it is" Foreshadowed her death.

Just like he gave her the most beautiful present she ever had in years, and just threw it away like that. To me that kind of signifies their relationship. The most beautiful relationship she had in a long time but she had to "Throw it away" because she wanted those moments to be her last. She probably didn't want to get sick and have Harold deal with that. She didn't want their relationship to spoil.

Their relationship ended at the best time possible for her. when she was most happiest. It was such a perfect moment that she had to go with that in her mind and in her heart.