I found the screenplay much harder to read. I still haven't read it all. When I first picked it up, it randomly fell open to the page where Ennis gets the final postcard. It was terrible, all these horrendous emotions crowded my head & I felt physically winded. I think I have been fairly immune to the short story because of the starkness of AP's writing style. While I appreciate it academically speaking, it's a tad too sparse to get to me fully. With the screenplay, the seemingly banal details of who's where etc just brings everything into focus too sharply - like being forced to watch the film in excruiatingly slow motion.
We have to undergo a medical at work once a year to see if we are fit for our particular type of work & it also touches on emotional issues & the current vogue for how stress influences work performance. I haven't seen a counseller since college but ended up at my medical last year explaining that I was concerned for my mental/emotional state. I didn't mention it was cos of BBM, but that was the reason. At that time it had been two months since I'd seen it & I had not joined a forum. A year later I didn't have to mention it at my medical but was surprised to recall how intensely I'd been feeling at the same time a year ago. Normally I wouldn't dream of mentioning anything of that nature to anyone unless it was really significant. There is certainly no doubt as to the significance of BBM, both to the individual & to society & culture at large.