Harold and... Maude?

I think I've started off every one of my blogs stating how different each one of the films has been. But my goodness. So far, this one takes the cake. I tried to grasp the meaning of the film, but was left absolutely and utterly confused. And, not to step on the instructors authority, I have no idea what this film has to do with anything we have discussed thus far in class. I would hardly call it a comedy. In fact, I would most definitely not call it a comedy. If anything, it was a drama, with maybe one or two relief jokes spread thin throughout the entirety of the film. I'm not saying it was a bad film, per say. It just really threw me a curveball. There was definitely an ever present theme existent.
Death. Or rather, the fear of death. Now I know I discussed fears in my last post about Young Frankenstein (because I know EVERYONE read that...), but the fear of death is extremely prevalent in Harold and Maude. And everyone deals with some sort of this problem. First, we start with Harold's mother. We know she is terrified of death because of her reaction towards Harold's "attempts" at suicide. She always brushes it off, telling her son to stop messing around. She never shows real concern, or confronts the problem directly. This is because to do so, she would have to face death. And let's be honest, she must be too good for death, or so she thinks. She even goes as far as to buy Harold a brand new Jaguar, in hopes that he will use it to replace the hearse that he adores so much.
We also see a fear of death with some of the "online dates" suited for Harold. The first girl nearly has a heart attack when she see's who she thinks is Harold set himself on fire in the courtyard. And, or course, this is completely understandable. I would hardly be able to compose myself if I witnessed someone burn to death. The second leaves pretty much on the same basis, when Harold removes his own hand with a cleaver. Again, understandable. The last suitor is the only one that seems to tolerate death. But even as she plays along with Harold, she doesn't really accept death because the whole scene is a charade.
Harold, the one who seems to accept death the most, is probably the character most afraid of it. I say this because throughout the whole film, he seems to pretend to commit suicide for attention. Like Mr. Serio said in class last week, if someone truly wants to kill themselves, they do it. They don't seek help. They don't look for someone to talk them out of it. They just do it. And Harold never really does it. As fascinated as he is with death, he never seems to conquer it. He always looks for reasons to live. Which, I guess, is what Maude was trying to teach him. Life is worth living, if you can find what makes you happy.
And that brings me to the last character, Maude. I will admit, it is unfair of me to say that everyone in the film fears death because out of everyone, Maude is the only person who doesn't. She is the only one who actually dies. She is the only one who conquers the fear of death, which is ironic because she lives everyday in the manner that she wants. She found what makes her happy, and lives to enjoy it. I think she knows the sorrow of death, because she is (or was) a Holocaust survivor. Being constantly surrounded by death must have resulted in acceptance, and courage even. And because of this, Maude, the crazy old lady, was the only character with no fear of death.