Editing Harold and Maude (section)

==Plot==
Harold Chasen is a young man [[Fascination with death|obsessed with death]]. He stages elaborate [[Faked death|fake suicides]], attends funerals (usually for people that he does not know), and drives a [[hearse]], all to the chagrin of his self-obsessed, wealthy socialite mother. His mother sends Harold to a [[psychoanalyst]], sets him up with blind dates, and buys him a [[luxury car]], all schemes he subverts in his own way.

Harold meets 79-year-old Maude one day while at a random stranger's [[Requiem|funeral Mass]], and discovers that they share a hobby. Harold is entranced by Maude's quirky outlook on life, which is bright and delightfully carefree in contrast to his morbid demeanor. Maude lives in a decommissioned [[railroad car]] and thinks nothing of breaking the law; she is quite skilled at [[Motor vehicle theft|stealing cars]] and will swiftly uproot an ailing tree in a city sidewalk to replant it in the forest. She and Harold form a bond and Maude shows Harold the pleasures of art and music (including how to play the [[banjo]]), and teaches him how to make "the most of his time on earth."

Meanwhile, Harold's mother is determined, against Harold's wishes, to [[Arranged marriage|find him a wife]]. One by one, Harold frightens and horrifies each of his appointed [[Computer dating|computer dates]], by appearing to commit gruesome acts, including [[self-immolation]], [[self-mutilation]], and ''[[seppuku]]''. His mother attempts to enlist him in the military by sending Harold to his uncle, who lost an arm serving under [[General MacArthur]] in [[World War II]], but Harold deters the recruitment by staging a scene where Maude poses as a [[Pacifism|pacifist protester]] and Harold seemingly murders her out of militarist [[fanaticism]].

As Harold and Maude grow closer, their friendship blossoms into a romance. Holding her hand, Harold discovers a number tattooed on her forearm, indicating Maude survived the [[Nazi death camp]]s. Harold announces that he will marry Maude, resulting in disgusted outbursts from his family, analyst, and priest. Unbeknownst to Harold, Maude has been planning to end her own life on her 80th birthday. (Although she had actually mentioned her plan twice, early on.) Maude's birthday arrives, and Harold throws a surprise party for her. As the pair dance, Maude tells Harold that she "couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell." When Maude reveals that she has taken an [[overdose]] of [[Hypnotic|sleeping pills]] and will be dead by midnight, Harold rushes Maude to the hospital. However, she succumbs to the pill overdose. Devastated after learning of Maude's death, Harold speeds down a country road and sends his car off a seaside cliff, appearing to have died by suicide. Following the crash, Harold is revealed to be standing calmly atop the cliff, holding his banjo. After gazing down at the wreckage, he plucks the banjo strings and dances away to "[[If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out]]".