Over the years of my life I have seen many genres and types
of films. I enjoy laughing at comedies and getting a light adrenaline rush from
a good action movie, but I have never been completely sure as to why I like
some dramas. Movies like “The Departed”,
“The Pianist”, “Million Dollar Baby”, and “Shutter Island” make me wonder why I
am so fascinated by rather depressing and somber stories. In each of those
films, death plays a large role and when someone that I admire in the film dies
I do not feel happy or excited, but I don’t feel bad (in the sense that I am
not truly hurt or upset by the death) Why don’t I feel bad? Well, I would have
to say part of it is due the fact that I am just watching it. I am not partaking
in the story, I am only viewing it as it unfolds and I recognize that no matter
what I do, the story will not change. I can watch the movie five years from now
and wish for a happier ending, but it doesn’t come. The funny thing is that I
don’t want the ending to change, I appreciate the story and it would be undone
if the end that holds it together ceased to be that which it once was. I
appreciate the tragic drama of the hero, where he still strives to live and
prosper even though I know he will ultimately die. I appreciate his struggle,
and can relate to it since my life isn’t a fairytale.
If we look back at Nietzsche’s idea of eternal
recurrence, I can begin to discuss a little connection, though it is more of
just a fun thought than a developed idea. The idea that your life is and will
be recurring forever, over and over again, does not sound like a wonderful
situation. It tells us that we are here and will be here in the same place
again. This appears as a drama to me, I am fated to make the same decisions
that I have always made. Now, back to the connection I was talking about,
though I warn you it is a little far fetched. When we are watching a movie we
see a story unfold, though once that story has unfolded, we will never truly be
surprised by it again. But that does not mean the story has lost its meaning as
its gains its familiarity, it only means that we have become aware of the story.
So let us picture the entire unfolding of the universe as the most complex
story in the uh… universe. Yet instead of being viewers, we are its characters
and its story relies (at least in some part) on us. I do not want to travel too
far down this hole, but I would like to touch on some aspects of it. Much of what intrigues us (or at least me)
about movies is the fact that they take some part of life and present/reflect
it in a unique way. When I see a movie, I am not just viewing scene after scene,
I am trying to interpret the meaning of it. As I interpret the movie and I
notice themes or symbolisms I begin to try and connect them to aspects of my
own life. The genre of movie that tends to affect me the most is dramas. I view
a story that is sad, but not without grace, and I see beauty in it sometimes.
To translate the human condition into an actual story is a true talent that
only some people possess, yet when this miracle occurs the splendor is a
blessed experience. When I ask someone what the human condition is, it is
almost impossible to get a clear definition, but when I see a movie like “There
Will Be Blood”, I get an indefinable part of that definition. What I am getting
at is the idea that much of our understanding of what our meaning in this world
is is gained from stories, in particular dramas. Dramas seem more realistic and
personal to us. Happily ever after’s do not occur everyday in the world and
their joy’s tend to be overvalued. I appreciate a story that reflects life
rather than a perfected idea of happiness. Why this preference? Because
philosophy is the search for truth and reason, and I desire understanding more
than just joyous bliss. Yet again, why this preference? Because what is bliss
without the understanding of it? Once one starts to question it becomes rather
hard to stop. So what all this comes back to is the idea of eternal recurrence.
Why would things be eternally repeating themselves? Let us go back to the
analogy of the viewer and the movie. As I started to bring up earlier, once we
become familiar with a story we search for a new one (rarely, actually never
have I seen a person that watches one movie and is satisfied with that movie
alone for the rest of their life). So if
we exist in this universe as only characters how can we ever affect its story?
It has been many a philosopher’s quest to understand the meaning of life, but
how do we intend to do so when much of us have trouble interpreting the meaning
of “Inception”, especially since many people even interpret it differently.
Maybe the only way we can understand the true meaning of the movie is to ask
the creator (perhaps, connect this with the idea of god), though maybe he isn’t
even sure. Though Nietzsche came up with the idea of eternal recurrence, he
also came up with the idea of superman and seemed to have strongly believed in
the concept of self-awareness. So what do we do if we are seemingly trapped in
this infinite cycle of the same story over and over again? Well I would
personally suggest that we stop being unaware characters and begin to become
viewers. Only if we first are able to view our position in this universe can we
really hope to change our roles and our story, and become the
directors/creators of this eternal story.
This is a very nicely constructed response that deserves a lot of thought. The "what if...thought experiments that films provide do have poignancy for me too. That is why Ground Hogs Day, a seemly ridiculous movie, has held my interest through far too many viewings. Movies like Into the Wild also have this same effect--Of course I am not Phil Connors or Christopher McCandless--but I can relate to the idea of being mindlessly stuck in my life (in Connor's case) and to wanting to break the societal expectations of parents, the world, the vicious cycle of trying to succeed by taking the well worn path (in McCandless's case). Into the Wild is based on a non fictional account, which makes it even more poignant. If you have not yet seen it, I recommend it. Here is the trailer:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAuzT_x8Ek
Movies like The Razor's Edge (based on Somerset Maugham's novel by the same name) also create that call to a life examined and lived with awareness.
This is a great post, Skeezix--one that has much fuel for thought.
-------
One terrible use of a scientific principle (maybe abuse of a scientific principle) is the notion of a strange attractor in a dynamic system. Kathleen Hayles does a very nice job of explaining the philosophical and literary application of the strange attracter. Her insights seem applicable to your post:
From http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/values93.php :
Values as 'attractors'
One of the key insights of chaos theory is that of strange attractors. Is there a sense in which human values can be usefully understood as strange attractors?
A prime characteristic of a strange attractor is that it is defined as the focus of a pattern of seemingly chaotic behaviour. But it is the pattern that signals the presence of that focus which cannot be identified in any other way. Like strange attractors, human values do not manifest in any tangible manner but rather through interpretations of the way behaviour is governed. But the intangible attractor may indeed be a matter of direct subjective experience under appropriate conditions of human development -- as practitioners of some spiritual traditions would claim.
There is certainly a sense in which behaviour can be understood as 'meandering around' in such a way as to define attractor poles. Whilst there may be extremes, often of the most regrettable kind, behaviour is eventually pulled back into an orbit around one or more attractors. Some forms of behaviour may thus exhibit highly eccentric orbits, but the pull towards the attractor remains fundamental -- even if it may be barely sensed at its most extreme points by those involved.
There is also a sense in which behaviour may be described as trapped by particular attractors. However it may also drift in such a way as to be temporarily captured by another. From this perspective behaviour may be seen as swinging between and around attractors. Chaos theory may offer insights into the laws governing such behaviour.