Spencer Beeson - More Blogs

Decalogue 1

The first short Decalogue film represented the commandment that one should not put any other God before him (the Christian God). In this film the young boy (Pavel) is caught between two influences. The first is his father who is a physics professor who believes that everything can be understood through mathematical formulas that he can plug into his computer program. For him there is no God because it can’t be explained within the conflicts of modern science. The second influence is Pavel’s aunt who is a very religious woman. As Pavel begins to question the existence of God, and what happens after one dies, she suggests that he should be able to go to the church. The father is skeptical of this idea and this creates some tension/conflict in the film. The true lesson comes when Pavel get the ice skates that he’s been wanting for Christmas. Everyday he begs his father to let him go skate on the ice that’s frozen over by their apartment. After plugging in all possible variables into a computer program, the father decides that the ice is thick enough and there is no possible way the ice could break. Of course the ice does break and Pavel dies before the rescue team can remove him from the freezing water. This short film was intended to show that, with God, anything is possible and we can’t just dismiss him because he can’t be proven through modern science. One should have faith that God does exist and should not place all their trust in such worldly things as science.

Decalogue 2

The second short Decalogue film centered on the commandment that thou shalt not kill. Disturbed by circumstances surrounding his sisters’ death, the young man begins to contemplate the possibility of killing someone himself. While this seemed to be premeditated, his decision on who to kill was kind of random. The director introduces the audience to the taxi driver who gets killed before this happens though. The taxi driver, while he may no be the worst man in the world, certainly has some twisted morals and is in no way beneficial for society. The young man has the taxi driver take him well away from the city where he then proceeds to strangle him to death. He is eventually caught and sentenced to the death penalty. The fact the he gets sentenced to death brings forth another problem of killing somebody who has killed. Can killing another human ever be justified? The director makes the young man seem just like the taxi driver; he may not be beneficial to society but does he really deserve to die. Is it not hypocritical to kill somebody for killing? Living in a world where death/killing seems unavoidable, this makes me question the legitimacy of such a commandment.

Northfork

For me, this filmed raised many important questions about a modern misconception of man vs. nature. The film took place in a small town called Northfork which was trying to be evacuated in order to turn the entire valley into a lake. The tendency for many to exert his force over nature creates many problems, like in the film when they try to get people to leave the area. More importantly, however, is that it promotes the idea that man is separate from nature. Even though humans are technologically advanced, this doesn’t negate the fact that we still are a species of this planet just like a squirrel, polar bear, oak tree, or any other living thing on this planet. This flawed perception of mankind separates us from any connection with God, who exists in all things on this planet (including us). How can we come to any understanding of God when we isolate ourselves from everything which he embodies?

Alice in Wonderland

For our field trip this semester our class took a trip to see Alice in Wonderland. I thought this was a mediocre film that fell short of all the hype that surrounded it. The film did, however, provide a good example of truly finding oneself. At the beginning of the film Alice is brought to a party which she is surprised to find out is her engagement party. She has been arranged to marry a goofy prince and she seems to have mixed feelings about this. When he asks her she runs away into the garden maze and falls down a rabbit hole into a different world. In this world there is much question as to whether or not she is the real Alice who is supposed to save the people and slay the jabberwocky. Even Alice herself begins to question who she is. She steps up and proves to herself and everyone else that she is the real Alice. She then decides to return back to the normal world where she is able to understand who she truly is, and make her own decision to not marry the prince.

The Thin Red Line

This was a powerful visual film with a story that captured the viewer’s emotions. A memorable moment was towards the beginning of the film when Private Witt came back from being AWOL and his sergeant was telling him how he has to behave if he is going to make it this world. Witt responded by saying that he’d already seen another world where he doesn’t have to behave that way. The film contained tons of beautiful shots of the rolling green hills and the diversity of life on such a beautiful island. The contrast between all the beauty and all the destruction of war was a key concept of this film. Later on Private Witt straightens up and wishes to help out his fellow soldiers in the battle. He single handedly leads a large group of enemy soldiers away from his group even though he knows this will end in his death. The brave move is similar to the ultimate sacrifice that Christ makes in the Bible. This film showed me how life can come out of death.

The Quality of Human Morality

The theme of man v. nature present in the film Northfork got me thinking about something I hadn’t given much thought to for a while, which was the legitimacy of our accepted moral beliefs and our influenced conception of right and wrong. For some time now I have recognized that humans are essentially animals and as much a part of this world as any other species. It seems that some people say that our morals are one major thing that separates humans from all other species. While morals may be a good thing in a large society, I still have trouble see our current moral system as anything more that a human construction taught to generation after generation. In Nietzsche’s essay, On the Genealogy of Morals, he discusses the difference between good/bad and good/evil. Whereas evil implies a wrong action, often judged/punished by a higher authority (God/The Law), bad is a “negative concept of low, common, and bad, and is only a pale contrasting image after the fact in relation to its positive basic concept, thoroughly intoxicated with life and passion”. I find Nietzsche’s outlook very logical and appealing but I have trouble incorporating/applying it to my everyday life, especially as a participant in modern society.

The World as One

Some of my classes that I’m taking this semester have led me to take an interest in the thought of the universe is all one, and that the separation/distinction between objects that we perceive is all an illusion. More importantly, is the common misconception of man as a separate ego causes an inability for pleasure and creativity which are essential to life. To quote Alan Watts’ The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, “If I am I because you are you, and if you are you because I am I, then I am no I and you are not you. Instead we are both something in common between what Martin Buber has called I-and-Thou and I-and-It – the magnet itself which lies between the poles, between I myself and everything sensed as other”. My research on lucid dreams also brought me to the notion of a collective unconscious, but like my trouble with the denial of the current moral system, I have trouble integrating such a concept into my day-to-day life.