Movies: Philosophy or Entertainment?

Are you a movie-goer? Ever since I can remember, I have loved movies. As a young child, I would watch a film twice and already all of the lines were memorized! I would then convince my neighbor's children to act out the parts with me and re-create the films. It didn't surprise my parents then, when I expressed interest in participating in theater.

Are theater and film simply forms of entertainment, made to remove us from the reality of everyday life? Ancient Greek philosopher Plato, certainly felt as though this was the case. In book X of his most famous work, Republic, plato tells of a plan to ban artists (especially poets) from the ideal society as he felt that these art forms were merely imitations and so removed from the real essence (or form) of that which it is imitating. "So Imitation-producing turns out to be a pretty long way away from the truth; and reason, it seems, why it can't fashion everything is because it gets only a small hold on anything, and an illusory one, at that" (Republic, 598c).  Interestingly enough, it has been rumored that prior to Plato's becoming a student of the great Socrates, he was a playwright, a poet. It is believed that he gave up this pursuit to follow the path of philosophy.

Would there be any way in which Plato would have felt that theatre could serve in asking the big questions of philosophy? Whether or not this would have been the case is impossible to know. But it seems as though other philosophers from Hegel to Nietzsche to Kaufmann felt as though there was indeed a use for theatre and music. Hegel, in his work On Tragedy said, "Drama, because it elaborates its content as well as its form in an altogether perfect whole, must be regarded as the highest phrase of poetry and of art generally" (Hegel, Pg. 1). And many have read the writings of Nietzsche on the music of composer Richard Wagner (wether the musings were positive or negative). Indeed even modern philosophers and educators of philosophy have embraced the power of theater and particularly film for the furtherance of philosophy.     

 If you go to your local Barnes and Noble and somehow find your way to an undoubtedly tiny philosophy section, you will see several books bearing the titles of popular films. Batman and Philosophy, Breaking Bad and Philosophy, Twilight and Philosophy and the list goes on and on! 

And while you may think that these books are written simply by one intelligent enough to identify what is popular and muse on about it for twenty chapters or so, this turns out not to be the case! It turns out that these books are often collections of papers written by thoughtful philosophy educators from all over the world! While these films may be made for entertainment, when viewed in the right light, your the experience can be revolutionized and one may begin seeing things in films that one never imagined possible. 

How should I live? What is truth? What are we here for? What is existence? What is human nature? What is love? What about racism? Violence? We could continue ad infinitum.  

These and many other questions are dealt with in film and theatre!

Sources Citied: 

Plato, and C. J. Rowe. 2012. Republic. London: Penguin. 

Paolucci, Anne, and Henry Paolucci. 1962. Hegel on Tragedy. New York: Anchor Books.

Embedded Philosophy

There are many films which, if you look closely, have philosophical questions and themes embedded with the storyline. Everything from the Socratic method to Metaphysics to Ethics is covered in films that are not necessarily "about" philosophers or philosophy. Here are a few examples of this.

The Socratic Method:

In the film, Dead Poet's Society, Robin Williams plays an energetic English teacher at an all-boys Preparatory school. In his first day of class, when teaching poetry, he instructs his students to rip out the introductory pages of the text. He believes that one cannot learn poetry by reading a text but rather by experience. Throughout, he instructs the students to think for themselves both in class and in their lives, landing him in hot water with the administration of the school, who would prefer that the power structure of the school not be questioned. To those who know the narrative of the life of Socrates, this film and Robin Williams' character, model Socrates' teachings and life quite closely!

Metaphysics:

I have heard it said by individuals after hearing a joke that was a bit cryptic, with details that they had to sort through, that the joke was "very meta". While these jokes and references do not represent what metaphysics as such, they point to a truth about this facet of philosophy: It can indeed be cryptic. Metaphysics deals with what is, in a sense, "really real". It points to the illusions that we face and beckons at us to find what reality is! The film most often in use for this idea is The Matrix. In this film, the lead role Neo is offered one of two pills: The first would allow him to go on living in the illusion that he has been so used to and the other would introduce him to actual reality! Now that's "meta"! There are other films that blur the lines of reality and illusion as well, such as Inception. Both are excellent examples of Metaphysics in film!

To find yet another link to Ancient Philosophy; you could also link these metaphysical storylines to Plato's Allegory of the Cave found in Republic. 

Ethics:

There are many films which deal with ethics. And it must be said that ethics has many categories and many of which are seen in various movies and theatrical productions. When the mathematician Alan Turing discovered how to break the Nazi enigma code, he had to make the difficult decision of who to save and who to let die so that it would not be obvious that they had broken the code. Perhaps that is easy when you are dealing with lives miles away. But what do you do when the brother of one whom you know will die in moments is there, in the same room with you? You have the power to save him and perhaps end the usefulness of having broken Enigma or to let him die and preserve the secret. These are the decisions in which questions of ethics must be asked. These are the questions being asked in The Imitation Game. 

Sources Cited: 

Honderich, Ted. 1995. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Philosophers in Film

Often, the philosophical themes are not hidden from the viewer, needing to be dissected in oder to understand certain points. There have been many films about the lives and works of great philosophers. Here are a few examples:


First, the film Agora. This film examines the life of one who was perhaps the first great female Philosopher, Hypatia of Alexandria. Unfortunately, what we know of Hypatia has been pieced together through the work of various historians. She was put to death as Christianity came to power in the Roman Empire which, corresponded directly with the fall of the Library of Alexandria: Perhaps one of the greatest intellectual tragedies of the Ancient World.

Second, is the film when Nietzsche Wept. While this film may not be entirely accurate, it gives us accessed in some scenes to snippets of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. There is no wonder the director and writers got a few things wrong as it is very difficult to capture the philosophy of Nietzsche in a lifetime, let alone a single film. He is perhaps best known for his assertion that "God is Dead" made in his work, The Joyful Science (Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft). Here is a clip from the film with actor Armand Asante portraying Nietzsche:

Lastly, is the film Hannah Arendt. The film details the trial of Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann and the report on that trial written by German Jewish philosopher and political theorist, Hannah Arendt. Arendt, a student of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, was struck by a terrible thought in the trial. Rather than Eichmann being a terrifying monster like many believed her would be, he was rather, a normal person; a nobody. So, some of the most horrific acts in history were committed by nobodies who simply refused to think! This is what she called the banality of evil. For more about Arendt and her groundbreaking ideas on evil, see Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. 

Naturally, there are times in which filmmakers take creative licenses so in true Socratic terms: If you are interested in these topics, find the answers yourself! Don't simply take the interpretation of the filmmakers. It may be that you believe that these and other films are completely accurate, but judge for yourself!

Sources Cited: 

Arendt, Hannah. 1994. Eichmann in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin Books.

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, and Walter Arnold Kaufmann. 1974. The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs. New York: Vintage Books.

Bertolt Brecht: Acceptable Theatre for Plato?

The first known theatre (as we know it today) was built in ancient Athens and was a large part of the culture during the life of Plato. No doubt, Plato attended many productions of Greek tragedies and comedies and at one point, his beloved teacher Socrates became the subject of a comedy written by Aristophanes called Clouds. This was the hilarious and farcical account of a school of philosophy established by Socrates within which he is first seen suspended high in the air, in a basket. Perhaps making the assertion that philosophers always have their heads in the clouds! While this may seem rather insulting, it it believed that Socrates and Aristophanes were good friends. So, it was all in good fun, as they say!

Plato, after explaining that he would ban poetry, spoke of the power of Greek tragedy to move one to an emotional state. This, Plato felt, had a sort of bewitching power over the audience. Naturally this is not a good sign for someone who wants everyone to be able to make reasoned judgements for themselves. How can you reason when you are overtaken by emotion?

Plato would be happy to find that German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, would have agreed entirely with this sentiment. Brecht felt as though emotion should be removed from theatrical productions so that the audience could stand outside of emotion and think for themselves. Brecht believed that the theatre should move one to think about society and should serve as social criticism. Perhaps Plato would have been on board with Brechtian theatre? Below is a video explaining theater through the eyes of Brecht. But please, don't let your emotions get involved!  

Sources Cited:

 Aristophanes, and Jeffrey Henderson. 1992. Clouds. Newburyport, Mass: Focus Publishing.

National Theatre Discover. An Introduction to Brechtian Theatre. Video. July 26, 2012.