Movies and the Meaning of Life : Philosophers Take on Hollywood

""The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions, "" said Albert Camus. And philosopher Woody Allen has wondered: ""How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world, given my waist and shirt size?"" Claims about what gives life meaning have not only been analyzed by philosophers but by the primary myth makers in contemporary culture: Hollywood filmmakers. Movies and the Meaning of Life shows how a wide variety of films have tackled? to sometimes hilarious, sometimes surprisingly pointed effect? the same questions that have obsessed the deep thinkers. These essays draw o.;Introduction: So. . . Why ""The Meaning of Life""? -- Deceit and Doubt: The Search for Truth in The Truman Show and Descartes's Meditations -- Our Place in the Cosmos: Faith and Belief in Contact -- The On-Going Wow: Waking Life and the Waltz between Detachment and Immersion -- I Am Jack's Wasted Life: Fight Club and Personal Identity -- It's my Heeeeaaaad!: Sex and Death in Being John Malkovich -- Popping It In: Gender Identity in Boys Don't Cry -- We All Need Mirrors to Remind Us Who We Are: Inherited Meaning and Inherited Selves in Memento -- The Indifferent Universe: Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors -- Rats in God's Laboratory: Shadowlands and the Problem of Evil -- Flying Without a Map: Chasing Amy and the Quest for Satisfying Relationships -- American Beauty: Look Closer -- Life Is Beautiful: The Lure of Evil and the Rebellion of Love -- The Shawshank Redemption and the Hope for Escape -- The Roar and the Rampage: A Tale of Revenge in Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2 -- Pleasantville, Aristotle, and the Meaning of Life -- Of Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Living Like a Hero -- So Tired of the Future: Free Will and Determinism in Minority Report -- Grace, Fate, and Accident in Pulp Fiction -- What Nietzsche Could Teach You: Eternal Recurrence in Groundhog Day -- You Mean We Have to Say Something about Ourselves? "The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions," said Albert Camus. And philosopher Woody Allen has wondered: "How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world, given my waist and shirt size?" Claims about what gives life meaning have not only been analyzed by philosophers but by the primary mythmakers in contemporary culture: Hollywood filmmakers.
Movies and the Meaning of Life shows how a wide variety of films have tackled — to sometimes hilarious, sometimes surprisingly pointed effect — the same questions that have obsessed the deep thinkers. These essays draw on such sources as The Truman Show and Contact to explore the nature of reality; Fight Club and Being John Malkovich for cogent lessons on finding one's true identity; American Beauty and The Shawshank Redemption for pointers on life's purpose; Pleasantville and Spiderman for nuggets of wisdom on how to live one's life; and more.
"The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions," said the existentiallist thinker Albert Camus. And no less a philosopher than Woody Allen has wondered:"How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world, given my waist and shirt size?" "Movies and the Meaning of Life" looks at popular and cult movies, examining their assumptions and insights on meaning-of-life questions: What is reality and how can I know it? (The Truman Show, Contact, Waking Life); How do I find myself and my true identity? (Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don't Cry, Memento); How do I find meaning from my interactions with others? (Pulp Fiction, Shadowlands, Chasing Amy); What is the chief purpose in life? (American Beauty, Life is Beautiful, The Shawshank Redemption); and How ought I live my life? (Pleasantville, Spiderman, Minority Report, Groundhog Day).