The 95th Academy Awards ceremony was held this past Sunday night, and perhaps many of you watched at least some of it. I saw hardly any of it, but early Monday morning I was eager to see what/who received the Oscars.
Of the ten
movies nominated for an Oscar, I have seen only The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Tár,
and Women Talking. It is interesting to consider what matters, or
matters most, to the characters in each of these movies.
Lydia Tár thought primarily that power matters.
Brilliantly played by Australian actress Cate Blanchett, the talented but rather
unlikeable Tár is a brilliant classical music conductor. Her focus,
though, is on gaining, maintaining, and exerting power. Is having power what matters
most?
The
Mennonite women in Women Talking conclude that the combination of safety,
faith, and thinking is what matters most. This is a powerful movie about strong
women who had been betrayed by the deplorably deviant men of their community
who apparently thought that sex matters most.
What
matters is a major part of the quirky film Everything Everywhere All at Once
(EEAAO), which won the best picture Oscar as well as six others, including the
best actress award for Michelle Yeoh, the impressive Malaysian Chinese actress.
EEAAO pits the idea that everything
matters against the
claim that nothing matters. Evelyn, the mother played by Yeoh, realizes everything
matters, especially reconciliation with her daughter. The daughter Joy, though,
mutters near the end of the lengthy movie, Nothing matters.
Even though chosen as the best picture of the year, I found EEAAO
hard to watch. Based on the view that there are multiple universes which exist simultaneously,
it moved too fast from one universe to another. It was also filled with
silliness, much of which I found unenjoyable.
Nevertheless, EEAAO was filled
with thought-provoking content as well, including consideration of what
matters. In the second article linked to below is this assertion:
In a split-second decision at the end of the movie, Evelyn beckons Joy to stay with her instead of pushing the world toward destruction. Evelyn tells us … that even if this world will eventually end with failure and nothingness, it is worthwhile to spend every fleeting moment doing laundry, filing taxes and working toward small steps of reconciliation.
In the third link below, posted in March 2022, the author
explains that EEAAO "doesn't reject nihilism as a philosophy. Rather, it
promotes a more optimistic, humanist nihilism. Instead of ‘nothing matters, so why
bother?’ it says ‘Nothing matters, unless you decide that it does.’"
We can, in fact, decide that the life we have now is precious
and it is something that truly matters.
In The Shack (remember that bestselling 2007 book?) Wm. Paul Young wrote, “If anything matters then everything matters.” In commenting later on that statement, he wrote,
Either nothing matters and we’re all caught in this bind of despair, or everything matters and life has value and meaning, and what we do with our lives is important.
But, if all (or most) life will possibly be annihilated, maybe
even in this century, does anything really matter? Perhaps that “nihilistic”
idea was lurking in Joy’s mind in EEAAO, and it seems to be common among many present-day
twentysomethings and older teens.
Regardless of how long we or the world as we know it may
last, however, if we live now in a relationship of harmony with God, with other
people, and with the world of nature, that is something splendid and it does indeed
matter, and matters immensely.
_____
Here are links to some thoughtful articles about EEAAO:
** In
'Everything Everywhere All at Once,' a multiverse of absurdity meets
intergenerational healing (3/11)
** ‘Everything
Everywhere All at Once’ and the Paradox of Achieving ‘Nothing’ (3/12)
** The
Ending Of Everything Everywhere All At Once Explained (3/2022)
I am somewhat surprised and disappointed that there has been so little response to this blog post I made early this morning. To this point, the only comments I have received are from Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky. He wrote,
ReplyDelete"Thanks for that review, Leroy. I have seen only one movie: 'A Man Called Otto.' It was not nominated for an Oscar, but it says something important about grief."
Thanks, as always, Dr. Hinson, for reading and responding to my blog post this morning. We have "A Man Called Otto" on our list of movies to see, but it is not yet available on streaming services. As you may know, "It is the second film adaptation of the 2012 novel 'A Man Called Ove' by Fredrik Backman after the 2015 Swedish film of the same name." We enjoyed seeing the Swedish film (with English subtitles) in 2017 and look forward to seeing Ove played by Tom Hanks as Otto.
DeleteI think your concluding statement is especially well said, Leroy. It’s a scary thought, to realize that even if humanity survives many hundreds of thousands of years into the future, most of us will be pretty well forgotten after our grandchildren pass—so what really matters, in the grand scheme of things?
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly this thought motivates many people toward religion. But perhaps no ideas provide more meaning than the central teaching of Jesus, which invites us to act with agape because of the real difference it makes in the lives of everyone around us right now, as well as the trajectory that sets for the future. That makes today is an important day in the grand scheme of things.
Thanks, Fred, for your much-appreciated comments. I like your emphasis on acting with agape-love "because of the real difference it makes in the lives of everyone around us now, as well as the trajectory that sets for the future." I wish more and more of us could internalize and implement that important insight.
DeleteWe've seen a number of the movies but not all of those nominated for best picture. I saw EEAAO.I find particularly interesting the concept you quote regarding "humanistic nihilism." (I haven't read the interview yet.) As I understand it, nihilism is essentially a rejection of any truth and any meaning as well as a refusal to believe in anything. In that sense, I think the word is being used far too loosely and broadly these days. Having a materialist philosophy that includes that there is nothing objective outside human action and history (God, spirits, karma, whatever) to give human beings an objective justification for their attachments, values, pains, pleasures, hopes, and so on is not the same as nihilism. Such a view doesn't necessarily and logically require that life has no meaning. Nietzsche, who was no nihilist but identified the modern world as nihilistic, grounded his claims and hopes in the reality of life itself, in its obvious "desire" to be more. He called for his hearers to embrace life and its challenge to become more (to become over-persons), people willing to face life with courage and love to go beyond themselves. Typical humanists ground theirs in human relations, human consciousness, and human solidarity/community. While these don't include an objective transcendent reality, they still provide human beings with a great deal of meaning. I think we're in a place, historically and epistemologically, wherein we human beings, even those of us who believe in God, have to recognize that we cannot have any certainty regarding our beliefs in a holy, transcendent reality (i.e., God). Personally I have no problem with interpreting the call to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength as the same as loving Life, a la Nietzsche and other humanists. I'm reading personal papers by those young people in their 20s (my students), as they encounter the classical and modern Chinese philosophies, and I can say that, while a few suggest there is no meaning, they typically have hopes and dreams and loves, etc.
ReplyDeleteI guess the bottom line for us at this time is that, indeed, if there is no holy transcendental reality and humanity destroys itself by spoiling its nest, it would be a great tragedy. But, of course, then, there would be nobody--at least on this earth--to mourn the loss.
I apologize for the rambling nature of this response. I'm writing while at the same time involved in some complicated other matters regarding houseguests, covid, cancelled plans, etc.
Thanks, Anton, for your lengthy comments in spite of being involved in "complicated other matters."
DeleteI originally thought about doing a more in-depth article on the meaning and problems of nihilism, but I decided to write a more "popular" piece and referring to nihilism only with the first meaning given in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary: "a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless." It seems to me this is the attitude being expressed by Joy in EEAAO--and by perhaps an increasing percentage of "the present-day twentysomethings and older teens" as I referred to in the post. I was happy to hear that among your current students you are finding only a few that "suggest there is no meaning."
There still have not been many comments on what I thought was an important topic--and those I have received are quite different.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, a local Thinking Friend sent an email with this message (in its entirety): "Sorry, Leroy, this blog does not matter to me."
Then this morning I had an email from a Thinking Friend (who is a generation younger and a university professor) who wrote (in part): "I wanted to say how much I appreciated [this] post, and I was particularly impressed from a scholarly perspective how you synthesized the different movies in terms of the theme of what matters in life. That was an impressive bit of cultural and artistic commentary."
Just a few minutes ago I received the following pertinent comments from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for posing a difficult question, 'What matters most?' Aside from the basic physical things to sustain life, I would say that moral philosophy matters most since it defines our relationships with each other and, for theists, with God. There are, however, differing moral philosophies based on differing axioms such as narcissism, duty, hedonism, or humility and compassion. Christianity, along with the other world religions, offers a moral philosophy based essentially on humility and compassion, with which I agree, and it seems the one most likely to counter the perils of nihilism. Much more could be written about this.
"I did not watch the Oscars, and I have not seen any of the movies you cited, although I read a rave review of 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' a movie Judy and I should probably see. The other movies you cited also look interesting.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Eric.
DeleteAs for "The Banshees of Inisherin," I wouldn't give it "a rave review." I wrote on my record of movies seen that "it was interesting but quite farfetched and was a questionable nomination" (for one of the best pictures of 2022).
Yesterday afternoon, I received the following good words from local Thinking Friend Linda Schroeder:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for your thoughtful (as usual) blog. I agree wholeheartedly with your closing sentence. I will continue to champion life and love in whatever time I have left."
Linda, thanks for reading my blog post and for your warm response. I pray that more of my Thinking Friends "will continue to champion life and love" in the time they have left as you are doing.
DeleteAnd here are comments Thinking Friend Patrick Crews in Arizona posted on Facebook yesterday. (My FB account has been locked, so I linked to this blog post on June's account, and Patrick posted these comments there.)
ReplyDelete"Nihilism is the despair of the absence of any necessary, metaphysical purpose to life.
"Is there anything sacred? When nothing is sacred of itself apart from and in competition with all else, then all and each aspect can be met and embraced as sacred Nothing matters gives us the freedom to matter. Wisdom passes through nihilism to joy.
"If/when we genuinely, wholly live in integration with all lives, we have no thought about the purpose of life. No purpose is necessary, no excuse is needed. Love has no justification. Living beyond our ego containers is more than satisfactory and prior to our misguided philosophies.
Thanks for your comments, Patrick--which seem to me to be expressive of the Japanese Buddhist concept of 無我 ("muga").
DeleteAs to what matters (if we want it too), whenever I come to watch EEAO, I would hope there is at least a shred of hope manifested in an act of sacrificial "dynamic other-interestedness" (I John 4:7-11). Merely salutary claims to be loving will not be satisfactory. Is it not easier to defend the claim we care for others if observers can readily collect evidence worth reflection and evaluation? I suspect the one for whom nothing matters exists in a manner befitting one who at heart - in the soul's core - has never benefited from another's sacrifice for his or her sake. That's hard to believe, but more than possible. Don't our modern tragicomedies and other genres cry out for authenticity, integrity, and caring action and speech?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your erudite comments, Jerry. -- Yes, in EEAAO, Evelyn (the mother) seemed somewhat (even if not extremely) judgmental about her daughter (Joy). But I am not sure that Joy's "nihilism"--or that of many young (and not-so-young) people today--was primarily because of her mother's--or others'--lack of caring action and speech.
DeleteMeaning is not an object found out in the universe. Meaning is what wells up within us as we experience and participate in the universe in other people, nature, pets, and even ideas. I think of a play by Tennessee Williams, The Night of the Iguana. In this play an old man is trying to finish the last line of his last poem. That quest drives him on. His daughter helps him during his quest. That is life in a nutshell. We are full of meaning, and we pity and fear people who are not. Even our pets know that!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Craig. I haven't read "The Night of the Iguana" and I don't have a pet, so I can't respond meaningfully to what you wrote about those two topics. But I certainly agree that meaning is not something external waiting to be discovered, somehow/somewhere, but is an "internal" matter--and that, I think, was much of what the movie EEAAO was all about.
DeleteMeaning is found in God and experienced in his presence, his creation, and His word. I liked your blend of film and theology
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave. (I still would like to know more about who and where you are.)
Delete