In Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Bruce Lee (Played by Jason Scott Lee) is studying philosophy and is asked what he will do if/when he can’t get a job and he responds “I will think long deep thoughts about being unemployed”. Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie and all is well. Maybe you are just down for 2ish hours escapism and fun, maybe something else but the important thing is that even though all may not be right in the universe (and it’s not), this little piece of escapism may make you forget about it ever so slightly.

But sometimes you go to watch a movie and something happens. You start thinking about things, what you are watching how it relates to the world, how you would like it to relate to the world, think about how you know nothing or how unsure you are about if you know nothing or nothing is something so if you know nothing do you know something… or nothing? I watched a movie last week (Izo) that I did not overly like but on the plus side it did manage to get me thinking about philosophy and movies. While there are movies I watch for pure escapism there are also movies I watch for the philosophical engagement they provide. And the entire movie does not have to be a thought experiment. Philosophy can be limited to smaller series of scenes, like a subplot/theme, or maybe it’s something as simple as a simple song about problem free philosophies. All that really matters is the movie has struck you in the right (or wrong) way and it got you thinking. As movies are a form of art they also are meant to provoke reactions, particularly movies that are looking for emotional or thoughtful responses it is also important to note that people respond differently to movies so the response may be different between myself and you who have patiently sat through this mish-mashed writing to talk about movies this week. At the end of the day there is a wide range of movies to think about and a wide range of thoughts that can be had with even the simplest of movies. Personally I would like to say that there is no wrong response to movies but the internet and a lot of people’s response to movies such as The Matrix and Fight Club and so on (especially these days) has gone out of it’s way to prove me wrong on that front.

Now getting to my point what is your favourite philosophical response to a movie? Perhaps it is one of your earliest, or maybe one where you were not expecting a response so there was a pleasant surprise. For me it was a bit of a surprise when Inside Out made me think more about my emotional sadness and how important it was to me as a person. Like Joy in the movie I used to think sadness was a negative emotion to be shunned and whenever I felt or expressed it I was somehow failing at life. Now I embrace and sometimes search it out and I feel I am a overall happier person based on this. I actively engage with my sadness because of movies and when doing so I relate my experiences and feelings to the outside world and those I engage with, this movie has made me a more thoughtful person I believe and it is a rare movie that can do that for you. Truth be told I kind of wanted to pick Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for this prompt (Mrs. Fistcrush immediately did when I ran this by her) but as I did an extended write up of it yesterday I decided to talk about a different movie instead). I do love me a good philosophical discussion so I am looking forward to this week.