What’s up everybody?
Jared here.
I wanted to try a new format that’s a bit more personal than our other videos.
I’ve found doing more subjective and less scripted things like podcasting really rewarding,
so I wanted to do something similar in video form.
Hope you guys enjoy.
Movies, TV shows and video games have always been my favorite gateway drug to learning
about the world- well, mostly movies.
Often times I’m compelled to pick up certain books because a movie was either inspired
by it or builds on philosophical questions posed in the film.
In some instances, watching a movie has completely changed my worldview, or made me rethink the
way I look at art.
So today I want to share with you all three movies that changed my life.
Movie #1- The Matrix
The first one is probably common for a lot of people in my generation- The Matrix.
I was 11 years old when the Matrix came out in 1999.
I remember seeing the trailer and mostly thinking that it looked dumb.
I mean I remember Keanu Reeves’s reputation was not what it is today.
“I saved your life bro.
Close one.”
But a friend told me I had to see it, so I did.
And I know this is going to sound a bit over-the-top, but between the time I walked in to the theater,
and walked out, my life had changed.
I’ll never forget watching the scene in the construct, where Morpheus tells Neo that
he’s living in a computer simulated dreamworld.
“Right now, we’re inside a computer program?”
“Is it really so hard to believe?”
Like Neo, it took me a while to grasp what that meant.
I was barely a pre-teen, plus living in a computer simulation wasn’t something as
deeply entrenched in the zeitgeist as it is now- mostly because of The Matrix.
But when I finally got it- I felt like something had awakened inside of me.
Before then, I had never questioned- well, anything, nevermind reality.
It was the first time in my life that I thought that “things may be different than how they
seem.”
This experience of seeing The Matrix for the first time was what ignited my passion for
philosophy and storytelling.
If it weren’t for The Matrix, there would be no Wisecrack.
As soon as it came out I raced to the bookstore to buy “The Matrix and Philosophy,” which
then led me to reading Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra
and Simulation, which the Wachowskis pointed to as one of their inspirations for the movie.
Yes, I tried to read it for the first time at the age of 12, and didn’t understand
a word of it- to be honest, I’m still not confident I do.
The Matrix also turned me into a serious cinephile, and eventually inspired me to go to film school.
I thought: If a movie could affect me this profoundly, then I wanted to dedicate my life
to something THAT powerful.
So I ravenously consumed all the cinema I could.
It’s been said that the language of cinema is universal, and although that may sound
hokey, I actually find this to be a very true, and very important, sentiment.
Exposing myself to foreign cinema wasn’t just a way to experience new stories, but
to open my eyes to other cultures, and other ways of approaching life.
This was also the first time I grasped the idea of subtext in a film- that there could
be a whole hidden layer of meaning.
When I first discovered that Neo’s journey mirrors several savior myths including the
story of Christ, or that his interaction with the Oracle echoes Socrates’s conversation
with the Oracle and Delphi, I became enchanted with the awesome potential of storytelling
to communicate meaning.
After that, watching a movie wasn’t just entertainment, or a fun game of playing subtext-detective,
but a genuine opportunity to expand my horizons.
Now I can’t continue on without also talking about the sequels.
I bought tickets to The Matrix Reloaded the SECOND they went on sale and arrived at the
theater 6 hours early in FULL COSTUME.
Same for Revolutions.
And although it took me a while to come to terms with it, I eventually admitted that
they weren’t great.
But my relationship with these movies is always changing.
I respect the hell out of them because the Wachowskis were clearly aware of the impact
these movies had on people like me and they took that very seriously.
They could have just made two next-level action movies and put the more cranial stuff on the
backburner.
But no.
They decided to try and blow the audience’s mind AGAIN- to make us feel “unplugged”
all over again.
Instead of awakening the audience to the distinction between real and unreal like in the first
one, they attempted to awaken them to the system that informs their perception of reality
vs. unreality.
Basically in the sequels we learn that when Morpheus says in the original film that:
It means more than he realizes.
The Matrix is a system beyond just the actual computer that manipulates human senses and
blinds them to the truth.
It’s a set of principles, procedures, and structures of incentive performed by governing
bodies to perpetuate a power structure- one that has oppressed both humans AND machines
for generations.
Unfortunately it wasn’t for another 10 or so years that I was able to “get” what
they were going for, and I still maintain that there are certain elements of these films
that evade a definitive reading.
Basically- The Matrix was a big ol wrecking ball of disillusionment that crashed into
my life and deeply informed the way I approached the world.
It opened up big questions that I would continue to struggle with until I saw another film
that gave me some context- The Dark Knight.
You can see a kind of philosophical progression in the movies that changed my life.
If The Matrix made me question everything, then it doesn’t take much to imagine that
sentiment eventually leading to questioning foundational religious myths.
It was also around this time that I first started reading my favorite author, Fyodor
Dostoevsky, and specifically, his final work, The Brothers Karamazov, which includes the
famous line “If God does not exist, then everything is permitted.”
Just as I began questioning about how one approaches morality in a godless universe,
here comes Heath Ledger’s Joker, a symbol of existential chaos; an almost elemental
force who shows the people of Gotham that underneath the facade of society and order
lies anarchy, who proves that the universe is indifferent to our moral codes and that
the supposed nobility of your average citizen is only enabled by creature comforts.
Once you strip that away, morality goes out the window.
For years when I would watch the Dark Knight I would look at The Joker and could not even
recognize heath Ledger’s face behind the makeup.
That’s just how thoroughly he had transformed in to the role.
Also, up until that point, most comic book villains were just depicted as crazy guys
hellbent on destruction or world domination.
Jack Nicholson’s Joker jokes because he slipped in a vat of acid that made him crazy.
But Heath Ledger’s Joker jokes because everything is trivial.
And I think Ledger’s Joker was a pretty seminal figure in a general trend of disillusionment
in our culture.
I mean, there are SO many things popular things in our culture that function on disillusioning
people and the little hit of dopamine that produces: Deadpool, CinemaSins, Adam Ruins
everything, Rick and Morty, Bojack Horseman, Honest Trailers, Cabin in the Woods, Sausage
Party…
I could go on.
But the thing that really baked my noodle was the ending.
If you don’t remember, The Joker turns the Harvey Dent, our idealistic guardian of Justice,
in to a murderous psychopath.
So Batman takes take responsibility for his Dent’s evil deeds in order for his keep
his legacy untarnished, so that it may continue to inspire people to believe in good.
It made me think: What do we do in a godless world, where even the noblest among us can
be corrupted, where even our paragons of virtue are all only one bad day away from becoming
as bad as the rest of us?
Batman’s insistence in denying the image of the fallen idol, to lie in order to maintain
hope for the masses, is a disposition towards God or any kind of divinity that I still wrestle
with today.
This “Noble Lie”, an idea originally brought up by Plato in his “Republic”, in which
a controlling body purposefully deceives the masses with a greater purpose in mind, is
something Nolan is constantly playing with: in Memento, in Interstellar, in Insomnia.
But it wasn’t til I saw The Dark Knight that I was convinced of the possible necessity
of this lie, and it shook me to my core.
Even if there is no God, no transcendental signifier, to unite the masses under a moral
code, it’s possible that everything would be better off if we pretended there was.
But more than anything, The Dark Knight was another reminder that movies could be both
smart and entertaining.
That you could make an awesome action movie that also struggled with deep questions that
people have been asking for centuries.
This movie was more than just a comic book movie to me.
This was existential crime noir, and an affirmation of the power of cinema to shape one’s worldview!
And for the last film that changed my life…
Well, this one may come off as a bit strange when compared to the other two.
So at the risk of losing all credibility with you all, here it is- the last movie that changed
my life was Spring Breakers.
As someone who spends too much time overthinking movies, it’s rare that I’m completely
surprised by a film, taken aback by something completely new, especially when it stars Selena
Gomez and Ashley Benson.
By the way, James Franco is amazing in this movie as the rapper-drug dealer Alien.
It’s not only the best performance of his career, but maybe one of my favorite performances
of all time.
If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s about three college girls who rob a pizza shop to
go on Spring Break where they party it up and get involved in a territory dispute between
two drug lords.
But the plot doesn’t really matter all that much.
This movie is more about evoking a mood.
As soon as we see the first images of Spring Break debauchery and hear Skrillex BOOMING
over over it all, I knew this was a tone I had never confronted before.
I couldn’t quite place it.
On the one hand, the film seemed to be an earnest celebration of all things excessive,
but still maintained this ironic, critical distance.
Our main characters seem to be having an authentic spiritual experience, yet the movie dramatizes
it in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
For example, while we hear the girls reflecting on the meaning they've derived from the trip,
we’re shown images of booties gyrating, drugs, and partying.
While at times the film seems to be criticizing the shallowness of Spring Break, it’s actually
a stunning visual experience.
What does it say that a film can thrust us in the visceral, fun, drug like experience
of party energy, yet criticize it at the same time?
That a movie can seduce an audience with something it’s simultaneously criticizing was something
so novel to me.
That wavering between a sincere expression of spirituality and an insincere mockery of
American youth culture was really inspiring.
Soon after, I learned that there’s a whole art movement called “metamodernism” that
spoke to what the movie was doing- essentially oscillating between sincerity and insincerity-
a kind of back and forth between idealism and skepticism that is more comfortable to
sit with than just being cynical all the time.
And this movie was the embodiment of that spirit.
So I think there actually is a thread that connects this with the other two films.
If the Joker is right and we need to tell ourselves elaborate fairy tales to maintain
a sense of hope and purpose, then how does one approach life with any kind of authenticity?
With any kind of earnestness?
Spring Breakers showed me a path I had never before considered: that we can look at the
world with the same detached insincerity that perhaps a lawless, godless world deserves,
but instead of drowning in the mire, to oscillate between that and a sincere disposition that
things still can be beautiful and meaningful.
This film really helped me to take life less seriously.
If ever that I find myself getting too angsty about the various BS one has to deal with
being human, this movie reminds me that we need not afford these things such gravity.
We can both see the world for how it is, and appreciate it for what it could be.
And yes I’m very aware that any kind of philosophical reassurance from a movie largely
remembered as something creepy old dudes watch while eating cheetos in their underwear is
a bit odd, but hey.
I bought this movie on blu ray as soon as it came out and upgraded to a legitimate sound
system just to replicate the experience I had in the theater.
I’ve seen this movie upwards of ten times, and it never ceases to lift my mood.
Anyway guys, thanks for hanging with me as I recount some of the most important films
of my life.
Hope you guys enjoyed it, and if you want me or any other of the Wisecrack crew to do
more videos like this, whether it’s recounting their favorite endings, the smartest movies,
or the best movies of certain directors, let us know.
And as always, thanks for watching guys, peace.
Hope you guys liked that more personal take on a Wisecrack video.
But before you go, I want to give a shout out to the Pancreatic Cancer Foundation that
has sponsored this video because they need our help.
Pancreatic cancer is the world’s third deadliest cancer, the lowest funded, and it affects
so many families across the world.
We partnered with the PCCF because right now the survival rate for pancreatic cancer is
only at 8%, and hopefully with your help it can get better.
You can donate to the cause using the link in the description, any amount helps and it
goes a long way for the people who are affected by this awful disease.
Click the link in the description to raise the rate on pancreatic cancer.
Again, any amount makes a difference for the families whose loved ones are struggling with
this disease.
Thanks again for the support guys, peace.