Film, Literature, & the Human Condition

Coraline, which is directed by Henry Selick, is based upon a wonderfully dark book by Neil Gaiman, the man behind The Sandman graphic novels as well as many other fantasy works. Words like masterpiece or classic should usually be kept in their holsters and drawn only when they are absolutely imperative to a work of art’s description, when it is difficult to describe it with conventional thought processes. Coraline is an unusual film. I can tell you it’s in the same vain as Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride, both of which are connected to Henry Selick, but Coraline is apart from those works because it will touch viewers more deeply. Like the dreamscapes of Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, this film is cultivated within a dark and gloomy tapestry, however it is about real people and that makes its relevance to us very powerful. Its primary audience is children, which will undoubtedly cause some to question Selick’s technique, but adults will be touched by it as well because a lot of the feelings implicitly discussed in Coraline will engender pangs from the universal wounds left by childhood. (continue reading…)

Plato’s Republic is one of the most influential works in all philosophy. It is heavy stuff, but at the root of it, the discussion is about one idea: what would the world be like if philosophers ruled? This simple statement, eight words long, seems harmless enough, but it actually brings about a tirade of intense moral and ethical dilemmas, inherently questioning everything we know to be right and wrong. Many consider philosophers to be cockeyed idealists who are afraid to get their hands dirty in the dust fields of reality. Truth be told, some of the opinions that philosophers put forward are very dangerous when considered within the fragile, airtight social, political, and economic systems our world runs on. These are systems that resort to compromise, something I don’t think most philosophers and idealists believe in, at least not in a practical sense. The breed of compromise they understand inherently requires everyone to be on the same wavelength, or as close to it as possible. Looking at it from that viewpoint, their notions are very chivalrous and can even send chills of greatheartedness down one’s spine. But, alas, I believe the world would collapse in on itself to be governed in such a way. So what are we left with? The world as it is. And after pondering the glorious convictions of human truth put forth by philosophers, we are left with a dispirited and nihilistic portrait of existence. (continue reading…)