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by marc schultz Over 71% of our lives is spend working to make money. Second only to sleeping, work appears to be capitalism's favorite pass time. Perhaps I am alone, though I doubt it, in thinking that there is an imbalance in the numbers between work and leisure. The problem is that leisure doesn't make money and relaxation doesn't pay the bills. Monetary responsibilities such as house, car, kids and so on, tend to tip the scale towards swallowing your boss' rectal discharge and smiling about it 48 Monday mornings of the year. Assisting us in dealing with the paradox are helpful products like tobacco, alcohol and shopping centers, the less time spent thinking about the inevitable helps us cope with reality. What about change? Giving up your boss' stool means giving up alcohol and shopping centers; most of us are not ready. Every now and then a film can move you. "Fight Club" details a man's unconscious will to part from a fabricated reality and rid himself of an insomnia called the nine-to-five. Watching a person break from a manufactured desire for material things and regress into total freedom, is both frightening and inspiring. "The Matrix" is an artificial reality that we can all see, only those that choose the truth, get the truth. Science fiction can be fun, however, metaphysician Hilary Putnam made a serious inquiry about the idea of a visual reality and how wrong we are about what is real. "American Beauty" depicts a middle aged man in search of his youth and youthful ideals, the characters are a model for society; his daughter is confusion and animosity, his wife is conformity and his neighbour is denial. In all these films the manipulated becomes the manipulator, the pawn takes the king. As with any good big budget film, my imagination is sent wandering to ponder what has been on my mind for a long time. Then I return to reality and remember why I hate good movies. There is no real life scenario were I can drop all my commitments and let things be as they may. I won't get money from my boss if I extort him, I'll never find "the matrix" because the human brain is not equipped to understand things of that complexity and what I'll eventually call freedom is on the street begging for change as a bum, hungry, disillusioned and at the mercy of whom ever spares me a dime. |
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