September 9th Entry. The tree of life
Sept 9, 2018 22:57:30 GMT
aarvoll (INTJ) and Napoleoff (INTP) like this
Post by Westernman (INTP) on Sept 9, 2018 22:57:30 GMT
www.bitchute.com/video/lhs9lhX9bnDx/
www.bitchute.com/video/lhs9lhX9bnDx/
NOTE: the transcript for my video is taken from the middle of this essay so there will be some repetition for readers. I have chosen a film that in some respects ties into Ken's selection of "Feherlofia". I was told by a total stranger on the street that it may or may not be available for viewing by totally legal means on www6.solarmoviesc.com/ . If that is not accessible just watch the video on my bitchute channel. The link is provided
The tree of life, released in 2011, is the creation of one Terence Malick, a director known for the philosophical and existential themes that permeate his work. This particular film is arguably his magnum opus. A descendant of Christian Syrian immigrants to the united states, Malicks' religious views have always informed his films, weaving a Christian ethos into the fibre of every character, their actions and thought processes. Malick also imbues his film with multiple dualisms; but the one which is most prominent in the Tree of life is the Nature and Grace dualism. Nature is cold, brutal, unforgiving, detached, ambivalent, irreverent. Grace is beauty, forgiving, eternal truth, magnanimous and kind. The life and death dualism is also ubiquitous and where not shown explicitly via the many shots of life coming into being and being terminated, is often referred to implicitly via the symbolism of the tree, or rather the tree of life. Life is portrayed as fleeting, and death as an evil of sorts. Yet life is dependent on it. The death principle is a necessary evil, a vital ingredient in the death and rebirth cycle of nature. This dualistic phenomena allows for new forms of life to manifest which allows a perpetual development of grace in life. Malick alludes to a divine presence, presented visually in the telos of life, and its working towards superior grace from the brutal beginnings. Indeed, there is a constant allusion throughout TOL to a primordial dualism that undergirds all of reality, complementing Christian themes.
www.bitchute.com/video/lhs9lhX9bnDx/
NOTE: the transcript for my video is taken from the middle of this essay so there will be some repetition for readers. I have chosen a film that in some respects ties into Ken's selection of "Feherlofia". I was told by a total stranger on the street that it may or may not be available for viewing by totally legal means on www6.solarmoviesc.com/ . If that is not accessible just watch the video on my bitchute channel. The link is provided
The tree of life, released in 2011, is the creation of one Terence Malick, a director known for the philosophical and existential themes that permeate his work. This particular film is arguably his magnum opus. A descendant of Christian Syrian immigrants to the united states, Malicks' religious views have always informed his films, weaving a Christian ethos into the fibre of every character, their actions and thought processes. Malick also imbues his film with multiple dualisms; but the one which is most prominent in the Tree of life is the Nature and Grace dualism. Nature is cold, brutal, unforgiving, detached, ambivalent, irreverent. Grace is beauty, forgiving, eternal truth, magnanimous and kind. The life and death dualism is also ubiquitous and where not shown explicitly via the many shots of life coming into being and being terminated, is often referred to implicitly via the symbolism of the tree, or rather the tree of life. Life is portrayed as fleeting, and death as an evil of sorts. Yet life is dependent on it. The death principle is a necessary evil, a vital ingredient in the death and rebirth cycle of nature. This dualistic phenomena allows for new forms of life to manifest which allows a perpetual development of grace in life. Malick alludes to a divine presence, presented visually in the telos of life, and its working towards superior grace from the brutal beginnings. Indeed, there is a constant allusion throughout TOL to a primordial dualism that undergirds all of reality, complementing Christian themes.
Malick is somewhat of a recluse, and I may come in for criticism for putting him under the microscope as the creator of right wing art due to the lack of information on his personal and political beliefs. That said, Malicks philosophical and religious themes give his art a rightist soul that is deeper than what many would classify as merely conservative art. Malick has also had to play the game in Hollywood, and many of the ways that we infer the rightist stance of contemporary directors (Nolan,etc.) is by their aesthetic, themes, and absence of egalitarian and social justice narratives. This is a quasi adequate heuristic for detecting rightist directors in the modern era, given the repressive climate that sees the talented ones broach rightist themes in a necessarily abstract way. Regardless, here is my synopsis on an immeasurably deep film that deserves more analysis from our circles.
Though its director Terrence Malick clearly allows for an atheistic interpretation of the film, there is a sense in which Christian theology can be used as the key to unlock the esoteric meaning. This is ratified by the films initial inclusion of the lines from the book of Job; "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?... When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?". These lines are God's answers to Job's ponders upon his own inexplicable sufferings which commenced from an argument between God and Lucifer. In this Christian story, Lucifer proclaims that Job's devotion is merely due to God's favouring of him and his ostensible lack of suffering up until that point. To counter Lucifer's argument, God initiates terrible afflictions upon Job that cause him to ask deep questions as to the nature of existence and the apparent capriciousness of the divine being. God's answers are not forthcoming in a way that is comforting to the limited psyche of the Human Job, and the aforementioned lines are as close as he gets to an explanation. This theme, lifted straight from Christian mythology is reflected in the film at multiple points. The film opens with a scene that forecasts the magnitude of the creators grand visual project, as a mesmerising , fluctuating light, hovers with a celestial glow in the void. This is followed by Mrs. O'Brien's recollection of an adage taught to her in youth, that people must decide to adhere to the path of grace or the path of nature. This will be another reoccurring theme that will tie directly into the opening lines from the book of Job.
The next scene sees Mrs O'Brien, somewhere in the idyllic suburbia of mid 20th century America, receiving news of the untimely demise of her nineteen year old son. As the grim presence of death enters the families lives, they are shaken to the core. We are then taken to the modern day where Jack, the eldest son is immersed in modern life, a successful architect who seems in the throes of an existential crisis of sorts. The ensuing flashbacks to his childhood will be the artistic representation of the inner workings of Jack's mind towards an epiphany. We are then taken on a long visual sequence that depicts the creation of the universe, the emergence of RNA, cellular life, and dinosaurs. In one scene we see a raptor, presumably an innately vicious creature, happen upon a sick dinosaur that lies ill by a river bed. Clearly the sick dinosaur would be easy prey, but the raptor hesitates and thinks better of it. He paces away, casting one look back at his rejected meal, perhaps barely comprehending what he just did. Perhaps the beginnings of morality? The film then throes us back to the beginnings of Jack's life, showing him in his mother's womb, and as a newborn attempting to get a grip on the world. What follows is likely one of the best depictions of a burgeoning childhood on film. Jack grows up and welcomes his brothers into the world. The boys grow up together and we see how they are developed under the nurturing wing of their mother. We also see how the boys first contact suffering and malevolence in a town scene when the family must walk past some convicts. This is the start of a chain of events that leads Jack to question the basis for morality and its very existence. Jack's friend drowns and he experiences suffering that causes him to rebel against the morality imparted on him by his mother. Here we see Jack, the rebellious youth, reject the teachings from the archetype of the paternal father, Mr. O'Brien and also the nurturing mother, Mrs O'Brien.
The roles of the mother and the father instantiate both paths of grace and nature respectively. The mother Mrs O'Brien is graceful, and presents the world as a place of wonder to the infant Jack. She imparts the values of kindness, contentment and dignity. Conversely, the father is authoritative, at times belligerent, and a realist who interprets the world around him as cruel, to be dominated, and so he inculcates his sons with the values he sees that are apt for dealing with this world. The ethical conflict between this bi-polar parenting is resolved toward the end of the film when Mr. O'Brien has a realisation of the wrong headedness of his world view and the futileness of the cynical outlook that humanity is wanted to take. He realises that his values have blinded him to much of the wonder in the world which was hidden from him by his pride and pessimism. He comes to understand that the way of grace reveals a superior path that accentuates life. Mr O'Brien laments; "I wanted to be loved because I was great; A big man. I'm nothing. Look at the glory around us; trees, birds. I lived in shame. I dishonoured it all, and didn't notice the glory." In a sense, this theme should be interpreted as Malick attempting a repudiation of Nietzsche's will to power, the way of nature, via Heidegger and Dostoevsky. Heidegger believed that a human adhering to the will to power is in too much conflict with the world to let it reveal itself and its wonders, and that the best mode of revealment were the states of wonder and care. In relation to Dostoevsky, Mr Obrien's aforementioned words are nearly the mirror image of those from 'The brothers Karamazov' ; "Love all of God's creation, both the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love animals, love plants, love each thing. If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in things."
The films exhibition of the perpetual death life cycle that is ostensibly right wing in nature due to its perennial implications. It provokes a contemplation of death for the protagonist Jack, as the visuals are implied as his personal visions. We can gleam from this that only an acceptance of the grand cosmic schema will satiate our doubts and orientate both Jack, and us the viewer, towards a more authentic mode of living. It is illustrated that the way of grace can unlock this authentic life and provide the key for the return of an ontological wonder. The way of grace engenders a will to love among life and all creation. Love is the binding mood that can teach us the most about reality and comprehending its divine essence, even the harsh nature aspect of reality, which after all is an essential facet of the whole. Here the film endeavours to remind that without dark, there is no light. In the shadow of creations inexplicable grandeur, the diurnal and transient woes of the individual melt away into insignificance. Yet not in a nihilistic way but rather by a succumbing to the omnipotent divine will and telos.
As we see in today's nihilistic left, with the falling away of religious institutions, a pervasive liberal hedonism and death denial. The modern man, as he transitions into truly becoming the 'last man' as prophesied by Nietzsche, has no way to contact with the perennial institutions that directed him upwards spiritually and that created a metaphysical framework for transcendence and dealing with death. Contemplating mortality is a last resort for shaking people out of their modern slumber. At a very fundamental level, this is what Malick is trying to achieve here. This also comes with empirical backing. As recent studies show, when people are reminded of their mortality they become more inclined to make decisions that are more right wing in nature.
There are prevalent ethical themes within the Tree of life. Malick is a known adherent to existentialism, having a degree in philosophy and having his world view heavily indebted to Kierkegaard and Heidegger, even dropping out of Oxford in a disagreement with his professor over the latter. Indeed, it is my opinion that Heidegger is the spectre that haunts TTOL more than any other philosophical or theological figure. In its holistic conception, TTOL is an existential ontology through film. It broaches the big questions, while conveying an implicit ethics, that is profoundly Christian, in the form of life by nature and life by grace. The way of grace as Mrs O'Brien puts it "doesn't try to please itself, it accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked, it accepts insults and injuries. Nature only wants to please itself, and others to please it too. It likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it, when love is smiling through all things." Here we have the Christian ethos, to turn the other cheek in the face of spite and suffering, for its own sake.
The telos of this particular art is very basic and yet very meta. In a world where everyone suffers, why should one adhere to the path of grace? There seems, as Job thought, no rational to the suffering and no apparent recompense to ones efforts to living the path of grace. Jobs questioning is never answered directly but rather he is shown to see creation in it's totality in order to orientate himself in the unfolding of the cosmos. The answer to Job's question and the O'Brien's, why does God allow such evil in the world, can only be answered circuitously. This is done by understanding the bigger picture, the whole of creation, in order to interpret things on the most meta scale possible and in essence, to view the universe as God does.
