Stephen Colbert has made "truthiness" quite popular. Satire has a way of dispelling falsehood--his recent run for the presidency has given truthiness some credibility. Did he really run? Was his run truthiful?
Just wanted to point out a few major motion pictures that highlight the meaning of truth, belying the postmodern riff that each of us has our own truth. What is the meaning of each of the following unless there is Truth? (Note the capital "T"...)
"The truth can be adjusted" from Michael Clayton. A film about a lawyer who sees what's really what and bad guys go after him--what meaning would this have if there isn't a Truth that is being messed with?
"The search for true love begins outside the box" from Lars and the Real Girl. This film is about a guy who treats a blow-up doll as a real girl. The twist is when everyone else starts doing it as well. Charming. Thing is, it is only such when we all have firmly in the back of our minds what real actually means.
"Everyone wants the truth... until they find it" from Gone Baby Gone. Is truth painful? Sure it is, when we must confront our falsehoods. Most people just don't want to do that. When you do deal with it, then you're free. Actually.
"Something's happening to Dan. It's confusing. It's awkward. It's family." From Dan in Real Life. Ah yes, the "Life is messy" movie. Steve Carell is funny, but... yeah. Another "Life is messy" movie. True enough. What of it? Sometimes the messiness does mean it's authentic. Other times we really don't like it if it is too messy. Want it to be authentic and not-too-messy?
"If you don't stand for something, you might fall for anything" from Lions for Lambs. Scary-- that you'd fall for something that would destroy you. My question here is, what precisely is it that the "something" should be? What exactly is the "Truth with a capital 'T'"?
I think it's a Person.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment