Have you heard the joke about the existentialist who says to his doctor "I have liver disease." The doctor asks "how can you know that, since there is no discomfort of any kind with liver disease?" The existentialist replied "I know, I know, those are my exact symptoms!"
OK, OK, nobody ever said that existential humor was funny. So, imagine my curiosity when I read that Hollywood actually produced an existential comedy. I've seen lots of existential movies, like Apocalypse Now in 1979 or Leaving Las Vegas in 1995. But, I could not imagine an existential comedy. It is titled I Heart Huckabees. But, with Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin Mark Wahlberg, Jude Law, Naomi Watts, and Shania Twain, why wouldn't I watch it??
One of the most popular tenets attributed to existentialism is that every person is an island -- removed and cutoff from the rest of humanity and the world. Jumping from that tenet, the movie shows the faux debate between "everything in the world is connected" . . . and "everything is atomized, random,and chaotic." Obviously, both positions are both correct and wrong simultaneously. But, the movie's humor is about the struggles of everyday people trying to deal with weighty subjects. It is surrealistic to think everyday people even care about, much less struggle with such issues, and, believe it or not, that actually becomes quite funny.
Because I expected the movie to be nothing more than some amusing intellectual fluff, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, would I recommend it for others? Well, no . . . unless you're an existentialist.
OK, OK, nobody ever said that existential humor was funny. So, imagine my curiosity when I read that Hollywood actually produced an existential comedy. I've seen lots of existential movies, like Apocalypse Now in 1979 or Leaving Las Vegas in 1995. But, I could not imagine an existential comedy. It is titled I Heart Huckabees. But, with Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin Mark Wahlberg, Jude Law, Naomi Watts, and Shania Twain, why wouldn't I watch it??
One of the most popular tenets attributed to existentialism is that every person is an island -- removed and cutoff from the rest of humanity and the world. Jumping from that tenet, the movie shows the faux debate between "everything in the world is connected" . . . and "everything is atomized, random,and chaotic." Obviously, both positions are both correct and wrong simultaneously. But, the movie's humor is about the struggles of everyday people trying to deal with weighty subjects. It is surrealistic to think everyday people even care about, much less struggle with such issues, and, believe it or not, that actually becomes quite funny.
Because I expected the movie to be nothing more than some amusing intellectual fluff, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, would I recommend it for others? Well, no . . . unless you're an existentialist.
