Download Kabrina Beaudette - M. Sauvé English

Kabrina Beaudette
Ms. Sauvé
Response to philosophical film
May 23rd, 2013
Adapted by M. Sauve May 11, 2014
Is Fate In Control?
Do you decide your life’s purpose, or is it decided for you? Is there such thing as fate or
is that just another excuse for us to be able to make mistakes and brush them off because “what’s
meant to be will always find a way” (Trisha Yearwood’s song She’s In Love with a Boy)? These
are two very conflicting ideas, and both could be right. When it comes to philosophy, many ideas
are conflicting and uniting at the same time. We may be living our life, doing the same and
different mistakes to only be fooled and be a victim of fate; the unavoidable path that we must all
follow, regardless of the situation. The movie I Heart Huckabees (directed by David O. Russell)
in about deciding your own fate. In this film the main character tries to find the meaning of a
series of coincidences by hiring existential detectives. In doing so he realizes that because
everything is connected, there needs to be an equal balance between light and dark, and that
being disconnected from the world leads to pain and unhappiness.
O. Russell focuses a lot on the meaning of life; who am i? Why am I here? The main
character Albert tries to find his life’s purpose and the meaning of coincidences. Throughout the
movie he realises that there is no real purpose to life and you have to make your own. You
decide what’s important, you make the choices and you make your fate. Albert tries very hard to
do the things he loves and in doing so he only thinks of himself, and soon the idea of saving the
marsh is forgotten when he tries to get all of the credit. He is not only obsessed with trying to
make a name for himself but obsessed with keeping the credit from going to Brad, his enemy
who is trying hard to make himself look interesting when he really isn’t. This makes him realize
that he also doesn’t know his purpose in life.
This film is dripping in irony, from the title to the way the characters speak. I Heart
Huckabees is ironic because Albert hates it. He is doing everything he can to save the marsh and
stop the development of money-hogging enterprises like Huckabees. Because of the irony found
within this movie it helps us understand how he sees his life, that maybe he’s taking it too
seriously and we should just relax and think of the “blanket” (everything is connected, I am you,
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you are me). Or Sophie is Hilde, Hilde is Sophie in Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, who also
poses the question what makes me different from you? Are we? How do I define myself in time
and space as different than another? Is this possible, and if so what is the point of being different.
Another ironic part in this film is when they make fun of spirituality by saying everything is
connected, then the existential detectives put Albert in a giant body bad and zip it up, essentially
closing him off from the world, closing him in. When Sophie is not reminded of Hilde, by
finding her things lying around or seeing her in the mirror, she thinks she exists separately, or
yes, disconnected from her ‘other’ selves. But it is only in this ‘bag’, or alone like in meditation,
that we are truly distraction-less and more able to concentrate on the connectedness of all things.
Very ironic indeed.
When it comes to Brad he is very self-centered. He thinks he has his whole life figured
out and that he is successful. Upon talking to the existential detectives he realises that he only
appears to be interesting by telling and re-telling the same story about Shania Twain. Talking
about her makes him seem important because she is famous and he shows that he is friends with
her, then making fun of her because she ends up liking chicken salad makes him seem interesting
and witty. When he realises that he tells this story over and over again he really isn’t interesting
and he is completely baffled and feels like his entire life has fallen apart. This use of tragic flaw
is important because after breaking down the walls of his personality he is more like Albert than
he thought. Then the symbol of the blanket comes in again about everyone being connected.
There are serious differences in lighting between characters. Brad (the antagonist in this
film who is the representative for Huckabees and wants to build the mall and destroy the marsh)
is viewed as popular and powerful, and most of the time the lighting around him is high key,
portraying that he is happy, liked and “good” in a sense. When the camera goes on Albert, often
lighting is low-key and the camera angle looks down on him portraying that he is worthless and
pathetic, a victim. Doing this makes us see that they are two completely different people, then at
the end of the movie when Albert realises that everything is the same and we are all one, the
lighting on both of them becomes the same. When this happens Albert also realises that
everything matters and it’s not just the big picture.
The costume designs and colours play a large role in this movie as well. When you see
Brad he is often in bright color garments, blonde hair and well put together, very preppy. On the
other hand you have Albert who is often in dark colors like brown and black, long shaggy hair
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and he is often slouched. This is used to show the differences between the personalities and in
doing so the difference is very apparent once they realise that they are one.
As society often does we focus more on the big picture and don’t make much of the little
things, which is what we should be doing. If we decided one day that we are all connected and
that someone else’s pain is actually your pain too and the same thing goes for other emotions, we
will live a better life. But unfortunately we usually only think of ourselves, and that we are the
center of the world. We only think about our needs and why we’re frustrated that today is such a
long day and that we are stuck in traffic, but if we think about other people and that maybe
they’ve had as bad a day as we have (if not worse) then we are more sympathetic and hopefully
this will lead us to having a happier life.
This movie represents philosophy in different ways. The meaning of life is that you
cannot avoid your purpose and fate is inevitable; all of our experiences in life are important and
shape us into the people we are today. We cannot have happiness without pain, we will not be
thankful for what we have until we experience life without it. In I Heart Huckabees the meaning
about life and how we should appreciate the little events and joys more. While this film is very
confusing at times, and those without a background in philosophy and who don’t know much
about it could get easily lost, as the philosophical ideals are many and to be a beginner and
decipher them all is a large task. However, we can all relate to the idea of comparing our life to
someone’s else’s, wanting to find meaning in convergence, in trying not to blame other people
for our problems, and finally to try to learn what we are meant to do here with this life.