From: Elizaphanian (Elizaphanian@members.v21.co.uk)
Date: Thu Oct 03 2002 - 19:04:55 BST
Hi people,
In Lila, after Phaedrus has digested his meeting with the great celebrity
Robert Redford, he writes "But what he saw at this point was a social
pattern of values, a film, devouring an intelletual pattern of values, his
book. It would be a lower form of life feeding upon a higher form of life.
As such it would be immoral."
I strongly disagree that films are entirely products of the social level.
That is, I can see how many films, eg Hollywood standards, act as social
glue and do reinforce prejudices, but it is also quite clear to me that film
is an intellectual and artistic medium just as valid at putting across ideas
as a book - possibly more valid. (I think this is related to Pirsig's narrow
conception of the fourth level, as purely intellectual, rather than
individual and inter-subjective [a nod to John B there]).
Anyone out there want to defend Pirsig on this? If we want to talk about a
particular film, how about this comparison:
"He also used to wonder if there was a higher farmer that did the same thing
to people, a different kind of organism that they saw every day and thought
of as beneficial, providing food and shelter and protection from enemies,
but an organism that secretly was raising thee people for its own
sustenance, feedin upon them and using their accumulated energy for its own
independent purposes."
OR
"We return to the power plant that Neo escaped from where
we see human beings looking almost blissful in their
gelatin cocoons.
MORPHEUS
The human body generates more bio-
electricity than a 120-volt
battery and over 25,000 B.T.U.'s
of body heat.
Outside, spreading all around the power plant, beneath a
breathing greenhouse, are the growing fields.
MORPHEUS
We are, as an energy source,
easily renewable and completely
recyclable, the dead liquified and
fed intravenously to the living.
Huge farm-like reapers are harvesting the crop.
MORPHEUS
All they needed to control this
new battery was something to
occupy our mind.
We see inside a clear tubular husk. Floating in viscous
fluid, there is a human fetus; its soft skull already
growing around the brain-jack.
MORPHEUS
And so they built a prison out of
our past, wired it to our brains
and turned us into slaves."
Does Pirsig really put the point across better than the Wachowski brothers?
I'd be interested to hear what y'all think about this.
Sam
www.elizaphanian.v-2-1.net/home.html
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