A Requiem for Hope

Requiem for a Dream is one of those movies, that, when it is over, you are stuck in a trance. It lacks the humor that is found in its oft compared brothers Fear and Loathing and Spun. About an hour after you are released from the temporary catatonic state. Which is nice because you can escape from the dark depression the film brings on. This is only a temporary reprieve because once you leave the emotional state the film induces, your mind is free to ponder what just happened.

Though it is often portrayed as a “look at the horrors of drugs” movie, it is much more. The first thing to notice is that the characters that use drugs end up on them both on purpose and on accident. The two story lines weave together. As the director noted, this is not an “illegal” drug movie, but a movie about addiction and anyone can be addicted to anything. Inevitably we all become addicted to something that gets in the way of our dreams (hence the film’s title).

I find the film much darker. No one has just one dream. The pursuit of one dream/goal will interfere with the pursuit of another. Slavish dedication to one dream will rule out all others and leave the dreamer unhappy in achievement. Life is suffering and try as Americans do to avoid suffering- it cannot be done. That is the paradox: suffering precludes happiness and the removal of suffering also removes happiness.

Society Circles

Let me begin by noting how much I despise end notes. Why must I flip forward three hundred pages and then back as much just to get a little information? Make it a footnote and end the misanthropy. Now let us (or me, as it is my pen making the markings) move on.

It has been my theory that societies operate as circles. Societies are groups of people (countries, business, friends, etc) that operate (live) within a demarcated area. When a society forms it is a “circle” of individuals with a similar enough set of beliefs that allow them to live (and hopefully) prosper together. Over time, however, the circle gets smaller as the beliefs of the individuals become less compatible. For example, the split into factions we could call “Democrats” and “Republicans.” Eventually the circle gets so small that there are significantly more people outside the circle than in. It is at this point that the process needs to start again.

Recently, though, I realized that this theory was too narrow, or maybe, two dimensional. Unexpectedly, this revelation was born from the movie SPUN. If you haven’t seen the movie it is a three day speed experience following a meth addict (Ross) acting as a chauffeur for a cook (someone who “cooks
up the methamphetamines). My first thought was that this is a sub culture, a sub-circle, existing within or under the main circle that is America. Everyone in the meth circle interacts and influences people outside the circle. There are the cooks (and smurfs) who increase pseudoephedrine sales. There are also users who interactive with an effect non-users.

This makes me think that instead of a circle, a society is a series of interconnected rings.