The meaning?
What does Catch-22 really mean? I think that it can be used in other contexts than within the military...
shareIt's basically a lose/lose situation.
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MovieChat Forums > Catch-22 (1970) Discussion > The meaning?
Catch-22 has passed into the language from the novel, meaning, as was stated, a lose/lose situation. It's not restricted to military use.
This country isn't turning into the nanny state so much as the Nazi state.
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More specifically, it gives one the right to do anything that they can't be stopped from doing.
shareI think what the film says is that one of the Catch-22's of war is that there are profiteers. For example, Milo, the film's entrepreneur, spreads this doctrine: "What's good for M&M Enterprises is good for the world." This is probably mocking the quote, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country," a quote which has always been attributed to former GM executive and Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson, though he actually said, "...for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa."
The chaos Milo causes is a dramatic demonstration of what Dwight D. Eisenhower called the dangers of a "military-industrial complex." Giving a modern day example, some might say that there is a correlation between Halliburton being contracted by the U.S. Government in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Vice President Dick Cheney, who left his positions as Chairman and CEO of Halliburton in 2000.
But of course, there seems to be many instances of Catch-22 throughout the film. I'd have to watch it again to really pick it apart. Try this for a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_%28logic%29
Basically,
Catch 22 doesn't exist - it is merely a name used to justify the existance of an illogical argument which is there to ensure the power of the bereaucracy.
A Catch-22 is a self-defeating situation or fact set. The novel is rife with examples, although the only one people seem to remember is the whole "have to be crazy to get out of missions, but can't be crazy if you want out of missions" scenario.
My favourite example has always been the preceding leaf from the novel, which reads "There was only one catch - Catch-22". This sentence is in itself a Catch-22, as how can it be Catch-22 if there is only ONE catch.
I realize this might be simplistic, but it is the best example, I think, of an acting definition of Catch-22 - out of the many, many other Catch-22 situations that are detailed in the book. And it's right up front.
"My favourite example has always been the preceding leaf from the novel, which reads "There was only one catch - Catch-22". This sentence is in itself a Catch-22, as how can it be Catch-22 if there is only ONE catch."
I don't get it. How is catch-22 more than one catch? The term refers to a logical error, and a logical error is one catch. Not 2. Not 22.
It suggests there were 22 catches before Catch-22. But if Catch-22 is the only catch, why call it 22? Catch-22 is one catch, the only one, but it's name suggests there are more.
shareI see. I had no idea what the 22 meant. I didn't think that it was the 22nd catch.
shareIt doesn't mean anything. It's just a number. In fact, Heller originally was going to call it "Catch-18", but it was too close to a Leon Uris work being published that same year in 1961, so it was quickly changed to 22. The number is just a place holder instead of calling it "That Catch" or "The Catch". It just makes it seem more important than it actually is, which is the whole point.
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There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. 'That's some catch, that Catch-22,' he observed. 'It's the best there is,' Doc Daneeka agreed.
Another great example of Catch-22 is Major Major's declaration that people can only see him in his office when he isn't there. When he is in his office, then no one can see him.
shareA paradox arising from a situation whereby the desired outcome requires two mutually exclusive criteria to be met
or something
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In the Sequel, Closing Time, there is another good example of a Catch-22.
The president has resigned, so has the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The Vice President who will be president wants to be sworn in by the chief justice. Problem is that he cannot appoint a chief justice until he is president and cannot be sworn in without a chief justice.
To me, the film makes a powerful statement about Western attitudes towards war by attacking crass capitalism and conscription.
Through Milo, we are shown how capitalism taken to the extreme can become as evil and de-humanizing as Nazi Germany.
And through-out the squadron, we see examples of how the war has placed titles and ranks on people that neither wanted them nor were suited for them.
The overall message of the film is that for decent people, war in itself is a Catch-22. The fact that sometimes the only way to keep the peace is by killing will always be one of life's biggest (and saddest) ironies.
JPF