MovieChat Forums > The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Discussion > I have a sort of 'tree falls in the fore...

I have a sort of 'tree falls in the forest' type of question

posted 11 years ago by patmss
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If Baxter wasn't real, despite all the physical evidence to the contrary, then was his love for Cecilia real?

I don't know how stupid that question may seem on the outset, but I keep thinking about it and thought I'd bring it to the board.

So everything about Baxter was "created". His personality, his romanticism, his outlook on life, his un-muss-able quality, basically, whatever he brought to the physical world. So that would mean his love or any emotion he has for Cecilia is a result of someone's carefully thought-out imagination. Everything he says and does is essentially programmed, in a way, as he, himself, has addressed in the movie. We're all very aware.

BUT there's this part of me that keeps thinking, yes, he was a creation rather than a human being, he has been programmed to feel certain things and act in a certain way, but those are still HIS "feelings" aren't they? After having his personality thought-out for him, isn't he in charge then of how that personality is utilized? I had that same dilemma with Bicentennial Man. Was Williams really human at the end?

I sufficiently don't make sense now. I'm sorry I made you read that. Again, this isn't a question of Cecilia's choice, but whether or not Baxter's love was real.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] patmss 11 years ago

Very well said. I had some similar thoughts as well while watching. I too appreciate the way Allen seems to inject certain social mores into his films without sounding too didactic. I hate preachy dialogues and musings. Sometimes, you can feel some movies trying so hard to be relevant and insightful. I think it probably helps that his characters are believably conflicted/socially awkward. They don't come off as someone TRYING to be an outcast. So many of today's actors can't pull it off. I mean, today, when people are trying to be "awkward", they actually seem like they're probably cool and aloof in real life.

I'm not too overly analytical when it comes to watching movies really. The great thing about film is that it keeps me off pragmatic, worldly brain activity when I need a break from reality (even with those films when you have to think, at the core, I'm still really watching to be entertained). I just had that nagging thought in my head. I was trying to convince myself to not feel too bad for Baxter, since he's not a real person. I just couldn't help reasoning that what he felt was, in fact, real.

I'm glad you brought up the show of freewill with Baxter stepping out of the film. I was trying to think of specific instances when he broke out of the "programming" to try and highlight how not everything is a construction for him. I was struggling with that a bit, which was sort of a point against his love being real all together. I was just thinking too much about specific actions and instances, rather than the bigger act of him walking out of the film.