MovieChat Forums > I Heart Huckabees (2004) Discussion > I hate this movie AND I know about exist...

I hate this movie AND I know about existentialism.

posted 15 years ago by general_ed2000
60 replies | jump to latest

Existentialism is boring. In fact it's the most useless philosophy I know of, in my opinion. Who cares if we are all connected; are we all supposed to be happy and have sex with each other now? What matters, and listen to me now, is what we make out of it - the fact that we are all connected. Just because the philosophy has a fancy name doesn't mean we have to freak out. I choose to not care.

This movie is shallow. It is not deep. I'm in the middle of a marathon right now including Trainspotting, Amelie, Garden State, some Quentin Tarantino - and then this suddenly slaps me in the face with its boredom and normalcy.

This is - and I mean this in the most insulting way possible - the most normal movie I've seen.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] aairheart 15 years ago

That's because you've already decided you aren't going to see it. There is a bit more to it than matter being made up of atoms; actually if you're looking at thing on the scale of whole atoms, you're still looking at things orders of magnitude more broad than the most basic of quantum mechanics.

Truth be told, if you do look at the core of the sciences with an objective mindset, you'd be hard pressed to find anything that would suggest any kind of grater meaning. The common argument here is that that doesn't prove the absence of meaning, which is true, but the fact of the matter is that the only thing that would even suggest the existence of such meaning, as far as I can tell, is that so many people simply WANT it.

[–] Defenseman13 15 years ago

Here's what's pointless... people starting threads and not participating in them.

Pointless.

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2339870/

[–] smoko 14 years ago

I guess the OP really is an existentialist.

[–] Dejay 7 years ago

I think OP should just try doing the ball thing more often.

[–] ebettman-1 10 years ago

with all his ipper con dittle idiocy. I am watching the movie now.

GREAT Cast WASTED!! (?in more ways than One??)

[–] skiop 15 years ago

Actually, I think you could only come up with the conclusion that life is pointless no matter whether you believe in God or not. If you believe in God, you believe that worshiping and glorifying Him is the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the prize that all Christians are after; therefore, what you do in this life, as long as it adheres to God's laws, is meaningless.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] D_Ciple15 13 years ago

So, I suppose if the OP is calling existentailsm a boring philosophy he/she is basically calling themselves boring since it is all about the truth and reason that you put behind your your own life, you make your meaning/truth in life.

You obviously know very little about existentialism, as others have pointed out. It is one of the most applicable philosophies out there. It is about the choices you make in its most basic form. So, why don't you make the choice to learn about what existentialism really means before you make unintelligent posts on imdb or any other message boards for that matter.

Ignorance is just as much a choice as knowledge ;)

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] usr155-988 13 years ago

I don't have work on Monday, and I'm doing just fine. Thanks for the profound post. I feel much more enlightened now from your post than I do from the simple, lighthearted points this film made....

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] yo_como_comida 15 years ago

1. You liked Garden State?
2. There is nothing within existential belief that has anything to do with everything being connected - that's transcendentalism.
3. If you're looking for deeper meaning you're missing the point entirely. Existential philosophy is about the lack in inherent meaning in anything.
4. ... you actually liked Garden State?

[–] lancekoz 15 years ago

I'm not sure he said he liked it. But you're right, it is a baaad fim.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] wamatt 10 years ago

Garden State was painful. The whole time it felt that it was trying way to hard. Natalie Portman oozing pretension and annoying cutesy insincerity.

[–] Moon_and_New_York_City 9 years ago

Watching it right now for only one reason.....LILY TOMLIN. Fascinated by her on set meltdown videos, viewed on YOUTUBE for years now; and made me curious about the movie itself.

Right now I will say - Mark Wahlberg is the best thing about the movie so far. It is interesting - not normal, or boring as the OP may claim. But hardly some cinematic masterpiece.

Even so - I have become a big David O Russell fan of late and it is fun seeing Talia Shire, Jonah Hill, Richard Jenkins, etc. in these bit parts in this amazingly quirky movie.

I would say the IMDB rating of 6.8 is about right.

the best that you can do is fall in love

[–] aaron-3088 9 years ago

Im not a big Mark Wahlberg fan but his character in this movie would have been a great central Character in a more straight fwd comedy movie ! The Existential part is up to what the viewer takes from it . For me its Love were born we live hopefully we Love alot in different ways, then Death ! I cant comment on that one quiet yet lol

[–] WilbertGyllenhal 15 years ago

Existentialism isn't quite what is depicted in the movie... It's a true philosophy and has nothing to do with what you described.

The easiest thing would be to start looking for details about JP Sartre.

[–] I_Am_Malchite 14 years ago

Existentialism is not so easily defined, even if you do spend some serious time studying a branch of it. There are many philosophers that have been labeled as such, some post mordem, who would probably not have agreed to the label. If you look at Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, etc. each offers a radically different set of viewpoints, but each have been labeled existentialists. You can't just lump together all existentialists into one category and expect to understand any one of them. However, they do all deal with similar issues.

If you want to claim, as the op did, that "Existentialism is boring. In fact it's the most useless philosophy I know of, in my opinion." then your probably either a) committed to analytic philosophy (which is btw the tradition in America) or b) not spending enough time to really understand existentialism. I am about to graduate with a degree in philosophy and trust me, this stuff is seriously hard to truly grasp. Its not like Descartes Meditations, which offer a step by step guide to understanding his doctrine. It utilizes a method in which you read the philosophy, check it against your own life experience, and then check that experience back to the philosophy.

Of course the movie does not go into the depths of philosophy, you just cannot expect movies to be capable of such a thing.

I suggest you take the time to truly understand some part of a discipline before bashing it. And reading some random passage of Nietzsche and not understanding it does not count as taking the time to understand. Philosophy needs to be read with care and usually five times over to really grasp it.

[–] SurlyRed 13 years ago

this is a very interesting, useful contribution, thanks.

[–] Chytilova 12 years ago

I'm no sure Nietzsche qualifies as existential. He might be labeled that by some, but they aren't accurate. If anything Nietzsche is a precursor like Kierkegaard and late Tolstoy. Heidegger and Sartre are good examples though. Existentialism is a very diverse philosophy.

...some post mordem, who would probably not have agreed to the label.

Yeah I think the only reason Nietzsche is thrown in with them is because of his views on religion and questioning of long standing philosophical "truths". I do not see many other simliarities.

[–] tyrannosaurus_rich 15 years ago

Existentialism has nothing to do with being connected. It's the theory that nothing we do has purpose or meaning, and therefore we must find our own meaning through what makes us happy - tits, cheese and travelling - or ultimately plunge into despair at the revelation of life's pointlessness. I can't take your opinion seriously because, let's face it, it's wrong.

And actually, stating 'what matters... is what we make out of it,' is an indication of your wanting to practice whatever makes you feel free, an outlook encouraged by the theory of... take a guess. Good man.

[–] markwd21 14 years ago

Thank you. I can't believe it took this long in the thread to point out that the OP bashed existentialism for what he thought it was and then encouraged us all to live by what it really is.

[–] markwd21 14 years ago

Thank you. I can't believe it took this long in the thread to point out that the OP bashed existentialism for what he thought it was and then encouraged us all to live by what it really is.

[–] ducky664 14 years ago

'This is - and I mean this in the most insulting way possible - the most normal movie I've seen.'

Thank you, that's all anyone needs to know about this rubbish. What a horrendous movie.

[–] HamsterFist 14 years ago

The meaning of irony.

You 'know' about existentialism and yet go on to describe something that is not existentialism. Very funny. Thanks for the laugh.

[–] paulmx 14 years ago

What they consider existentialism in the film is actually pantheism.

[–] cableaddict 14 years ago

I hate isms.

They're so boring & conceited!

[–] Genkem 14 years ago

You claim to know about existentialism and you say it has something to do with everything being connected? Fail.