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McCarthy's confession of monumental cynicism. Feel the darkness too?

posted 13 years ago by jdanielwilliams
6 replies | jump to latest

Although I enjoyed this movie for the pure poetry of it, I must admit that it took me to a very dark place. It is clear that Cormac McCarthy was struggling with the idea of "the meaning of life" - or, the lack thereof, when he sat down to pen the script. Has anyone else touched the void as I (sort of) have - and come up with an explanation that gives them comfort?

Please skip the "Jesus comforts me" trope, as that horse has been beaten to death in our daily lives, and thoroughly exploited in "The Sunset Limited."

As an agnostic who does not rely on faith in a puppetmaster-god guiding me along, I think I might have come up with a very satisfying reason to love life.

I'd be happy to share it with anyone who wants to know what I think...

Usually I charge a fee for clever lines, but here's one for free. You're welcome...

[–] dreamcandyy 13 years ago

Sure, please do tell what you think jdanielwilliams...

In exchange I will tell you how I feel...

A. I'm positive every soul on this earth (in one shape, form, or another) has felt the "void", or the "darkness" or anything that that entails.

Obviously, this world is a dark place, past, present, and future.

B. As someone who believes in a creator and the creation of the creator (humanity, mother nature, ect), my comfort in life does come in multiple forms..
1. This creator; the "unknown"; the fact that I (nor any one else) knows for certainty HOW we came about, we may attempt to describe the progression of such creation, yet it's merely scratching the surface.
AND SO, with these facts all into play, ONE of my comforts comes from knowing that I am NOT obligated (or held accounted for) to fully comprehend/"know" all things that have "potential to be know", therefore, I find peace in this understanding. (NOTE this is NOT "ignorance is bliss", it's truth, IMO)

2. (most importantly) I believe this "creator" created us, mankind, for a reason (purpose), and that it is for us (mankind) to have a relationship with "it".
AND SO, with these beliefs into play, another reason why I am comforted is because since I believe this "creator" created this beautiful place (amongst the deepest darkest places) AND gave us purpose, then I believe this creator ultimately desires the "best-for-us", and that I am "not alone", thanks to the creator.

I'm positive many will disagree with me, because this creator "allows bad things to happen", and the only thing I can say to that is that yes, life is dark, and yes life is beautiful, they come hand all thanks to the existence of FREEWILL and the "obtaining of knowledge" (as we so call knowledge)

Furthermore, who am I to judge my neighbor? Lest, judge the "creator"?

SO, where do you stand?

[–] gigadragon12 13 years ago

You know what, you are basically one step away from being my own personal beliefs. I essentially believe everything you believe, except the role of "Creator" is filled in with role of "Oneself, or the World, or inner spirits of yourself and other people and nature" (kind of a long definition).

I have comfort that this world is a beautiful place, that no matter how dark things can be or may get that there is beauty to be found. There is beauty in having relationships with other people, there is beauty in discovering ones own purpose and beliefs and ideals, there is beauty in seeing a mountain or swimming in the ocean with fish, there is beauty in interpreting art, there is beauty in maintaining a powerful intellect and learning and thinking for yourself.

In short terms, I don't believe in being handed anything from a creator, I believe we are the creators, and that we make everything for ourselves. Other than that very basic difference, you and I believe in the same concepts.

Which, if I may go ahead and stand up on the soapbox for just a moment, I believe is the only fundamental difference between controlling and being controlled. If you do believe, deeply, personally, in a level of God, then for the love of that, despise organized religion. The only reason for the organization is to feed fodder to the masses, its important to save the sanctity of personal belief by not feeding the machine.

Anyways, that's just me. I understand that your stated opinions were personal viewpoints, and you don't truly sound like someone that masses on Sundays, so no insult or anything like that meant.

[–] dreamcandyy 13 years ago

PS -

I appreciate life and all that is has to offer because of the mere complexity (beauty) behind it. I believe (have faith) in the good of mankind, than I do (have faith) in the dark of mankind. (Although, I have other reasons...)

So, for any soul to "reach" out to this so called "creator" is doing nothing quite different than a soul (who has no faith in a creator) reaching out to science, or "all that is and can be observed", or those who merely have faith in humanity, and thats it.

All that science has to offer is merely an interpretation of an observation, just as the beliefs (faith, religion, whatever you'd like to rock your boat with) in this so called God, are interpretations of an observation (bible, koran, whatever).

[–] dgross-3 13 years ago

The "Nihilism wins" and "Uplifting for Christians... (spoilers)" threads cover stuff you might find useful.

And, hey, I try not to point to wikipedia reflexively, but ... this one ain't bad:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil

[–] dreamcandyy 13 years ago

Yeah, I follow, yet still find myself disagreeing with a lot of it..

It appears that within their logic, the omnipotence of this creator (God) reeks of goodness (or ought to be of nothing BUT goodness, without evil being present), is still yet a misunderstanding. imo, this creator is everything "GOOD" and allows, (key word here) a bunch of "BAD". True this is me adapting my own conscious thoughts to what the creator might think, its humanistic versus "supernatural", so to speak..

However, the point stands that the misunderstanding of the intention and pure essence, of the creator, of itself is all good, and from within this same realm of logic, the bad exists, almost equally.

So therefore, the logic that wikipedia folks/concepts try to say is simple...

1. If God is infinite and all good.
2. Then evil cannot exist.

And I say this statement is vague as all h e double hockey sticks, and false. Why, because Gods infinite-ness, inevitably makes him everything (and some) of how our logic is, good and evil...

Check please.

[–] jdanielwilliams 13 years ago

What makes religion so powerful, and churches so popular, is that religious faith provides a daily, if not constant, assurance to people that there is something better, either in the future or in the hereafter. Due to lack of evidence, I cannot entertain the concept of god. So what do I look forward to in those times of boredom and despair?

As cliche as it might be, I look back to childhood. Most memories from that ignorant and carefree phase of life usually fit into one of two categories: joy and trauma. Physical, mental, and emotional joy and trauma are what memories are made of.

So it makes perfect sense to me to continue on traipsing that narrow line between joy and trauma. Life should be lived for the moments of wonder and enjoyment. It's the little things that make life worth it.

Practically speaking, the meaning of life is simple - it's good food and drink, it's good work, it's art and music, it's intellectual discovery, it's friends and family, it's minimizing suffering and staving off boredom long enough so that each life story is a novel, and not just an epitaph. It's the good bits and pieces and the occasional suffering to remind us. It's the Black and the White in an eternal dance.

Usually I charge a fee for clever lines, but here's one for free. You're welcome...