- Was it trying to show us that lying has its good points (little white lies, brutal honesty that numbs us to those in trouble around us, insults that should be better left unsaid)?;
- Was it a critique of religion as false hope? When Mark was on a TV interview show for a brief second at Anna's house, he looked and sounded like just another televangelist;
- Or did it show, even if religion may be a false hope (in the moviemakers' eyes), that hope is worth believing in b/c it gives the people in this world that their lives weren't for nothing (you're a loser on Earth and now you'll be rotting in the ground - geez, what's the point of life then? Look at Jonah Hill's character and his insistent research into suicide);
- Did the filmmakers add deliberate philosophical tie-ins with Nietzsche (bending reality to fit to one's will and lying creatively) or Christianity w/ Mark acting as a stand-in for God when he gave Anna the chance to love him on her own accord a few times (much like the Christian scholars have said that God gave mankind free will so that we can love Him on our own accord)? Though, I'm not sure what Mark sees in Anna...
So, your job is to think about something, just one single thing, that you would remove from our world in order to create a parallel world like the one in the movie so that this parallel world would somehow be better than our world.
Try to stick to one thing - I know it will be difficult, but please try.
250 words by Monday, March 4 by class.
Sources:
Negative review of Invention: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/9910/weekend-box-office-anti-religion-invention-of-lying-awesome-zombieland-butch-feminist-whip-it-mikey-moore-agit-prop/
Another review of Invention from the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2009/10/12/091012crci_cinema_lane
Another one from the L.A. Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/02/entertainment/et-lying2
Negative review of Invention: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/9910/weekend-box-office-anti-religion-invention-of-lying-awesome-zombieland-butch-feminist-whip-it-mikey-moore-agit-prop/
Another review of Invention from the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2009/10/12/091012crci_cinema_lane
Another one from the L.A. Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/02/entertainment/et-lying2
If there was one thing I could remove from our world today, it would have to be the technology epidemic in relations to social media. I think one of the biggest issues that society faces today is the amount of false things that are released on the internet and are available to anyone who wishes to view them. In society today, word travels fast. Even if something happens to be false, people always assume the worst and often rely on the media for so called "accurate and reliable information". In relations to social media, I think that first off- Facebook, Twitter, and Texting are the triple threat to society and younger generations. What was it like to play outside once upon a time, instead of sitting on our butts watching television shows about people who don't really matter to us in life? I think social media is harming the younger generation because it's teaching kids to forget what it's like to interact with each other. It's easy much easier to text somebody something than to say it to their face. It's so much easier to tweet at someone something mean and then anyone can see it and it makes you look bad. Facebook is just another resource for people to use besides texting, and even then, so many different people can add you on Facebook and some people just accept all their requests regardless of who they are. Isn't that a scary thing? Accepting people to see your personal page and giving them access to actually chat you even if you don't even know who they are is a scary thing. Without social media, I think that interactions between people would be so much different. People interacting in person would be so much genuine and real. People wouldn't have to resort to their phone to send a message to someone but instead they could gain social skills, and these social skills are essential skills to life. Another issue with social media is how it effects public speaking and pertaining to careers and job interviews. Kids don't develop proper speaking skills and it becomes more difficult to say something aloud rather than typing it up with your thumbs. I think an advantage of removing the social media aspect from our world today would eliminate a lot of stress that people experience due to these social media websites. I've seen celebrities get so horribly harassed on twitter and facebook, and it's truly unbelievable to me how easy it is for someone to comment something so rude on the internet and how it's not censored at all and there's nothing that anyone can do about it because they have the right to voice their opinions. So many people suffer from harassment over social media websites and it's really sad because people take what someone says over the internet so harshly and it can really effect people so significantly that we've seen some people even take their own lives. Without this social media aspect though, I think that since society is so technologically developed and advanced that people would have a really hard time finding a way to interact with people differently.
ReplyDelete(continued)
Emily Elconin
(continued) ....People take advantage of what twitter and facebook is really meant for and use it in ways that are really awful, but it is a way of communicating and for those people who are infatuated with celebrities and what not to follow the lives of these people who in reality will probably never even know our names...so, yeah. It's ridiculous. It's kind of pathetic. But, it's become a way of life. I think that without out, we'd be better off. Our world has once lived without it, and could probably do it again, but I don't think that in reality, people would be willing to do it. Kids love it. It's a distraction to society, it effects education and kids concentration in schools. Are kids really ADD? Or is it just the distraction of the phone, twitter, and facebook that is responsible for their lack of concentration? Would kids be more successful? Would education be different? All these questions circulate around the idea of technology, and what's it done to society today. I think the growing of technology is inevitable, and it's already taken its toll on America. I just truly believe that so much stress would be reduced in our lives if the social media epidemic was gradually eliminated as a core part of society.
ReplyDeleteEmily Elconin
If I could remove one thing from this world it would be corruption. Too often things are done for personal gain rather than the greater good and what will help the majority of people. We obviously instinctively think of ourselves first, but we need to try and think of others before we do that. Just because something benefits you it doesn’t mean that it will benefit others and society as a whole is more important than one individual. Unfortunately many people haven’t realized this, more particularly the people in Washington D.C. One of the reasons government is so messed up in many countries is because of corruption. People in a position of power given to them by the people in order to benefit the people are abusing their power and becoming corrupt to make a little extra money. People shouldn’t always think money first unless they are struggling to put food on the table. I guarantee that the powerful people in our government aren’t struggling to put food on the table so they should be focusing on helping those who are struggling to provide for their family and keep them healthy and safe. So if I could change just one thing in this world it would be that there would be no corruption. In this world people would do things to help the whole society rather than just themselves. There would be more jobs and less hunger around the world because we would be looking out for others instead of just ourselves.
ReplyDeleteLouis Robinson
One thing that I would remove from this world is religion. I know that if it is followed correctly, then it could do a lot of good, but for centuries it has been taken advantage of by power-hungry men. Much like communism, in theory it should work out good, but in reality it can lead to many bad things, such as the crusades, the inquisition, Islamist terrorists, etc… I think that religion has many pros and cons. Probably its biggest pro is that it gives people a reason to live a good life and not do bad things. But, there are many cons as well, one of which is all the hate that is generated between different religions. I think that many religions are very vague and can be interpreted to loosely or strictly which can lead to a lot of conflict. I know that the world in Invention of Lying was pretty depressing with nothing to look forward to and no “man in the sky”, but I bet that in that world they never had religious fights or religious terrorists. I don’t really have a problem with religion if it is practiced moderately, but when people take it to extremes and try to force it upon others, it is out of hand. I think that a world without religion would be a lot more advanced, because science probably would have flourished in all of those places where religion scorned the sciences. Also, the dark ages probably would have never happened, because the Catholic Church wouldn’t have been around.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Schwartz
If I could take one thing out of the world it would be the media. The media is the problem today. The media creates false images for children, and expose them to things that are inappropriate for their age. The media is the reason for suicides in teenagers. If we didn't have all these social networks and magazines, there would not be a change for children to get cyber bullied.
ReplyDeleteImagine a world without the media. We wouldn't be able to know so much about the personal lives of stars, which is none of our business anyway. Our children wouldn't have some of the bad influences they have today from the media. The media creates this image that every woman has to have sex appeal and have this fake body of barbie. The media creates the image of a man being the head of the house hold, but also be unfaithful to his wife and children. The media makes everything so double standard for woman and men.
Deleting the media will have a lot of negative affects. Erasing the media can stop us from hearing about the dirty politicians, and infamous scandals. I feel like we should keep the news and newspapers because they do not go so deep into the lives of stars. Why do we need to know the personal lives of stars? The news focuses on the problems in the community. However, watching the news can be depressing because everyday we hear about someone getting killed or a child getting abducted. Erasing the media might make us blind to the outside world about some things.
The media in my opinion does my harm the good. The media is why the world is so screwed up today. We value the unnecessary things in life instead of the things that we will need to succeed.
If I could remove one thing from the world, I would remove hate. I know it sounds cliché and everything, but think of how far humanity can get without everyone trying to fight each other. I always felt like if everyone was united we could accomplish so much more. Too often petty disagreements escalate way out of control and the end result is something unneeded and irreversible. Irrational hate leads to divides between nations and misconceptions of different lifestyles, and I guess I could be considered a follower of that philosophy where you take value from everyone‘s culture but I still think it’s important to take pride in your own personal background and where you come from. I assume there could have been some drawbacks to no hate, for example it might have taken much longer to do anything regarding nuclear fission since there wouldn’t be a need to create the atomic bomb. Certain military technologies might not be at the level they are now because there wouldn’t have been a need for them. It’s hard to wrap my head around what this would be like and what the repercussions of this would be though, if there was a dictator would they be overthrown? People wouldn’t know to hate what they’re doing, but would they even be doing something hateful? But if I could take something away it would be hate. Or mosquitos.
ReplyDeleteIf I were take one thing away from this world so that it never had existed, I would choose greed. Without greed our world would be a much better place. In this day and age, a person’s importance is measured by how much money you make a year. The world is full of greedy people that are power hungry as well as desperate for more money. Especially in Birmingham, Michigan, people enjoy the finer things in life. People around here are not content with just making enough money to get by, they want to make as much money as possible and show off their success.
ReplyDeleteIf we were to have a world without greed, it would be somewhat similar to the world in the movie, “The Invention of Lying”. I would predict that people would be happier and more friendly because they wouldn’t be in constant competition with each other to see who is more superior. You would think that a world without lying would be a happy place for everyone but, as the movie shows, not everyone is happy. Jonah Hill’s character is depressed because he cannot handle the truth. In a world without greed, I would assume that there would be a few people that wouldn’t be as productive. If people weren’t as greedy as they are today, people would sometimes not feel any motivation to be productive or successful and could cause laziness. I think there would be more people that would enjoy the world without greedy then people who would fall to laziness.
Jessica M.
If there were one thing I would take away from this world would be lying. I know it really isn't to creative, but honestly I would. In the movie it was fantastic to know everyone’s opinion almost immediately. Also I loved how you didn't have to try to assume everything or try to figure stuff out like when people lie. So the plus side of not lying in the world would obviously be that people would be for sure more trustworthy and that you would always know what people were thinking. Although, it would have some drawbacks, such as no exciting changes or questions unanswered in life, which is sometimes good. On the other hand that could also be bad because life could get really boring and dry like in the movie. Sources of entertainment would also probably be awful due to the fact everyone couldn't lie. Another positive side to it though is that it would make peoples opinions very easily known no matter if the person was quiet or shy, because all you would have to do is ask them. I think that this world wouldn't be any better than the world we have now though, just easier to work around and succeed in because of the straight forward nature of the whole world. The only really bad downside to this elimination of lying would be the fact that in this world a person could not have any real fun with his or her friends because the conversations would have to be extremely short and concise, not to mention honest. If you really think about it a person exaggerates on so many things through out a single day and doesn't even notice it. So getting around that I would love for their to be no more lying.
ReplyDeleteKevin
Id be curious to see a world without love and hate. I wonder how a world of numb people would be like. I feel like there would be less energy in everything that surrounds us. Love is absolutely everywhere. If there was no love, I am guessing there wouldn't be marriage or any excitement. People would only interact with one another for living purposes and become completely altruistic. This could potentially become dangerous because people wouldn't mind doing certain things to others because they would just think in a selfish manner. I doubt there would even be religion because that is caring about something else. Parents would not be as much of helicopters over their children as well and there would probably be way too many because people would just be having sex without feelings. The kids would probably become stronger individuals because their parents would let them be. This could reduce some bad behaviors because they would be able to discuss things with their parents. If there was no hate, there would for sure be no more wars. We would all interact with one another and agree with the first person that comes up with an idea. As much as this world would take a lot from ours, it would take out a lot of pain. Everyone I see around me either suffers of not feeling enough love or spending too much time hating themselves or other people. This world would feel less but not suffer either. There wouldn't be anymore hate crimes, racisms, or wars. People would still be able to feel happiness and sadness but just not the extreme cases of each.
ReplyDelete- Ophelie
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ReplyDeleteIf there is one thing I would take out of the world today I would have to choose greed. Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning in a world of personal gain, and nobody has the decency for humanity and the environment. People are engulfed with greed because they think it will somehow make them happy. Little do they know it’s a false hope. Many kids ask their parent and teachers “Why do I go to school?” and the answer is to go to college. “Why do I have to go to college?” to get a good job. “Why do I need a good job?” to make a lot of money. “Why do I need to make a lot of money?” To be happy? I don’t think so. Happiness is a mindset that doesn’t equate with a lot of money and possessions. Big businesses exploit workers if they are given the chance, to make a bigger profit and take another vacation to paris in their private jet. Labor unions if given to much power will also exploit their employer for all they’ve got. It is a disgusting dog eat dog world we live, and there is no sense of humanity. People only look out for themselves, and that is instilled our minds on our first day of preschool. If greed was taken out of the equation, I think many more people would be happy because they would have peace of mind. Happiness would be an easier thing to grasp. At the same time though, there would be less competition and therefore be less of a push to do amazing things. People might not try as hard to be all they can be because they are already happy, but is that such a bad thing?
Kristina Elkins
LATE
ReplyDeleteIf I were to remove one thing from this world it would be sadness. If everyone on this planet were happy I cannot believe that there would be any serious problems. Happiness is a gift and if everyone were to share it, I think we would all understand one another. Understanding is really important and in this day and age, there is none. If I could get on the same page as someone else, then nobody would have a reason to cause problems. Sadness, I think is sort of a cycle. If a person is sad, then whoever witnesses it will react too. Frowns really are contagious, yet if said cycle were cut-off it wouldn’t be a problem. In the very real world we live in today, we cannot simply end sadness. Nevertheless, sadness is still ideal for elimination. I can’t really find any negatives here. Sure, from the outside this parallel world without sadness seems pretty lame and like a total farce, but that’s only because we live in a world of sadness. I imagine a world where nobody has ever known sadness or despair but only happiness. Everyone would get along and then we’d actually get down to solving problems like global warming, poverty, and much more than our world could ever dream of accomplishing. Nobody would be arguing here since everyone would only ever be patient and try to understand one another’s opinions. A planet full of happy people, I find, is fool-proof.
Nikita
There are a lot of bad things in our world and if we removed them we would live in a much better society. But it thinks that if we removed killing from our society things would be so much better. If we didn’t have killing there would not be wars and countries having arms races trying to build all of the nukes that they can. Also there would not be murder and then people wouldn’t have to be scared for their lives during certain things. Even though I am a strong advocate for gun rights, in this world guns wouldn’t be necessary, because what’s the point of guns if people don’t kill? The only negative that I can think of is over population, clearly if people are dying in war or murdering each other the population will be higher, but I think that isn’t a big price to pay to save lives. Without killing there would be much more peace in the world because people wouldn’t threaten each other with murder and guns, because it wouldn’t make sense to rob someone at gun point when it’s impossible to kill someone. Therefore this would eliminate lots of crime, such as robberies and rape. Overall I think that if we eliminated killing from our society we would live much happier lives, because we wouldn’t live in fear day in and day out, also people would be happier because there would be so much more peace in the world which can’t be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteChase