Philosophy and Film: Spring 2013

April 23, 2013

From Eternity to Here

Those of you who want to follow up on the idea of time and have a little bit of physics knowledge to spare might want to check out From Eternity to Here, by Sean Carroll. A few critical discussions can be found here, here, and here. A brief excerpt from the piece in the Chronicle for Higher Education:

We revisit black holes, learning how they are related to gravity and entropy; string theory makes an appearance; and we learn more about current ideas of the ways a universe can be produced, or crunch, or bounce.

It is so easy to suspend your disbelief in following Carroll’s argument that you don’t notice that this book has stealthily started to bend your grey matter into the shape of a theoretical physicist’s. By this stage, your brain will be able to seriously contemplate ideas on the frontiers of our knowledge, from multiple universes to baby universes (and Carroll is honest enough to point out that the latter is his favourite idea, rather than an accepted theory).

This is a privileged tour through not only the Universe, but also the absolute state-of-the-art thinking about it. The blurb on the back of the book claims that this is the “radical new history of time”. So don’t buy the brief version; get this one instead.

April 23, 2013

Parfit and the Non-Identity Problem

We talked a bit about the non-identity problem in class on Monday. Here’s the abstract for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy‘s entry on this topic:

The nonidentity problem probes some of our most intuitive beliefs regarding the moral status of acts whose effects are restricted to persons who, at the time the act is performed, do not yet but will exist. As we try to articulate just when, and why, some such future-directed acts are wrong, we find ourselves forced to think carefully about the structure of moral law: is it “person-affecting” in nature or is it “impersonal” in nature? Can, in other words, an act that affects no person who does or ever will exist for the worse be wrong? Or is the wrongness of any particular act dependent (at least in part) on something beyond what that act does, or can be expected to do, to any such person?

You can read the rest here.

The non-identity problem gets its definitive statement, as mentioned before, in Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons. though I believe I said in class Chapter 17, rather 16 as I should have. Parfit is a remarkable individual in many ways, and that comes through in a well-known interview he did with the New Yorker (you might need a subscription for this, but I suspect it’s accessible through the USAFA domain).

Full disclosure: Parfit was, as I said in class, one of my thesis advisers, and I was a great admirer of his even before I worked with him, so I make no claim to total objectivity in referring you to his work.

April 23, 2013

Who’s the Boss? Who Indeed?

Yes, that’s the theme from Who’s the Boss near the beginning of Donnie Darko.

And, yes, I realize that I occasionally slip into Community-like self-parody in this class.

That said, I have a better hairline than Professor Sheffield, and I’m a nattier dresser too. Plus, I think Abed totally misses the point of Sheffield’s question.

April 23, 2013

The Script for Donnie Darko

The Donnie Darko script is right here.

April 23, 2013

Who’s Who and What’s What in Donnie Darko

Here who’s who and what’s what in Donnie Darko, courtsy of IMDB:

Jake Gyllenhaal … Donnie Darko
Holmes Osborne … Eddie Darko
Maggie Gyllenhaal … Elizabeth Darko
Daveigh Chase … Samantha Darko
Mary McDonnell … Rose Darko
James Duval … Frank
Arthur Taxier … Dr. Fisher
Patrick Swayze … Jim Cunningham
Mark Hoffman … Police Officer
David St. James … Bob Garland
Tom Tangen … Man in Red Jogging Suit
Jazzie Mahannah … Joanie James
Jolene Purdy … Cherita Chen
Stuart Stone … Ronald Fisher
Gary Lundy … Sean Smith

April 22, 2013

What New(s)?

Back to the Future has its own news site. Why not?

April 20, 2013

Back to Metropolis

Before I run out of chances to make connections between Metropolis and the many, many sci-fi films in the last few decades which pay tribute to it (and borrow a lot of good stuff in the process), here we go again.

The clock scene in Metropolis:

And the clock scene in Back to the Future:

Rotweng in Metropolis:

Doc Brown in Back to the Future:

Freder in Metropolis:

George in Back to the Future:

Okay, I’m stretching a bit, but still.

April 19, 2013

The “Libyans”

The “Libyans” in Back to the Future are an awful, racist artifact of the decade out of which the film came. I’m tempted to make this face…

…and then move on.

But no.

The Libyans were played by Richard L. Duran (billed as “Terrorist”) and Jeff O’Haco (billed as “Terrorist Van Driver”). Neither seem to be ethnically Libyan – or even close. Frankly, I’m not sure that’s a good thing or a bad thing, given how ridiculously they are portrayed. Duran was primarily a stunt person and seems to have retired in 2000. That said, he appears to have a small on-going role at mugshots.com. O’Haco has had more success as an actor (including playing “Vulcan Elder” in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek!) as well as doing quite a bit of stunt work. At any rate, I’m not pointing the finger at either for taking these parts. Trying to make a living as an actor is insanely difficult, and both Duran and O’Haco would have had to be made of sterner stuff than I am to turn down roles in a Spielberg production.

However, I do find exploiting our fear and ignorance of Muslims living in North Africa pretty distasteful. We were on very bad terms with Libya at the time (1985), and only a year after Back to the Future, the United States bombed Tripoli. Here’s a BBC article from the time:

At least 100 people have died after USA planes bombed targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region.

Around 66 American jets, some of them flying from British bases launched an attack at around 0100hrs on Monday.

The White House spokesman, Larry Speakes, has said that the strike was directed at key military sites but reports suggest that missiles also hit Bin Ashur, a densely populated suburb in the capital.

Colonel Muamar Gaddafi residential compound took a direct hit that killed Hanna Gaddafi, the adopted baby daughter of the Libyan leader.

President Reagan has justified the attacks by accusing Libya of direct responsibility for terrorism aimed at America, such as the bombing of La Belle discoteque in West Berlin 10 days ago.

The rest is here.

To be sure, Back to the Future is a (very good) comedy, and it makes fun of a lot of people on the basis of group affiliation – including rural whites,

the homeless,

and the socially outcast.

But it’s probably pretty easy for most of those who watch this film also to feel sympathy for people in these groups. Pa Peabody is just defending his family, the homeless guy has a sense of irony, and George has a wonderful imagination. The Libyans, in contrast, are portrayed as nothing but killers to an audience which was already likely to feel antipathy toward them. Back to the Future is not likely to change anyone’s mind for the better. It is, to repeat, a great sci-fi comedy, but this is a serious blemish.

Update: Typos!

April 18, 2013