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| © 1996 TriStar Films |
OK, friends, reality must kick in at some point. Even a healthy serving of Hollywood escapism must give way to a trudge back to life as we know it-vis a vis life as it really is. But, as we look back and gaze appreciatively at Tom, Renée and that creepy little boy whose name escapes me, we can take a little of them back with us to reality and use it to better order our lives in a way that pleases God...and maybe even Cameron Crowe; director and screenwriter for Jerry McGuire. You may be skeptical.
Caveat emptor, you say?
You may scoff at the notion that Divine purpose can be extrapolated from of an R-rated motion picture, with overt sexuality and a fair dose of profanity. You would be wrong.
Let me explain.
An examination of the length and breadth of that which man creates, in absentia to human need and intra ambitum of all human existence would illustrate an undeniable truth; man's creativity had definite and inviolable limits. Collectively, we are bound by:
Simply put, we can only know what we CAN know. A poet can compose a descriptive piece of prose about walking through Versailles; the smell, the colors, the history of the place. But, no poet can write a comparable poem on his or her experiences while camping in the desert on Mars. That dog just won't hunt. If, like Plato, if this assertion is taken to its logical conclusion, a simple truth arises; all that limits our human creativity places limits of WHAT we create. Consider those things that are made for their sake; poetry, literature, music, drama and film-the various elements that are found in their nature and in their composition can only result in a finite number of expressions of the various aspects of humanity. A sonnet is not a anything but a sonnet, insofar as we understand it and within the context of its creation. It can only convey feelings of love, loss and humor within what we know-have discovered-about love, loss and humor. . While the same principles may be applied to music, this sonorous discipline is deeply affected by the laws of physics that govern the flow up and down the harmonic spectrum. Moreover, music is the purest form of human creativity; born of, to quote Willy Wonka, pure imagination...well, not Justin Bieber, but I digress.
Let me explain.
An examination of the length and breadth of that which man creates, in absentia to human need and intra ambitum of all human existence would illustrate an undeniable truth; man's creativity had definite and inviolable limits. Collectively, we are bound by:
- Our own unique experiences,
- What we know of human experience within historical, anthropological and biological contexts
- The parameters that define what we call good and evil, just and unjust (i.e. the nature of the political associations on which man has built human society upon, the dogma that defines our faith, or some combination of both)
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| © 1971 Paramount Pictures |
By the same notion, similar conclusions can be drawn in regards to literature, drama and their modern manifestation, screenwriting. What comes from man's efforts to entertain and inspire can only produce a finite number of possible scenarios. Boy gets the girl, good guy beats bad guy, James Bond ages but doesn't get any older, vampires turn out to be androgynous British weenies, and Bane breaks Batman's back. When any work is examined within this context (with the possible exceptions of ABC's Lost, Pink Floyd's The Wall, and anything directed by Davids Cronenberg or Lynch) will reveal a set of core elements that are not new, and may not have been overt at first glance.. Understanding these principles begins with understanding how we create that which is uniquely human. Moreover, this framework provides a methodology that can be used to judge what humans create on similar levels. When this fiat to understanding ourselves is used properly, we discover esoteric themes that speak to core characteristics of the human condition.
Are these themes mutually exclusive to the examined work? Of course not...don't be silly. These themes are, as I stated two sentences ago, are fundamental to human nature. The trouble lies in finding some taxonomy which can be used to pigeon hole these building blocks of the the human creativity. For the sake of argument, let's call the wellspring of our creative nature the soul. It's a neat catch-all for the most basic and ethereal part of our humanity, vis-a-vis that which separates us from animals. For the sake of further argument, we should recognize that this soul is either made up of, or governed by a trifecta of base elements; basic things that give rise to the various manifestations of human expression and, by extension, create everything from emotion to self-expression to love. This triumvirate is composed of the rational, the creative and the spiritual.
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| DaVinci's Vitruvian Man 1490 |
The rational is that capacity for reason that Aristotle so deftly defined in The Nichomachean Ethics. It gives rise to our need to form human associations; these associations are as basic as the family and as complicated as the modern nation. Born of an innate need of humans to live together, this capacity for reason gives rise to our ability to recognize principles of polity, i.e. good and bad, just and unjust. Our understanding of scientific disciplines, like physics, mathematics and medicine are born of this capacity.
The creative is that part of us that looks beyond the bounds of what we know. Our power to create is the most unusual part of the soul, because it both ignores and embraces the rules of our rational and spiritual selves.
It creates for the sake of creating and not from necessity...a house becomes Neuschwanstein, a hummed tune becomes Ode to Joy, and a and the desire to express becomes Song of Myself.
The spiritual is the part of us that craves to know our creation and, by extension, our Creator. This presupposes a belief in the presence of a Creator...God, the Father...whose nature is beyond the understanding of our capacity of reason or imagination.
To be sure, these parts of the soul do not operate independently of each other. Think of them as a wispy and ethereal amorphous blob floating somewhere in in the confines of our consciousness. They work in harmonious concert with each other, unless the person is either a genius or a madman...then things get sticky.
These elements of the soul produce the fruits of human creativity on the most basic level. Themes are limited by experience and knowledge, but by little else. So, patient reader, where does Mr. Tom Cruise fit in here? Ultimately, he really doesn't. The point here are his words, "You complete me."
The creative is that part of us that looks beyond the bounds of what we know. Our power to create is the most unusual part of the soul, because it both ignores and embraces the rules of our rational and spiritual selves.
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| Neuschwanstein Castle built 1869-1892 in Bavaria |
It creates for the sake of creating and not from necessity...a house becomes Neuschwanstein, a hummed tune becomes Ode to Joy, and a and the desire to express becomes Song of Myself.
The spiritual is the part of us that craves to know our creation and, by extension, our Creator. This presupposes a belief in the presence of a Creator...God, the Father...whose nature is beyond the understanding of our capacity of reason or imagination.
To be sure, these parts of the soul do not operate independently of each other. Think of them as a wispy and ethereal amorphous blob floating somewhere in in the confines of our consciousness. They work in harmonious concert with each other, unless the person is either a genius or a madman...then things get sticky.
These elements of the soul produce the fruits of human creativity on the most basic level. Themes are limited by experience and knowledge, but by little else. So, patient reader, where does Mr. Tom Cruise fit in here? Ultimately, he really doesn't. The point here are his words, "You complete me."
© 2001 Twentieth Century Fox
This expression of idealized Hollywood romance is, at its core, a basic condition of humanity and the penultimate expression of the most elusive human creation; love. Love conquers all...Love is a many splendored thing...Love Lifts us up where we belong...All you need is love... (forgive my shameless hijacking of these lyrics from Elephant Love Medley from the film Moulin Rouge. Still, there's a point here...THE point really...love does matter to un humans more than just about anything else. How we are allowed to define ourselves through free will governs how the three elements of the soul will react with each other, which parts are dominate and which shrivel from disuse.
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| You had me at Hello. |
It was my intention to make a profound and salient point about all this...about how love "completes us." But, I think I'll stop here. Everyone one staring at these words can, via their tri-pronged souls, can read between the proverbial lines (unless they went to Clemson, in which case they're just pointing and grunting at the pictures). I'll leave you with this...in terms of love, Who completes you?
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