A while back I was asked to submit a writing sample with a job application. The only options I had were academic papers. So, I wrote a movie review just to have a piece of light, casual prose. I had a great time writing it. So now I write this blog, just for the fun of it.

The topics are the two things I know most about: movies and philosophy. Once upon a time, I enjoyed serious cinema. I still do, actually. But when I began studying philosophy more seriously, all I wanted to watch were escapist, genre movies. All week long, I would read serious books, and think serious thoughts. Serious movies just weren't as fun as they used to be. Thus, the movies I write about are generally low-brow. But I cannot abide by pop philosophy. And while the philosophy posts are informal, and not for specialists, I do try to keep them serious. So this is a low-brow/high-brow kind of blog. Unibrow.

One last note, this is not about philosophy in movies. And, not because the movies I discuss are not exactly art. But because the philosophy in movies is usually about an inch deep. Even when a movie is philosophically interesting, it usually is not philosophical about it. The best philosophy in movies, in my opinion, is literary, or psychological. They show how people deal with philosophical problems. After all, can you imagine what it would be like if a movie tried to be objective? It would be like watching a science-fiction movie with real science. 1000 failed experiments that only provide ambiguous data.
Thanks. If you've somehow found this blog and read this far, I hope you enjoy it. And, don't worry, I don't think philosophy must be objective.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Feedback

OK, so I received some feedback this week. It was actually kind of nice. A relative asked me to post about The Matrix and Descartes. And a friend asked me to blog about the Peter Sellers classic Being There. I may have to break my own rule of keeping movies and philosophy separate to post on these, but I don't mind. Once I get a chance to see these again, and read up on Descartes, I'll write about them.

If you have any movies or ideas you would be interested in discussing, please comment. I'd  be happy to try to accommodate.

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