The small group scenarios, however, emphasize that social mores do change, away from individualism, in tribal arrangements where external factors threaten long time group society. Reproduction can be viewed as a moral responsibility.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
"After the Dark" (aka "The Philosophers"): a thought experiment on what we value in human life
“After the Dark”, also titled “The Philosophers” (indeed, after Haydn’s 22nd
Symphony, and directed by John Huddles) is interesting for its layered approach
to storytelling, which is necessary for a film that wants to explore moral
questions in a didactic manner.
On the last day of an college senior philosophy class in an
international school in Jakarta, Indonesia (with American and western
students), the professor “Mr. Zimit” (James D’Arcy) poses a problem, as a group
thought experiment. A nuclear war
erupts, and there is room and oxygen and food for just ten kids to survive in a
bunker for a year, after which they can try to repopulate the Earth.
The film takes place in part in Jakakarta (with some
on-location shots) and in the classroom, but then it dramatizes three episodes
of what happens in the shelter (and in surrounding desert, with mushroom
clouds).
For the first exercise, each student draws a card giving an
occupation. The kids have to decide
which skills are more essential, deciding survival on utilitarian terms. The “poet who has just been published” is the
first to be shot, because in this Maoist world he is worthless. The kids have to pay the consequences for
not getting the escape code from Zimit.
In the second part, the cards contain a second qualifier,
which might change the perception of who should live. One man says he is gay but has the equipment
to reproduce if he has to. He gets
picked but once inside the bunker, refuses to deny who he is. The difficulty in having pregnancy encourages
women to have as many partners as possible, but one girl refuses. I thought about the utilitarian treatment of
the military draft in the 1960s with its student deferments, which I took
advantage of.
In the third part, two of the more charismatic kids – Petra
(Sophie Lowe) and James (Rhys Wakefield) challenge the Darwinian approach and
insist on a tack that is more libertarian.
All the kids can stay in a bunker, which will be farther away. They can canoe in the South Pacific to the
site. Inside, everyone is welcome. There is music with a harp, and the poet
reads his newest work. When the come
out, they have the final payoff.
A tough part of the moral problem in this film is how we
appreciate people as individuals. We tend
often not to value everyone for what they can do, but to view them as not
worthy to be among us.
The small group scenarios, however, emphasize that social mores do change, away from individualism, in tribal arrangements where external factors threaten long time group society. Reproduction can be viewed as a moral responsibility.
The small group scenarios, however, emphasize that social mores do change, away from individualism, in tribal arrangements where external factors threaten long time group society. Reproduction can be viewed as a moral responsibility.
After I moved to Minneapolis in 1997, with my new "Do Ask, Do Tell" book in hand, I first encountered graduating seniors who had majored in philosophy. One, at Hamline University in St. Paul,, help set up mmy speech on the book, which got onto cable on the Liberty Show in 1998.
The official site is here (from the Olive Branch and Phase 4
films).
The film can be rented from Netflix.
This movie could be compared to "Exam" (Jan. 14, 2012).
Picture: Oak Ridge, TN (my trip 2013).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment