Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Like Stories of Old: Stories/Narratives/Mythology/Philosophy (Shooting Azimuths)

[Tom van der Linden is the author of these video essays. Also check out his podcast with Thomas Flight Cinema of Meaning. Support him and get subscriber only videos here.]

Like Stories of Old. "The Absurdist Philosophy of Synechdoche, New York." (Posted on Youtube: May 20, 2018) [An examination of existentialist philosopher Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus and the absurdist philosophy of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York.]

---. "A Mythology of Hope – The Lord of the Rings (part 2)." (Posted on Youtube: August 31, 2018) ["An extensive exploration into the deeper meanings of The Lord of the Rings. This second and final part examines the presence and purpose of higher forces in Middle-earth, and the essential role of hope in Tolkien's mythology." Books discussed: Matthew Dickerson – Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings; Bradley Birzer – J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth; Peter Kreeft – The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings.]


---. "The Archetype of the Warrior - How Film Helps Empower Us All." (Posted on Youtube: January 15, 2018) ["Exploring the Archetype of the Warrior in films, based on Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette’s King, Warrior, Magician, Lover and Carol S. Pearson’s The Hero Within."]

---. "Arrival: Facing the Fear of Existence." (Posted on Youtube: 2018) ["

---. "Baby Driver: Introversion Done Right." (Posted on Youtube: October 13, 2017) ["An examination of introversion in Baby Driver and how Edgar Wright subverts the stereotypical introvert in an extroverted society." Uses Laurie Helgoe's Introvert Power – Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength in the analysis of the characterization of Baby in the film.]

---. "The Before Trilogy: Performing a Real Relationship." (Posted on Youtube: November 10, 2017) [I would easily include this trilogy in my best of cinema. The first time I saw Before Sunrise I was floored because I had never seen a film that captured the magic, mystery and mood of unplanned romance (I won't ruin the end for those that haven't seen it) in such a realistic way. The second and third film, made 9 years later each time, continues to defy the Hollywood/Hallmark co-optation of our romantic ideas. The collaboration of Richard Linklater (director/writer), Kim Krizan (co-writer), Ethan Hawke (actor/collaborator), and Julie Delpy (actor/collaborator), is a major achievement in collaborative filmmaking and escapes the stunt feel of the later unrelated Linklater film Boyhood. I've been dreaming of my film class next semester and how I could explore B. Ruby Rich's call to move past Hollywood's/America's singular focus on individualistic experience and maybe this could be the start from a masterpiece on an evolving dyad experience that avoids privileging one perspective and moving outward to more fully collective depictions. "A video essay exploring how Richard Linklater created one of the most unique portrayals of a real relationship in his Before Trilogy; consisting of Before SunriseBefore Sunset and Before Midnight."]

---. "Capturing the Intuitive Wisdom of Children: Children of Heaven." (Posted on Youtube: October 31, 2018) 



---. "The Essence of Faith – What Signs Was Really About." (Posted on Youtube: December 29, 2018) ["Exploring the essence of faith in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs." Books discussed: Jerome Bruner – Acts of Meaning: Four Lecture on Mind and Culture; Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning.]

---. "Everyday Virtue: Paterson and David Foster Wallace." (Posted on Youtube: May 26, 2017)

---. "The Fantasy of Ultimate Purpose – How Our Entertainment Reveals Our Deepest Desire." (Posted on Youtube: July 31, 2018) ["Explores the anatomy of purpose in films, television series and video games, how it differs from finding meaning in our own lives, and the importance of discussing our escapes into these fictional worlds. Book used: Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning."]

---. "Fight Club: How (Not) to Become a Space Monkey." (Posted on Youtube: November 16, 2019) ["Video essay on Fight Club; examining how charismatic leaders like Tyler Durden turn men into Space Monkeys." Ernest Becker book The Denial of Death is used to formulate the critique/interpretation.]

---"First Man: A Sobering Look at Human Greatness." (Posted on Youtube: January 30, 2019)

---. "Get Out: White Fragility as a Movie Trope." (Posted on Youtube: May 19, 2017)

---. "Gladiator: Turning Spectacle Into Meaningful Story." (Posted on Youtube: 2019) ["

---. "Heroism and Morality - The Lord of the Rings, Part 1." (Posted on Youtube: August 24, 2018) ["An extensive exploration into the deeper meanings of The Lord of the Rings. This first part examines Tolkien’s sanctification of pagan virtues, and the role of heroism and moral victory in Middle-earth." Books discussed: Matthew Dickerson – Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings; Bradley Birzer – J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth; Peter Kreeft – The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings.]

---. "Hostiles and Wind River – America's Unresolved Grief." (Posted on Youtube: June 30, 2018)

---. "How Ken Burns Changed the Way We Look at History." (Posted on Youtube: September 15, 2017) ["An exploration of the academic validity and public value of the work of renowned documentarian Ken Burns. Content: 0:00 Introduction; 1:34 What is History?; 4:57 The Ken Burns Approach; 9:22 Bringing History to Life."  Uses two books in its analysis: Ways of Knowing by Jonathan W. Moses and Torbjorn L. Knutsen, and What is History? by E.H. Carr.]

---. "In Search of Absolute Beauty." (Posted on Youtube: March 26, 2021)

---. "In Search of the Distinctively Human: The Philosophy of Blade Runner 2049." (Posted on Youtube: Jan 29, 2018) [Uses Ernest Becker's The Birth and Death of Meaning and Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning.]

---. "Into the Dark Depths of Humanity – Understanding Denis Villeneuve." (Posted on Youtube: October 31, 2021) ["A deep dive analysis of the filmmaking philosophy of Denis Villeneuve, and of the themes and meanings found in his work."]




---. "Lies of Heroism - Redefining the Anti-War Film." (Posted on Youtube: August 31, 2020)


---. "The Lover Within: How Moonlight Relates to ALL Men." (Posted on Youtube: April 9, 2017)

---. "The Myth of Heroic Masculine Purpose." (Posted on Youtube: February 28, 2022) ["A critical analysis of the myth of heroic masculine purpose, and its effect on men’s perception of manhood, and on their connection to others and to the world."]

---. "The New World: The Lost Art of Grief." (Posted on Youtube: September 29, 2017) ["An examination of sorrow and grief in Terrence Malick’s The New World based on Francis Weller’ The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief. North Atlantic Books: "The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and be stretched large by them. Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it. The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow. Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully."]

---. "Okja: Understanding the (Im)Morality of Animal Consumption." (Posted on Youtube: August 4, 2017)

---. "The Perilous Journey of a Truly Beautiful Soul – Hacksaw Ridge." (Posted on Youtube: October 15, 2018) ["In the 19th century, Dostoevsky wrote The Idiot to explore the perilous journey of the truly beautiful soul. With Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson set out to portray a similar journey; that of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to win a medal of honor. This video dives deeper into this incredible story, examines its narrative structure, the qualities of its main character and reflects on the place of goodness and innocence in a violent world. Sources: K.M. Weiland – Creating Character Arcs"]

---. "The Philosophy of Cloud Atlas: How Beauty Will Save the World." (Posted on Youtube: February 14, 2018) ["The philosophy of Cloud Atlas through the lens of Fyodor DostoevskyJose Saramago, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn."]

---. "The Philosophy of Sense8: Emotion and Connection." (Posted on Youtube: July 7, 2017)

---. "The Philosophy of The Fountain – Escaping Our Mental Prisons." (Posted on Youtube: November 28, 2018) ["Revisiting The Fountain; this video essay pushes beyond the various interpretations of the plot to explore the deeper themes at the heart of Darren Aronofsky’s ambitious film." Books discussed: Ernest Becker – The Denial of Death; Eckhart Tolle – The Power of Now.]

---. "The Problem of Other Minds – How Cinema Explores Consciousness." (Posted on Youtube: May 31, 2018) ["How have films engaged the problem of other minds? In this video essay, I discuss cinematic explorations into consciousness in the context of the cognitive revolution that has challenged many of the basic assumptions about what was for a long time believed to be a uniquely human trait." Uses Frans de Waal's book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?"Hailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition--in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos--to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we've underestimated their abilities for too long. Did you know that octopuses use coconut shells as tools, that elephants classify humans by gender and language, and that there is a young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame? Fascinating, entertaining, and deeply informed, de Waal's landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal--and human--intelligence."]

---. "Prometheus & Covenant: Building a Mythos of Savage Creation." (Posted on Youtube: October 27, 2017) ["On the road towards Alien: Awakening; this in-depth analysis explores how Prometheus and Covenant built a mythos of savage creation around one of the most iconic movie monsters."]


---. "Stoicism in the Shawshank Redemption." (Posted on Youtube 2019) ["The Stoic Philosophy of The Shawshank Redemption, presented in a few brief meditations based on the writings by Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus and Chrysippus."]

---. "Sunshine – A Visceral Experience of Life, Death and Meaning." (Posted on Youtube: September 28, 2018) ["An examination of Sunshine and its visceral presentation of themes of life, death and meaning." Book discussed: Carl Sagan – Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.]


---. "The Tree of Life: Crafting an Existential Masterpiece." (Posted on Youtube: May 7, 2017)

---. "The Ultimate Antidote for Cynicism: It’s a Wonderful Life." (Posted on Youtube: December 21, 2017) ["A video essay looking at It’s a Wonderful Life and its discussion on individualism that is arguably more relevant than ever."]


---. "Venturing into Sacred Space | Archetype of the Magician." (Posted on Youtube: April 21, 2018) ["In this conclusion of my Archetype Series based on the book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, I examine the archetype of the Magician and explore some related concepts such as initiation, ritual process and sacred space." Other sources discussed:  Carol S. Pearson – The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By; Robert Moore – The Archetype of Initiation: Sacred Space, Ritual Process and Personal Transformation; Mircea Eliade - The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion; Victor Turner – The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure.]

---. "What Makes a Great King? Exploring the Archetype of the King in Movies and Television." (Posted on Youtube: August 18, 2017) [MB: I think this has a great message about the leader role/archetype (not comfortable with the king thing, but I recognize it is an archetype) and only wish that it wasn't limited to just a discussion of masculine archetypes. Easily beats the ocean of facile business leadership books. From the author: "... Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette’s archetypes" in their book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine  "are a very interesting way to analyze media and provide personal insights, similarly to Joseph Campbell’s related concept of the Hero’s Journey."]

---. "Why Apocalypse Stories Feel Different Now." (Posted on Youtube: February 21, 2023) ["An exploration of the evolution of apocalypse stories, and of how The Last of Us, Station Eleven, and The Leftovers are shifting the emphasis of the genre towards a more hopeful and humanistic tone."]

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