Michael Lister - The Meaning of Life in Movies

Books by

Michael Lister

Books by Michael Lister

(The Meaning Series)

Finding the Way Again

Meaning Every Moment

The Meaning of Life in Movies

(John Jordan Novels)

Power in the Blood

Blood of the Lamb

Flesh and Blood

(Special Introduction by Margaret Coel)

The Body and the Blood

Blood Sacrifice

Rivers to Blood

Innocent Blood

(Special Introduction by Michael Connelly)

Blood Money

Blood Moon

Blood Cries

Blood Oath

(Jimmy Soldier Riley Novels)

The Big Goodbye

The Big Beyond

The Big Hello

The Big Bout

The Big Blast

In a Spiders Web (short story)

The Big Book of Noir

(Merrick McKnight / Reggie Summers Novels)

Thunder Beach

A Certain Retribution

(Remington James Novels)

Double Exposure

(includes intro by Michael Connelly)

Separation Anxiety

(Sam Michaels / Daniel Davis Novels)

Burnt Offerings

Separation Anxiety

(Love Stories)

Carries Gift

(Short Story Collections)

North Florida Noir

Florida Heat Wave

Delta Blues

Another Quiet Night in Desparation

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Copyright 2012 by Michael Lister

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Inquiries should be addressed to:
Pulpwood Press
P.O. Box 35038
Panama City, FL 32412

Lister, Michael.
The Meaning of Life in Movies / Michael
Lister.
-----1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1888146-78-3 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-1888146-79-0 (trade paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-888146-88-2 (ebook)
Library of Congress Control Number:
Book Design by Adam Ake
Printed in the United States
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
First Edition

Special thanks to Jill Mueller, Adam Ake, Jan Waddy, David Vest, Will Glover, and Jim Pascoe

I spend a lot of time meditating about the meaning of life, a lot of time pursuing a life full of meaning, and lately, Ive been thinking a lot about meaning within movies.

Its one thing to say movies can be meaningful. Its quite another to say the meaning of life can be found in them.

Meaning is defined as what is intended to be, the import, purpose, or significance of something.

Movies not only reflect and explore purpose and significance, their very existence is because of them. Not only are certain films highly significant to me, but I find the fact that there are films to be most significant of all.

We tell storiesand have for as long as weve been humanas a search for, an exploration of, and a way to transmit meaning. This is as true of the 17,000-year-old Lascaux cave paintings as the most recent serious novel or film.

Is there a purpose to life, a plan? Why are we here? What does it all mean? Is there true significance to existence or is it merely the result of random chaos momentarily materializing into something resembling order?

For me, the exploration of these ideas, the asking of the questions, is far more important than the conclusions reached. That we long for meaning is meaningful itself.

Film reflects life. In it, we see ourselves. Through it, through our identification with characters who become our surrogates, we have questions about life and meaning and significance and purpose asked and answered in a variety of ways.

Movies teach us that meaning can come from many placestheres not just one way to have a meaningful life. They teach us about the power of having a purpose, of being committed to something that transcends our small self-interests. As Rick Blaine, in the act of sacrificing the great love of his life at the end of Casablanca, says, Im no good at being noble, but it doesnt take much to see that the problems of three little people dont amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

They teach us of the inestimable value of friends, of people who care for us, and for whom we get to care. They show us just how absolutely essential love is for having a meaningful life. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind demonstrates the resilience and relentlessness of love, even as Jack Goes Boating and Conversations with Other Women speak to us of its fragility. Richard Curtis, in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually, reminds us again and again that love is not only what makes life worth living, but our imminent deaths bearable.

Perhaps more than anything else, movies remind us that the meaning of life is life itself. That we are here, nowalive, sentient beings, searching for meaning, struggling, hungering, failing, occasionally succeeding, is an awesome, awful, wonderful, wondrous, inspiring thing to behold and be a part of. Each of us is the protagonist of our own motion picture, the star (people made of exploding stars) of our own heros journey. Our vision is unequal to the sweeping curve of life, of existence, and yet we occasionally catch a glimpse, perceive, however momentarily, just how meaningful the whole catastrophe of life really is.

And finally, films teach us of death, of the great loss none of us lose out on. I can think of no movie that does this any better than Synecdoche, New York. Everything we are, everything we know, everything that makes up our extraordinary and utterly idiosyncratic uniqueness will come to an end. As Roy, the more human than human-replicant in Blade Runner, says, Ive seen things you people wouldnt believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

And yet

Weve lived. Weve loved. Weve been loved. Weve lost. Weve won. Weve acted honorably. Weve acted horribly. Weve been, at moments, the best and worst versions of ourselves. And after everything, something of us still remains.

Im a man on a missionone that began very early in life.

Im a seekersearching far and widea traveler of inner and outer landscapes. Theres nowhere Im not willing to go, no journey too arduous, no climb too steep, no descent too deep.

After all these years, my desire is still at times overwhelming. I thirst with an unquenchable thirst, crave with an insatiable craving. Im in pursuit of the thing I was pursued forand though it can be called many things, it is one. What Im after, what Ive been looking for for so long, what I will ache for for all my numbered days, is meaning.

From early adolescence, I have felt that life is fraught with meaning, and that to live a meaningful life requires a certain approachmindfulness, openness, meditation, contemplation, abandon, deliberate study, intentional experience.

I find meaning in many places and through many experiences. My quest has led me to theology, philosophy, psychology, and to art. In fact, art is in and intertwined among everythingart in general and literature in particular. So much so, I can no longer distinguish between art and religion, art and philosophy, art and psychology, art and life.

Writing this book is a facet of my search for meaning. Im looking for the meaning of life in every book I read, every movie and play I watch, every song I hear, every photograph and painting I gaze at. But reading and watching and gazing arent enough. I also have to process, explore, contemplateand thats where the book comes in. After all, how will I know what I think until I see what I write?