Nihilism in Film
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines nihilism as: “ [] the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.”
It can generally be divided into several forms, including: existential nihilism, moral nihilism, political nihilism, and cosmic nihilism to name a few.
The first of those -existential nihilism- is the most commonly known form of nihilism, often expressed in the statement: 'life is meaningless.' It is also the form I will be discussing in this essay.
Most people associate nihilism with apathy: 'Life is meaningless and there is no point in doing anything'. People who hold this view believe that everything you attempt is futile and even if you do end up with some level of success it is insignificant on a grand scale (so you might a well not doing anything in the first place). This attitude might be summed up best by the statement from the character 'Mr Peanut Butter' from the TV series Bojack horseman:
“The universe is a cruel uncaring void. The key to being happy isn't the search for meaning. It's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense and eventually you'll be dead."
The statement underscores the sarcastic attitude that an existential nihilist might hold with regard to the meaning of life. The existential nihilist would see no purpose in doing anything productive because he hasn't found the grand purpose of life yet, and unless he has found his purpose, he resigns himself to pointless activities that occupy his time but are forgotten soon after.
The movie Adaptation describes this mood with the character of John Laroche (an amateur orchid collector and enthusiast) in a dialogue with journalist Susan Orlean:
Orlean: "I guess i would just like to know how you can detach yourself from something that you've invested so much of your soul in. I mean didn't you ever miss turtles, the only thing that made your ten year old life worth living?""
Laroche: "Look, I'll tell you a story, all right? I once fell deeply, you know, profoundly in love with tropical fish. Had 60 goddamn fish tanks in my house. I skin dived to find just the right ones. Anisotremus virginicus, Holdacanthus ciliaris, Chaetodon capistratus. You name it. Then one day I say, 'fuck fish'. I renounce fish. I vow never to set foot in that ocean again. That's how much 'fuck fish'. That was seventeen years ago, and I have never since stuck so much as a toe in that ocean. And I love the ocean."
Orlean: "But Why?"
Laroche: "Done with fish."
Orlean reacts to Laroche with surprise because she cannot accept that he lost interest in the things which had given meaning to his life. He moves on to the next pursuit without looking back, which raises the question, why do something in the first place if you aren't going to identify with it or make it a singular passion in life? Things which we invest our time and energy with become insignificant as we move on to the next pursuit, all in an effort to escape boredom.
Existential nihilism is also dealt with in Woody Allen's 'Annie Hall', a movie about a nervous, paranoid comedian and his turbulent relationships with women. In this scene we revisit his youth where it is shown that he was plagued with an excessive paranoid sensibility .
Alvie's mother: “He's been depressed. All of a sudden he can't do anything.”
Alvie's doctor: “Why are you depressed Alvie?”
Alvie's mother: “It's something he read.”
Alvie: “The universe is expanding [] well the universe is everything, and if its expanding some day it will break apart and that will be the end of everything.
Alvie's mother: “What is that your business!?” [To the doctor] “He's stopped doing his homework!”
Alvie: “What's the point?”
Alvie's mother: “What has the universe got to do with it!? You're here in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is not expanding!”
Th doctor: “It won't be expanding for billions of years yet Alvie, and we've got to try and enjoy ourselves while we're here. Huh. Huh??”
The scene is part of the movie's continuous retrospective look at the protagonists past, as a somewhat sarcastic yet endearing explanation for his present day anxiousness and irascibility. Again it serves to illustrate the view that from the perspective of the cosmos, our earthly foibles are seemingly insignificant and any aims (in this case the example of Alvie's homework) are best abandoned.
In Scorcese's 'Taxi Driver', the protagonist Travis Bickle exhibits signs of despair and disillusionment towards society which leads to him taking radical action against a set of pimps and gangsters at the climax of the film.
Travis Bickle: “All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.”
Travis Bickle: “Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit.”
Throughout the film we get the feeling that Travis is driven on by the urge to do something significant in his life, whether it is find the ideal wife or save a young prostitute from a pimp. The squalor of his life and the appeals of climbing up the social ladder far removed, he lacks the purpose and guidance which many of his interlocutors seem to have found, and his rage at the system leads him to extremism. One might call this type of nihilism 'active nihilism' as defined by Nietzsche in the book 'The Will to Power.' As opposed to passive nihilism which espouses defeatism in the face of meaninglessness, the active form is a call to action and an attempt at forging new values to overcome a crumbling tradition..
The plot of the 2009 film 'Moon' by Duncan Jones reveals a devastating secret which might be said to manifest existential nihilism. The character Sam Bell is marooned on the far side of the moon, left in charge of a mining station which extracts and dispatches helium-3 cannisters to earth. After coming face to face with an identical twin, he soon discovers that he and his twin, are merely clones given a brief life with implanted memories and are expunged once their shelf-life runs out. Although not the scenario of humans today, it serves as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of human life with its redundant routines, trivial projects, futile hopes and dreams – and is ultimately over far too soon.
The banality of life is explored both in the movie 'Fight Club' and 'American Pyscho'. In both movies, the protagonists are fully immersed in a capitalist nightmare, spending their days flipping through Ikea magazines to complete their home dining room set, or boasting of their latest home entertainment systems to friends. The lack of genuine fulfillment that such a materialist lifestyle offers them, drives them to despair and eventually to a radical change in behavior.
This feeling of boredom ennui is thought to be a symptom of the modern age. Technology has enabled us to spend the vast majority of our day interacting with devices designed to absorb our attention, to the extent that we are hardly capable of enjoying our lives when we are not using them. Social networks have chained us into a constant loop of dopamine reward systems out of which we cannot escape. Our lives are catalogued by applications which place values on our every experience and activity. An event seems hardly worthwhile if it is not experienced and evaluated by others.
"As the global data-processing system becomes all-knowing and all-powerful, so connecting to the system becomes the source of all meaning. Humans want to merge into the data flow because when you are part of the data flow you are part of something much bigger than yourself. Traditional religions told you that your every word and action was part of some great cosmic plan, and that God watched you every minute and cared about all your thoughts and feelings. Data religion now says that your every word and action is part of the great data flow, that the algorithms are constantly watching you and that they care about everything you do and feel. Most people like this very much. For true-believers, to be disconnected from the data flow risks losing the very meaning of life. What’s the point of doing or experiencing anything if nobody knows about it, and if it doesn’t contribute something to the global exchange of information?" Homo Deus - Yuval Noah Harari
The spirit of existential nihilism is encapsulated in the the movie Lost in translation, where a young philosophy graduate is spending her honeymoon with her husband in Tokyo. The film is set in a regal Tokyo hotel, with guests often meeting in public areas like bars and lobbies. The feeling of loneliness, isolation and boredom is brought to the fore by the cultural divide and language barrier between the American guests and the Japanese hotel attendants and locals. Surrounded by luxury, comfort and modern amenities, Charlotte begins to feel a sense of meaningless in her life and starts listening to new age tapes about spiritual discovery and soul searching. she eventually bursts into tears in midst of this feeling of complete rootlessness and meaninglessness. Despite being newly wed, she cant seem to find purpose in her life choices, a feeling which is amplified by the isolation felt in the hotel.
Charlotte: [on the phone] I went to this temple and all these monks were chanting and I didn't feel anything. John's been using these hair products and I don't know who I married anymore. {Starts sobbing}
In games like "The Sims"characters become representations of our own lives, where we take a birds eye view of ourselves, moving like puppets absorbed in our daily foibles and petty dramas , but undergoing nothing significant in our lives.