Wednesday, September 3, 2008

equilibrium: a 'thought' state

earlier this afternoon, out of complete boredom, i've decided to pay the nearby video shop a visit. since its been a while since the last time i have borrowed something out from them. most of the list that they have were movies i have already watched. while some are not really of my interest. but since i was already there, i was forced to pick any movies that i am not really familiar with. one of which was equilibrium which starred christian bale.

the what i thought to be a typical movie, happens to have a very interesting story plot. it was a sci-fi action movie that tackled a futuristic state were emotions are prohibited. the tyrrant who runs the state believes that the root of all problems in the world is due to man's emotions: happiness, sorrow, fear and even love. thus, they have to come up with a formula that supresses human emotions and eradicate everything that triggers it. such as music, art pieces, literature, colors, and all objects that represents memories and sentimental value such as pictures, etc. they even plastered their windows to cover up the sun from rising and setting---impressing!

if you'll come to think of it, the film is not that far from reality. probably, if this will happen soon, the first person the state will hunt for will be dabo---just kidding. peace. nyahaha!

i believe that there is no such thing as an utopia nor there will be a form of society that will be suitable for all mankind. even the game of sims could not be deemed as an utopian community. for it only allows the player to play and act as god. but not to control the emotions of each of the characters. it will take one patience, strategies, maneuvers, and various set ups just to convince a character to do "woohoo" with another character.

aside from rationality, emotions are the things that separate man from other beings. human have emotions. while animals have insticts. one should recognize the difference of one from the other. emotions, as ironic as it may sound, rely to rationality. while instinct depends on drives (food, sex etc.).
emotions play a vital part of our everyday life. everything that we do and think is anchored to it. for man's primary leaning, as to coin one philosoper, is to look for pleasure and avoid pain. although both maybe relative.

to cut the story short, after i have watched the movie, i've asked myself, is it really possible to have an emotionless state? from which, everything is being driven with rationality? and rationality alone?

if you're someone who just came from a break up, probably you would wish for this state to happen too. but for me, i could just imagine a state where there are no one sided bangs, no eye liner, no dark lipsticks, no suicides, and no lasseration. at first, the picture made me laugh (no offense, guys). but when the thought experiment begun to sink in, i then saw a society with no arts, no music, no hugging, no kissing, no keeping of used movie tickets and past cafe/restaurant receipts and no sentimental items. everything is basically, dull and mechanical close to being robotic.

even if sometimes our emotions are making us look outrageously ridiculous, overratedly mushy and and pathetically desperate, one way or another, only in that state, we feel human. and being human goes about any definition of pleasure nor pain. it is a distinct sensation, both a gift and a curse and above all, this makes who we are.

15 comments:

Frankie Calcana said...

I would die in this state if ever it actually existed.

Walang music, walang art!

Boring. Boring. Boring.

I hope this won't happen to us.

Frankie Calcana said...

first time ko maunang magcomment dito.

Chyng said...

it's a suicidal state if you dont feel anything at all. that's so scary! numb!

Julienne said...

I remember that movie..and i didn't watch it because i got tired of the Matrix-like films..anyway, the story is interesting. Have you read the book The Giver by Lois Lowry? They tried having a society too where they suppressed emotions and took away that something that makes you see colors. So lahat sila grayscale lang makita, for equality daw.

Dabo said...

hindi ko binasa... busy ako sa pag-plot ng assasination ng isang blogger..

Dabo said...

yes i am threathening you.






























lol :)

Anonymous said...

Weeee nakakatuwa ang sims. My favorite.

Maganda rin yung title. Equilibrium. You know in science if you say that you are in state of equilibrium that means you're dead. We can know think that life without emotions is like death.

[chocoley] said...

this is xoo creepy, good thing [I] never felt it tht much,.. fortunately

Kape Kanlaon\ said...

Long live EMOs!!! hahaha

. said...

But I beg to disagree. Animals have emotions... :)

Mahilig ako sa mga films na dystopian ang theme. Ikaw ba?

lucas said...

a world without happiness? sadness? it could be true that emotions could sometime cause chaos in our lives but living a life with that humane attributes would leave us as hollow beings. an empty shell. a thing. a nobody.

---

checked your visual crafts and i would like to say you're a pure-blooded artist. kapow! kudos to you mate... fave mo yung sa ms. paint!

Joaqui said...

Emotions are our strength and weakness at the same time.

Anonymous said...

The older we grow, the more realistic we become.

Or whatever. (lol)

Nice entry. I miss your lighthearted posts though.

Unknown said...

if mugen said animals have emotions, then i say that human have instincts. sociologists and anti-freudian would really like to believe that humans dont have instincts, only drives. ironically though, drives such as food and sex are life instincts of man.

as for equilibrium. an emotionless states does not equate to an equilibrium. there is only equilibrium if there is something on the other end of the spectrum. its a dichotomy.

emotion exists because rationality exists, that is if they are believe to be opposites. same principle as yin and yang.

moreover, come to think of it. once u reach the state equilibrium, parang nagiging "nothing" ang kalalabasan. one cancels the other. so this means that there is life because of the imbalance of things.

;)

PS.
dabo, ur safe. u exist because i exist. hehehe

Anonymous said...

i don't get it and animals have emotions..

why someone like you claim animals have no emotions.. what's next a presumption they don't have intelligence and memory, come on...

in behalf of the animal kingdom arf! arf! arf.. grrrr

-dabo ulet


LOL :)