The two films Doubt and Life of Pi are based upon experiences and situations in which personal judgments are not based on proof or evidence of what is known, but what is trusted or believed. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) suspects and confronts Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) about his seemingly unusual relationship with a black 12-year old student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster). After he returns to class with alcohol on his breath, Beauvier questions Flynn and accuses him of exhibiting inappropriate behavior with Miller. Flynn is outraged and states that Street has no right for her accusations because she does admit that she has little evidence to disprove Flynn's story. Sister James (Amy Adams) is convinced of Flynn's story and tearfully pleads with Beauvier, asking her why she refuses to believe him. Beavier explains that she does not need evidence. Instead, she acts upon experience, doubt, faith, and a little lie that worked in the end. Pascal comments that is is this very lack of evidence and reason that justifies our beliefs and actions. Furthermore, "it is by lacking proofs that they are not lacking sense" (578). It is through her faith, experience and gut feeling that Beauvier is able to bring about justice in her school and for Miller.
In Life of Pi, Piscine's tragic story unfolds into a strengthening experience of unquestioning faith. Piscine studied and performed religious dogma from various religions growing up. But when shipwrecked and castaway, he found truth not through facts or proven knowledge, but through finding himself and connecting with Richard Parker and nature. Reflecting, Pi says that even though we can not see or prove God exists, we feel him and know that there is another power at work. It is from his experience of being on that boat that fortified his faith in the higher power. As Pascal says, "reason can determine nothing here" (578). This is too true. It was Pi's choice of living and connecting with Richard Parker that he was able to survive and restore his faith. Pi's faith was never based upon facts or something that he was able to prove in the end as a result of his journey. He reflects upon it as a transition that comes about with doubt, experience, and faith. He even comments that "doubt is useful for a while" because is tests what we want to know.
How else has doubt appeared as a useful tool in these movies or in others you have watched? Can it be considered a sort of "filter" or does it have even deeper purpose?
I enjoyed this post and I will probably have to watch Life of Pi soon based on these blogs. In response to your questions I think that doubt has to enter into movies that we watch or even any of our daily actions. We call people who lack this necessary doubt "gullible". When we watch a movie that has a twist at the end, we try not to take everything at face value but doubt what is easily presented to us. Films like Shutter Island and "The Prestige come to mind.
ReplyDeleteThis filter of doubt exists because much of what we see and experience is not "true" per se. We doubt the optical illusion of the pencil bending in the water because we know that the pencil is not bending like that. This sense of doubt is necessary for daily interaction with the world. Most of what we believe to be true we have tried to doubt first, because that is a way that we come to knowledge.
I have to strongly disagree with the idea of make choices based on gut feelings. Though it seems to work out for the characters in these films, enacting such policies in the real world is not something to be desired. Everything around us can be defined by reason, and so to base actions off of 'feelings' rather than reason is to set oneself up for making the wrong decision. I'm sure the Christian Church, for example, probably "felt God" during the Crusades, but this would have been nothing more than an inflated feeling given by an enormous superiority complex. Having doubt and/or belief CAN be a good thing, but only when backed by facts. While I haven't seen Doubt, I get the feeling from your post that the main character had enough solid evidence, based on facts and prior knowledge of character, to be acting not purely on belief. In Pi's case, he knows the real story, and instead chooses to give another one. It would seem that he has consciously weighed the facts and arrived at a 'belief,' without actually throwing out the truth in the process.
ReplyDeleteThe line between blind, foolish belief and backed up logical 'leaps of faith' is blurry, so it can only really be examined in a case-by-case scenario. Different people would have very different opinions as well, particularly on the topic of religion that people ascribe their entire being to; to question their religion is to question themselves. Regardless though, making choices based upon the unknown is asking to make the wrong decision, and should be avoided if at all possible.
We often appeal to reason as a god that is incapable of being doubted, but the feeling that something makes sense is still a feeling. A gut feeling rarely turns out to exist for no reason when it is truly what one normally means by a gut feeling, it is something that one is incapable of describing at the time. Many times it turns out that the reason the person feels that way is because they have experienced something similar to it in the past and this seems similar in some way shape or form. The reason we call it a gut feeling is simply because we do not have the proper triggers to recall that experience all of the time. It is not as if we are universalizing the maxim that one ought only to act on gut feelings, but rather that gut feelings are useful...otherwise they probably would not exist. Belief for its own sake is a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteSimplistically, I think doubt serves as a purpose for our understanding and helps to to learn what is and what isn't (i.e. Cartesian doubt). On the same token, such hyperbolic doubt can lead us to ignoring the obvious. Doubt, when used correctly helps us to understand that which is around us and reach a better understanding of our world, serving as a useful tool in protecting us from others as well as ourselves
ReplyDeleteI think you had some really great ideas in this post. I agree with Matthew's reason for doubt, which actually reminded me of Inception (frequently questioning your reality, spinning a top to see if you're in a dream, yadda yadda). Speaking from a religious standpoint, doubt is useful in strengthening faith. If a person has faith in God, Yahweh, Buddah, Tom Cruise, etc., and they doubt their faith and come back to it, it makes it all the stronger. It's like having a fight with a good friend - the friendship is tested and in the end, the rift only brings you closer together because of your renewed sense of faith in the relationship. Some people say friendships and relationships are nothing until you fight. I'm not sure if I completely agree with this, but I do see how doubt, whether it be about a pencil going into water, God, or a friendship, if overcome, only establishes a greater faith in the end.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a good point about religion and Pascal. It is not about having proof or truth, it is a gut feeling and an experience. Many philosophers distrust experience i.e. Descartes, Kant. It is in experience, however, where faith is found. In other words, it does not matter if it was animals or humans on the boat, the experience was the same for Pi. Pi traveled on that boat into the unknown, metaphorically and literally. He had is doubts of course, but remained resolved to live - which he did. Of course, there are scientific reasons for Pi's survival, but none of that mattered to him while he was on that boat. He did not know what was going to happen or how. It just happened. This experience is what reassured his belief in a higher power.
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