Friday, February 07, 2003

 
MOVIE REVIEW: HUMAN NATURE (2001) * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
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I watched Human Nature because it was written by Charlie Kaufman, who wrote Adaptation and Being John Malkovich, as well as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I was also attracted to the fact that it stars Tim Robbins, who I love, and who, it turns out, is great in the movie. This movie was relatively trite and "Hollywood" compared with Kaufman's other scripts, but there is still that quirky, surreal quality that he brings to his work. There are some funny moments, but I think the movie fails as a comedy, and I also think it fails as a morality play. An interesting theme of the movie was where the source of morality comes from. As the movie opens, Tim Robbins is already dead, telling his story, unsure of whether he gets to go to Heaven or Hell. He was ruthlessly trained by his parents to be "proper", particularly in his table manners. He trains a feral human to be civilized, using an electric-shock collar. He captures this human being and keeps him in a cage while he is civilizing him. In every case, it seems as if the dispenser of morality lacks the moral authority necessary for her actions, and it gets one to thinking about where morality comes from, particularly when it comes to the trivialities associated with civilization.

I've always felt resentful toward the requirements of table manners. It seems like every rule is designed to mike life more difficult and unpleasant. Why can't it be a rule that it's super-extra-polite to pick your teeth at the table? Wouldn't that make life easier and better and more pleasant? Why can't it be a rule that it's a compliment to your host to clear your plate and also a compliment to your host not to clear your plate? You know, in America and much of Europe it's rude not to finish your meal, but in Thailand, it's rude to finish it. Here, we think it's a compliment to show that your food was too delicious not to finish, but they think it's a better compliment to show that our food was too plentiful to finish. The idea that two cultures could come to completely opposite conclusions about the exact same thing, and both be offended if you disagree, illustrates perfectly the absurdity of the very notion of table manners. I think that when you're eating, which is such hedonistic and animalistic thing to do, the very highest law ought to be "do as you please." I love the image of mediaeval feasts, where all the people eat with their hands and throws their bones on the floor. I vote for that.

This is The Official Record. 2:54 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/02/movie-review-human-nature-2001-12-2.html


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