EDUCATING RITA AND
OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL MOVIES
Foreword
This book has two aims: to introduce the reader to philosophical ideas that
have shaped and are still shaping our world, and to suggest ways to get more
out of movies than mere entertainment.
The two aims are related. Philosophical ideas are sweeping, abstract, and seemingly
remote from real life. The embodiment of philosophical ideas in stories, characters,
and visual presentations insures that these ideas have concrete and specified
meanings, and that their relevance to real life situations is in view. Movies
show what philosophers are talking about.
Philosophy, in turn, brings out the depth and inner meanings of films. It is
easy to become absorbed in the often brilliant elements of cinematic creation--dialogue,
acting, sounds, camera work, and so forth. Such absorption, however, may prevent
viewers from seeing the over-all significance or deeper meaning of films. Good
production values may distract from the fact that films can be substantial contributions
to the understanding of significant problems. Philosophical interpretations
of films focus on the comprehensive statements and ultimate implications of
works, and they connect films to the more universal thoughts and aspirations
that artists as well as thinkers have developed in their attempts to make sense
of their lives and the world.
Philosophy is, of course, a rather wide field. The present book takes its lead
from “Educating Rita.” The heroine of that film sets out to get
an education—in order to “find herself.” Finding herself defines
her philosophical journey. The films discussed in the following chapters all
deal with aspects of what it is to find one’s self. They clarify and develop
a conception of human existence that has guided Western thought from Socrates
to Existentialism and beyond: that a person’s true identity is not based
on such external and inherited institutions as class, nationality, cultural
tradition, organized religion, or race, but on an independent individuality
that shapes itself through critical reflection and transcending imposed definitions.
Self-determination, one might say, is the philosophy to which this book is devoted.
Jorn K. Bramann
From: Jorn K. Bramann: Educating
Rita and Other Philosophical Movies
Bramann
Philosophical Films: A Special Topics Course