Show Me the Philosophy!

Sometimes I feel as if my house, more specifically the study and TV room, is the Library of Congress of CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and yes even, old records. My family has been media, entertainment, technology, or what have you, pro since I can remember. My father, especially, being the main influence; however, my mother does not trail far behind since she loves movies and soap operas as well. The first movie that I can remember watching with my father was, very stereotypical, the Lion King. What a great movie! Even today, older and wiser, as I watch it with my girlfriend I return to my innocent youth. Anyway from then on, I was hooked on movies. I asked my father to buy all the classic Disneys and plus more, a lot more.

I share my father’s passion for movies and if I had it my way, I would have pursued an education and future career in this art. I could probably talk to someone for hours about the actors, director, plot, and cover of a movie; however, what about criticizing the movie with a more profound view? With this course, I would like to not only depict the importance, symbols, catharsis, etc., behind a movie; but also, to be able to look at a movie through a philosophical point of view. I would never have thought about philosophy and the art of film making coming together and that is why this course struck out to me immediately.

To begin, I think it is impossible to say that I have one, and only one, favorite film. I have so many! I can start at the lighter, romantic, and comical side with Jerry Maguire and Wedding Crashers, then moving onto a darker, dramatic side with Reservoir Dogs, Cidade de Deus (City of God), and Gladiator. However, if I had to pick one, I’d have to go with Amores Perros, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. People always say they love the movie Crash, but little did they know that an improved Spanish version of it came out in 2000. What I like about Amores Perros is that it shows how small this world really is and how one person’s action or decision, can affect another person’s life, even a stranger’s. I have honestly had several coincidental moments in my life that are often scary. Is it the work of God or is it just plain coincidence? Being the religious man that I am, I believe God works in mysterious ways.

Moving on from theology and into making money, I would have to say that the film Jerry Maguire, at one point, fundamentally changed my life and career path. After watching Jerry Maguire around 1999, I knew from then on that I wanted to become a sport agent. I read sport news about players, teams, salary caps, margins, stats, etc., everyday of my life. I love sports and I wanted to make money from it. “Wanted”, so what happened? Call it early midlife crisis or whatever you like, but one day I woke up and decided that the business school wasn’t for me at this time. Maybe not just yet.