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11/20/2003 Archived Entry: "Waking Life"

MOVIE NIGHT AT FORT SINATRA: Tonight's feature was 2001's animated Waking Life, a movie that even it's detractors admit is at least interesting to watch. Waking Life was filmed entirely on digital video handhelds and then rotoscoped by several different animators. It essentially explores the nature of reality and how we perceive it. Is life a dream? Are our dreams as real as life?

What bugs people about the movie is that there doesn't seem to be a plot and that the philosophy that dominates it is essentially street corner preaching. With all due respect to those critics, I think they're wrong. The movie does indeed have a plot except that you have to wait until 70 minutes into it before you realize what may have happened to the main character as voiced by Wiley Wiggins. His character realizes that he's in a dream state but he doesn't know why until a certain point when something is told to him. Suddenly, everything that's transpired for the past hour or so makes a little more sense.

As for the philosophy? Well, the movie doesn't deal extensively with the various philosophical ideas that are introduced by the myriad of characters that the main character meets. That's actually a good thing because I think what Richard Linklater tried to do was introduce us to a lot of different perspectives of life. Some of it is ideas being introduced for the sake of being introduced while other tidbits advance the journey of the main character. The point is that you're supposed to watch this movie and debate your own perspectives.

I'll admit that a lot of people who watched this were bored because they saw it as pretentious and pointless. I have to respectively disagree but that's what makes watching movies a personal experience.

I have to admit my favourite scene in the movie was when the main character physically bumped into the red head with the novel idea for the soap opera. Her mini-rant about the lack of human communication struck a chord with me.

The two bump into each other

Soap Opera Woman: Excuse me.
Wiley: Excuse me.

They begin to walk away but she calls out to him

Soap Opera Woman: Hey. Could we do that again? I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know? I mean, it's like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one another, continously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us. Stop. Go. Walk here. Drive there. All action basically for survival. All communication simply to keep this ant colony buzzing along in an efficient, polite manner. "Here's your change." "Paper or plastic?' "Credit or debit?" "You want ketchup with that?" I don't want a straw. I want real human moments. I want to see you. I want you to see me. I don't want to give that up. I don't want to be ant, you know?

I have to admit I also liked Linklater's character and his speech at the pinball machine about how we interact with time.