I often see people on the street who are drunk and drugged to the point of being unable to take care of themselves. They behave strangely in ragged clothes, but look content and happy. I think most people don't envy this kind of happiness, stay away from such people and take them as a warning when facing alcohol and drugs, reminding themselves to live rationally and self-disciplined. Although I firmly believe that the ultimate goal of life is to pursue happiness rather than the stylized tasks of survival and reproduction, I did not choose to indulge myself in another world like these lunatics. People are so contradictory: while we admonish ourselves to be rational, we admire freedom and sing freedom; while looking forward to the mood of sleeping in a restaurant in Chang'an, we laugh at every drunk around us. Sometimes I indulge in my own spiritual world like these drunks. At that moment, I clearly knew that I was a lunatic in the eyes of others. Therefore, I also thought that every seeming madman may just be immersed in happiness that I can't understand.
And the great thing about this movie is that it first puts us in the perspective of a madman, followed him to go mad, and at the same time inserted some thinking about the philosophy of life to convince you, so that you can understand the madman more deeply and agree with the madman. When you have unknowingly sided with the madman, then expose the fact that he is a madman. The reaction of the audience at this time is not surprising: a sober and rational audience will look WTF, angry at the director's fool and slam the door. As for me as a half lunatic, this truth is like having passed through a possibility that I presupposed in life. How can I not be moved by it?
I think most people agree that hallucinations can support us to live, but they don't agree with hiding in the spiritual world to escape reality. This is probably for two reasons:
First of all, we still have basic survival needs. Excessive immersion in hallucinations may affect our ability to survive, so although most lunatics have short-term happiness, they end up with a dead end. I think Hank chose to commit suicide in this film for this reason. What's more frightening is that I have been faintly worried that, in fact, most of the spiritual enjoyment is based on material enjoyment, and spiritual enjoyment without a foundation may not exist stably. The film explains this very well. The role of Manny probably represents Hank's projection of material desires. Therefore, Manny's behavior has some characteristics of Hank's self: For example, when asking what to do when meeting a goddess, Manny directly asks whether I can kiss her or have sex with her. It is not difficult to imagine that Hank is hiding in the back mountain of the goddess house and brushing the goddess' ins every day. Although emotionally satisfied, he must feel that something is missing. But in order to suppress his original impulse, this desire can only be vented by Manny, who is erect after seeing the goddess photo. Manny also questioned Hank at the end, why you have to stop whatever I want to do. This is the superego's training of the id at all! Also in real life, many A Zhai may have posted the rhetoric that I have an idol and I don't need to fall in love. Although this kind of virtual love can satisfy emotional needs, some of the most primitive desires cannot be satisfied in idols. Of course, the topic of love is too complicated to discuss in depth.
Secondly, people are social animals and can communicate with each other precisely. Therefore, building one's own spiritual world also requires the cooperation of others. You can tell yourself that I am having a great time, or you can deceive yourself that the contempt of outsiders is actually jealousy, but their pitying eyes will always hide in your heart to torture you, and eventually become the worm that makes your entire spiritual world collapse. This is why Hank can only stay away from his family and choose self-exile. In order to live peacefully in this society, people have established various rules and regulations. On the one hand, they ensure that everyone is in peace, and on the other hand, they have become a shackle that prevents us from enjoying our spiritual world to the fullest. The need for social identification determines that our spiritual satisfaction is largely influenced by the eyes of others. Manny asked Hank, why can't we fart as much as we want, why don't everyone let go of all constraints, just sing and dance happily together. Yes, I also want to dance without selflessness anytime, anywhere, but in this helpless society, we have to tighten up our farts and walk in accordance with the rules. At the instigation of Manny, Hank finally appeared on the lawn of Sarah's house as a survivor. Obviously, Manny as the incarnation of desire cannot continue to exist. His last sentence is: Don't let Sarah know how much I like her. This means that Hank, who has returned to society, has to restrain himself for the eyes of others. After Sarah discovered the truth, Hank has inevitably become a lunatic in everyone's eyes. In order to defend his spiritual world, the only thing he can do is to escape the crowd and be isolated from the world again. The plot at the end is even more tragic: When Hank is desperately chased to the beach, Manny farts in the sea and twitches as if he is alive under the eyes of everyone. With everyone's astonished eyes, Hank smiled happily again. As I said before, building your own spiritual world requires the cooperation of others. When the truth went down in broad daylight, Hank couldn't continue to believe in this fictional journey alone and get happiness from it, so he needed such a proof to make others believe in Manny's existence. It's not hard to guess that this scene should also be Hank's fantasy.
When we first looked at Hank from the perspective of a desert island survivor, we felt that he had fantasized about Manny and made fun of hardships. This belief in survival is commendable. But when we discover that he is actually just a lunatic hiding behind others to escape reality, some people will find it really disgusting. As everyone knows, for many people, surviving well in this society may not be easier than surviving on a deserted island. Because it is so difficult to live happily, we may need more fantasies than we thought. As a result, we hid in our spiritual world, and became more or less "lunatics": being bullied by bad guys fantasizes about evil and repays evil; if we don't pay back, we think that there is a will and it will be done; see others spend money like dirt. Advise oneself to be content and always happy; if you can't be with the person you like, you feel that unrequited love is also very beautiful. We always need a little fantasy to survive. Compared to the drunks and drug addicts lying on the street, we may just have a better grasp of the degree.
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