The answer is of course no.
The film "Things to Come" starring Huppert directed by female director Mia Hans-Love tells the story of such a philosophy teacher.
The life of Natalie, a middle-aged philosophy teacher, is on the verge of collapse - her husband of 25 years suddenly confesses that he has a lover and is leaving her mother, who lives alone with her lover, suffers from severe depression Trying to commit suicide every day, long-written philosophy textbooks being forced to withdraw from the editorial team due to poor sales... These things almost broke Natalie's life one after another, the betrayal of a lover, the responsibility of being a daughter, The setbacks on the career path are not trivial in number, and they all take time and energy to deal with. Natalie is almost constantly spinning like a top. She runs in the subway, school, family, and mother's house. She doesn't even have time to grieve, middle-aged People's frustration may be that they have to put on armor and continue to cut through thorns before they have time to shed tears.
The husband moved out of the house where he had lived together for 25 years, and half of the books in the bookcase were empty. It's a shame that the ex-husband actually dared to take away a set of books she cherished. As a decent middle-class intellectual, Natalie remained calm and restrained in the face of her husband's sudden departure, until when she told the student Fabien that she was about to divorce her husband, Natalie remembered their seaside vacation. The house, where she planted all the roses in the garden with her own hands - and now she has to give it up! Thinking of this, she burst into tears. However, she did not expect that flowers can indeed make people, but the technique of planting flowers cannot be stolen by others. Just like the philosophy that has accompanied her for half a lifetime, a person who is full of spiritual independence can always have reasons to keep going.
Before her ex-husband's affairs have eased, Natalie received another bad news - her mother died in a hurry after a fall in the nursing home, and her mother left behind an old and fat black cat "Pandora". It was old, and no one wanted to adopt it, so Natalie had to take it by herself. This cat "Pandora" is a metaphor for Natalie. They are inevitably abandoned, but they also continue to break through their current lives: Pandora ran into the forest to catch a black mouse, and Natalie went to the suburban mountains to participate The commune of Fabian; they are all looking for a way out in the mutated environment, it may not be smooth, but as long as they take the step, they will not become poor people abandoned by life.
Natalie, who had suffered many changes, would definitely make life utterly miserable if she were an ordinary person, but Natalie is not an ordinary person. She is strong and proud. Fortunately, she still has a whole wall of books. She has Adorno, Rousseau, Foucault, Hannah Arendt... Philosophy has become an integral part of her life as a high school philosophy teacher, and she holds book clubs with students on the grass in sunny weather , the talent she has in her head can be written into textbooks of philosophy, and she also has Fabian, a favorite student of Ph.D. The other side of life outside. Natalie, who is over 50 years old, has been dissolved as a child and a wife; her children have grown up, and her role as a mother has gradually lost weight, but she is still a teacher of students and a guide for many young people's philosophy. The person is still herself, so when she sits in the car to the commune in the forest, she finds herself a free person again, a person who only needs to be true to herself.
Back to the original question - so did philosophy save Natalie's life? It seems not.
Philosophy is her way of making a living and her interest, but it cannot prevent her from being hurt - Natalie is not that strong, she will also be frustrated, and she will collapse because she accidentally sees the picture of her ex-husband holding hands with her lover on the street. Crying, but also hiding in the room and sobbing secretly because of the weight of life and different opinions from the student Fabian... Such occasional moments of loss of control must not only be one or two times, although she has been dealing with philosophy for half her life, but philosophy Such metaphysical knowledge is like a castle in the sky far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, how can one expect to use philosophy to guide life.
If philosophy has brought Natalie anything, I think, it is probably a field that can be completely her own. In this field, one can break through the limitations of the self, gain new social relationships, generate new social relationships, find one's own sense of reason, and carry out self-realization... In terms of philosophy, although Natalie did not become as radical as she was young She is a revolutionary, and now she still lives a bland middle-class life, but as she said: she loves this job, is not in a hurry to retire, and, as a teacher, she is more willing to give students the ability to think independently.
At the end of the movie, a year has passed, Natalie is going to be a grandmother, her daughter's child is born, and everyone takes turns in the ward to hold this new life - the old life will go away, the new life will come, and life never stops. Pass. The English translation of "Future Things" is "things to come". Does this name mean that each of us may experience a "weightless" moment like Natalie's sooner or later in our lives? How to face such a situation in life Chicken feathers all over the place? It's something we all need to think about. Of course, philosophy cannot save our lives, but we can see from Natalie that being abandoned or constantly losing is not a reason not to live. Find a field that belongs to you and cannot be taken away. To have focus in life and the courage to keep going. In this field, it can be philosophy, music, dance, painting, or you are very good at killing fish or cooking vegetables... In short, when you can live independently, in what you are good at The place will continue to shine, continue to meet new people, continue to break through new knowledge, there is nothing to be afraid of losing. Just like Fabien who helped Natalie through hard times, he was once guided by Natalie to study and publish articles, but now, he has become Natalie's mentor in her life.
Rather than discussing the relationship between philosophy and life, the film simply explores the midlife crisis of being a philosophy teacher. Philosophy here is no problem if it is replaced by literature, economics, and law. Philosophers and philosophical quotes quoted in the film are just like embellished lines, and they are not the core of the film. Surprisingly, French films can always blend serious philosophical thinking with vulgar and trivial life in a natural and smooth manner. It is worthy of being a romantic country where philosophy is taught in high school, and making literary films is as light as a feather and unforgettable.
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