Comparative Analysis of Two Films Dissertation or Thesis Complete

Inception and Eternal Sunshine

The films Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are both characterized by unique perspectives on the human condition and on the human mind. Neither of these stories is told in a traditional manner. Each utilizes unique visuals and interesting plots in order to tell deeper stories about the mysteries of the human mind. By comparing these two films along with the philosophical discussions of humanity by Michel Foucault and Frederich Nietzsche, it can be determined that although the philosophers were writing in a different era, filmmakers show how the idea of authority and the speculation of an authoritative supervisor can influence art in the modern moment.

In Michel Foucault's "Panopticisim" from his book Discipline and Punish, he discusses the nature of the human condition. The reasons that people behave certain ways are not because we believe in a moral right or wrong, but rather what behavior is correct or incorrect is determined by societal demands. Everywhere around us, people are watching our behavior and judging us against the standards of normalcy. "Inspection functions ceaselessly. The gaze is alert everywhere" (2). Even when there is no physical presence keeping tabs on us, the dictums of societal morality are so ingrained in the human psyche that we cannot allow ourselves to behave outside those norms. There is a fear on a subconscious level that someone, somewhere is watching and judging. "Panopticism" discusses in detail a procedure for organizing chaos during the time of the Black Plague and correlates that to a prison system wherein all the inmates were placed in direct view of a central guard tower. The prisoners knew that someone was watching from that hub, but they were unable to watch their supervisors. "Each individual, in his place, is securely confined to a cell from which he is seen from the front by the supervisor; but the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions. He is seen, but he does not see" (Foucault 10). Subsequently, even upon occasions where there was no guard actually occupying the watch post, the prisoners would still feel the authority of that presence.This authority by invisible force is evident in both films.

The opposite of the Panopticon is Frederich Nietzsche's philosophy as presented in his work "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense." Like Foucoult, Nietzsche believed that everyone was pressured by society to believe that they were forever watched by an anonymous other. However, Foucoult believed that this eternal observation was what forced people to behave properly according to societal norms. Nietzsche felt that everyone desired this kind of an audience in that it made them feel like they were the center of the universe and thus the most important person in it. "And just as every porter wants to have an admirer, so even the proudest of men, the philosopher, supposes that he sees on all sides the eyes of the universe telescopically focused upon his action and thought" (1). He believed that the human mind was designed to create deception, that the labyrinthine nature of that entity would not allow humanity to acknowledge or to understand truth. Nietzsche wrote:

Deception, flattering, lying, deluding, talking behind the back, putting up a false front, living in borrowed splendor, wearing a mask, hiding behind convention, playing a role for others and for oneself - in short, a continuous fluttering around the solitary flame of vanity -- is so much the rule and the law among men that there is almost nothing which is less comprehensible than how an honest and pure drive for truth could have arisen among them. They are deeply immersed in illusions and in dream images; their eyes merely glide over the surface of things and sees 'forms' (Nietzsche 1).

It is with the words of the philosophers in mind that the discussions of the films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Inception are….....