Here's another essay I wrote for my film philosophy class. The movie "Snatch", which was released back in 2000. It's an exploration of enlightenment and desires. This movie had a sort of powerful message when it came to this. It's quite amazing how some people can see the messages while most people can't because they don't look beyond the screen. If you want to get a deeper understanding of a movie like Snatch, you have to look through the screen as one would read between the lines in a book to get a deeper understanding of the message. Here, hope you enjoy reading the essay.
What is Enlightenment, What is Wrong With Desire?
What is enlightenment? Are we really aware of our surroundings? Are we just a bunch of dreamers thinking about being surrounded by happiness? Is a desire for something that you don’t have a good thing or not? Most of my examples will be taken from a film of Guy Ritchie’s. The title is “Snatch”, which is a movie about a bunch of underground gangsters, mobsters, and criminals all mixed up in awkward situations over a diamond.
The meaning of enlightenment is to be fully aware of our surroundings and what’s going on around the world. But according to a dictionary where I looked up the word; it mentioned that it is when we give spiritual or intellectual insight to people. Desire, it is when you wish for something that you don’t have.
Guy Ritchie delivers us a film with interesting concepts and a lot of comedic efforts built into it. Snatch is packed with a large cast including Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina and many more. This movie clearly does not involve a lot of human intelligence, I would even compare them to primates since they fouled everything up miserably. This movie is what I call one of the “stylish” films because of the unique editing, transitions, and certain effects used to keep up with the trends. But this movie succeeds in having a funny storyline involving people in the crime world and stay stylish throughout. Everybody wants to get their hands on an 86-carat diamond. There is gambling, robbery, and other mayhem involved as well. Everybody has a desire for something that they are lacking. Clearly, most of the cast are not enlightened because they desire for something that they will never get, especially because of the stupidity that they are plagued with. Franky Four Fingers is a gambling addict, and he goes to London to make a bet on a boxing match. Aki goes to London in order to stop Franky from gambling. The problem with Franky is that he lusts for happiness, which leads him to gambling addiction. He isn’t enlightened on the dangers of desiring a certain thing. It’s like he never stops being thirsty from drinking all the glasses of water, no matter how much he drinks. But desires can be much worse than people can imagine. They can result in death, addiction, unhappiness, and various other misfortunes. It is said that the pig symbolizes desire since there is not much of a distinction between pigs and greed. Pigs are greedy by nature, which is why they are fat; they never stop wanting. The only one that didn’t have a real desire was the dog, he just grabbed anything in his sight, such as the diamond he swallowed. He had no real desire for it but, rather, acted on impulse. In the end, the Jewish jeweler, who wasn’t really Jewish but liked to pretend so, got the diamond that he desired for. Judging by the way things were going, it is likely that he will face more trouble later after the movie ends. It’s as though Mother Nature made desire a dangerous element in our lives. Nobody in the movie is really enlightened at all; they all have a desire for something. Life just doesn’t work that way, but they clearly don’t realize that.
From my own point of view, it is better to be enlightened every day of our lives. It will keep us fully aware our the circumstances, and help us understand not to wish for things that we don’t have because it is more likely that we won’t get the wish at all. Wishing comes natural to everybody, people desire for many different things as if it were their daily routines only they are not aware of the habit. A lot of people say things like, “I wish I was rich, I wish to be in Cuba right now, I wish I could kick that guy’s ass because he bugs the crap out of me!”; and the list goes on and on. We always desire for something, but sometimes it can turn deadly because we let it possess us. That’s something a lot of people wouldn’t agree with at first since they are not enlightened on it until they start noticing the thoughts that get into their heads after reading what I just said.
I personally think it is harmless to desire for something. But I do not take it too far; I just make simple wishes, nothing big. I’ve been doing that my whole life and I have not formed an addiction, unless I’m not aware of it. Most people are not aware of their addictions until other people tell them. Gambling is clearly a way to display your desires since so many people believe the myth that money buys happiness. But some people may argue that money does bring happiness. I will agree with them to the extent that as long it keeps you out of poverty, it is all right. It is much easier to enjoy our lives as long we live stably. Being enlightened to our surroundings is knowing the truth. If we don’t stop our foolish desires then we will keep on avoiding the truth.
Written by Paul Moreau
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the original author's permission.
Copyright 2003 Paul Moreau. All rights reserved.
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