Blog 8

truth
freedom
pre-determinism
free will

A commonly occurring theme between the movies and texts we’ve covered in class is the idea of pre-determinism, and how the protagonist acts upon learning of the path he will supposedly take in life. I chose this as the most important connection because I feel this is the most prominent theme across the movies and texts.

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is foretold that he will come to kill his father and bear children with his mother. Upon hearing this, he sets out to change his fate by leaving his homeland. In the end, his actions were futile, as he ultimately done what he has set out to avoid. In the film Gattaca, Vincent is given the expectations at birth that he will have a 99% chance of heart failure. His life expectancy is estimated to be at around 30 years. He has lived his whole life with those around him having low expectations for him due to his supposed “defects.” His genetically altered brother, however, is said to be superior to him in every way. This has only lead Vincent to try even harder to break out of that mold, to overcome his brother. In the end, his resolve leads him to achieve his dreams in becoming an astronaut. In Minority Report, John Anderton, chief of the PreCrime police force is predicted to kill a man whom he does not know. Like Oedipus, he sets out to avoid this fate and to clear his name. Over the course of the film, he comes to face the man he was foretold to kill, with the very intent to do so. At the very last moment, however, he makes a choice not to. As the only example where the protagonist isn’t really trying to change his fate, Neo in The Matrix is first told by Morpheus that he is The One, and then told by the Oracle that he isn’t – but perhaps “in another lifetime.” Though he at first doubts these claims, in the end he fulfills the prophecy.

My thinking of this theme has changed drastically over the course of this semester. What I used to assume was the simple idea of pre-determinism – that characters are foretold to take a course of action and then do so – can actually be much more complicated. Depending on the point the text is trying to convey, the story can take multiple paths. The first is whether the protagonist chooses to fulfill the prophecy or to set out to make sure it doesn’t happen. The second is whether the prophecy ultimately succeeds or not. As a result, I've come to learn that the idea of pre-determinism in a story can, ironically, have many outcomes.