The Talented Mr. Ripley posted by Ben

Speaking of movies, I finished rewatching The Talented Mr. Ripley the night before last.

What is truly brilliant about that film is how it emotionally contextualizes the personal costs of committing evil. (I will be discussing the ending, so leave now if you don't want to know.)

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Basically, throughout the film the main character, Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) has been trying to enter a lifestyle in which he believes he will be happy. But one tiny deception, coupled with an unwillingness to lose face, leads to a chain of events that end with a couple of murders.

Nevertheless, by the end of the film, Ripley has finally found his moment of happiness with somebody who loves him. Until he is recognized by someone who could unknowingly spoil his cover. When he realizes that this person is too surrounded by family and friends for him to silence, he is forced to murder his lover, and in doing so, gain his freedom.

What the film makes expressly clear, though, is how completely aware Ripley is that this final act of violence has been at the expense of his soul. Even though he technically escapes punishment from the law, we can see how being forced by his own past to destroy what he loves the most is a much more chilling and final punishment than anything dreamed up by the justice system.

The first time I saw the film, the audience left the theater complaining that Ripley escaped and wasn't punished. It was at that moment that I was forced to confront the possibility that Hollywood truly is intentional about the shit that it produces. It would seem that a standard audience doesn't have the tools to digest anything that hasn't already been digested for them.

In any case, the film is brilliant. I just can't help but wonder what this country would be like if our schools and culture actually cared about how to teach people to think for themselves. The message of the film was in no way obscure. It doesn't take a genius to get that Ripley has descended into his own mental hell. It only takes the following thought progression:

1) Ripley finally got what he wanted
2) Ripley had to destroy what he wanted because of him past crimes
3) Ripley is miserable and will be alone forever because of his past crimes

Was that so difficult? For a typical American audience, that presented too much of an intellectual stretch. But the failure of our lowest-denominator culture and our public education system is a topic for another day's rant.