Ugh. I just made the mistake of landing on a channel showing “The Big Chill.” I lasted for about 15 minutes, but I’ve seen the film several times since 1983, when it was a “thing.”
Lacking for guest posts lately, I hereby challenge Ethics Alarms readers to watch this paean to Sixties sensibilities and activism, as a once close-knit group of sell-outs bemoan their lost idealism, or something. Then write an analysis of what the film tells us about the people whose self-righteousness metastasized into today lock-step progressive cant….or something else: that’s just my personal reaction to it now.
“I feel like I was the best version of myself when I was with all of you,” Glenn Close says, or words to that effect. Really? Being an ignorant, doctrinaire idealist hating your country and your parents’ values while advocating drug dependence and promiscuous sex was the best you ever were? Fascinating.
Start your engines, please…
Ethics Alarms 
“Idealism vs. Childishness”…that’s a concept I think is worth exploring, Right now I’m thinking idealism is best defined as having a passion about making the world a better place. Childishness is thinking like a self-centered child, always wanting things your way, refusing to accept compromise, having no regard for the desires of others. Where the two overlap is when you assume that your ideals are always right, without examining what you really believe, WHY you believe it, and if your actions truly match your stated beliefs. Take the notion “all cops are pigs”, and your ideal is to either eliminate the police entirely or reform them to your liking. Do you believe that there should be laws that govern people’s conduct, and do you believe that the current police force is not enforcing those laws? If this is the case, are you open to evidence that the current police force is enforcing the law how they should? If you’re correct and they are NOT enforcing the laws how they should, but you actually get your desired reforms, will you oppose those who still think “all cops are pigs” because they still can’t break the law with impunity? Let’s say you actually DON’T believe there should be laws that govern people’s conduct…are you willing to sacrifice the security that comes from laws and the people who support them? A person who is merely childish (though he may call himself an idealist) won’t go through this exercise, instead he’ll just say “all cops are pigs” and use that as an excuse to break the law. If somebody breaks the law against the childish person, I very much doubt he’ll say, “To be consistent with my anarchist worldview I will let this inconvenience slide”.
The same goes with other forms of idealism. You say you’re an environmentalist? What makes you want to save the environment? Have you worked out the best ways to do that, or do you just go with what’s popular? You say you’re a Christian (or any other religion)? Are you striving to live by the tenets of your faith, even where it involves sacrifice? Do your beliefs come from careful study and prayer?
I think it’s also worth noting that within the specific values you want to champion and uphold, there’s still plenty of wiggle-room for “what do you want to be when you grow up”. I think that if you decide “I can’t be happy in life until I have this specific career, this specific number of children, etc.” you’re setting yourself up for dissappointment. You can choose to be happy at any time by counting your blessings, making the best of bad situations, and being open to change. Right now I’d kill to have the life of George Bailey; a secure job, a wife and children who love him, his own home, a healthy amount of friends. But even though I don’t have exactly everything I want, I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my belly, enough amusements to keep me entertained, a healthy body, a good relationship with my parents and siblings, a decent job which looks stable for the moment, a good community in my church, at least a couple of close friends who’ve done things for me and I for them. It’s not my IDEAL, but I know many people have way less than me, and I’ve been able to stick to my values.
(Accidentally made a general comment instead of a direct response.)
Gamereg, you raise excellent questions for distinguishing between idealism and childishness.
One question I find useful is the classic “magic wand” question. “What would an ideal outcome look like to you?” Or, in other words, “If the problem was solved tomorrow, how would you notice?” It’s a good starting point for further productive discussion.
The Kevin Kline character endorses insider trading: he’s a capitalist exploiter of the system: of course he’s pals with cops.Hurt’s character is bitter and burned out, but he’s true to his values.
Well, this is embarrassing, especially for a mystery fan.
When I saw “The Big Chill”, my mind immediately turned to Raymond Chandler. Even looking at the picture and reading the post, it didn’t ring a bell — I just figured this was something else by the same title that I’d never seen. Oops. 5 seconds of research reminds me that it was The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.
I still haven’t seen the movie, and I think I will leave it that way. Maybe I’ll go back and rewatch Murder by Death or Clue instead….
You raise excellent questions for distinguishing between idealism and childishness.
One question I find useful is the classic “magic wand” question. “What would an ideal outcome look like to you?” Or, in other words, “If the problem was solved tomorrow, how would you notice?” It’s a good starting point for further productive discussion.
Having seen it when it first came out and it was just a thing, i saw it again within the last few years on a long flight. It was written by that insufferable Norah Ephron. Most ridiculous element: somebody lets her husband have sex with a friend so the friend can become pregnant and have a child. Preposterous hardly covers it.
Not Nora! Lawrence Kasdan! Silverado, Raiders of the Lost Ark….
From wiki”
While attending the University of Michigan, Kasdan lived at the Eugene V. Debs Cooperative House in the late 1960s, and his experiences at the co-op informed the direction of the screenplay. Many of the characters were based on his housemates, and the ways in which they cook communal meals and share their house echo the culture of Ann Arbor cooperatives.
The Eugene V. Debs Cooperative House. Oy vey.
I saw that. Wow.
From wiki:
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, observing “The Big Chill is a splendid technical exercise. It has all the right moves. It knows all the right words. Its characters have all the right clothes, expressions, fears, lusts, and ambitions. But there’s no payoff and it doesn’t lead anywhere. I thought at first that was a weakness of the movie. There also is the possibility that it’s the movie’s message.”
Roger should have left off the last two sentences.
And the characters are also all Michigan grads. Yuck.