15th
May, 2017
West
Lafayette, IN
I was
watching a film called ‘The Life of David Gale’. The story revolves around a
college professor, who is actively engaged in a campaign to end capital
punishment. Amidst his alcohol troubles and activism, he loses his family, his
job, respect of his peers and students, and lastly is charged with murder of a
fellow activist, for which he is, ironically, given the capital punishment. Of
course, that’s only part of the whole plot. What interested me more was a
two-minute scene in the movie in which David Gale delivers a lecture to his
class on Lacan’s idea of fantasy. I quote the exact words used in that scene
hereunder.
‘Fantasies have to be unrealistic because
the moment, the second that you get what you seek, you don't, you can't want it
anymore. In order to continue to exist, desire must have its objects
perpetually absent. It's not the "it" that you want, it's the fantasy
of "it." So, desire supports crazy fantasies. This is what Pascal
means when he says that we are only truly happy when daydreaming about future
happiness. Or why we say the hunt is sweeter than the kill. Or be careful what
you wish for. Not because you'll get it, but because you're doomed not to want
it once you do. So the lesson of Lacan is, living by your wants will never make
you happy. What it means to be fully human is to strive to live by ideas and
ideals and not to measure your life by what you've attained in terms of your
desires but those small moments of integrity, compassion, rationality, even
self-sacrifice. Because in the end, the only way that we can measure the
significance of our own lives is by valuing the lives of others.’
Man is a
selfish animal. He has a hierarchy of needs, which he spends his life trying to
achieve one after another. I am sure I will too. But sometimes I do wonder if I
must start to think beyond my pleasures. Not all can live impersonal lives or
dedicate their lives to ideas and ideals, or to fight for causes, although the argument
above suggests the opposite to be a more guaranteed means to happiness. Desires
keep us excited and so do the thoughts of them getting accomplished. To what
extent then must one think about one’s own desires? The conflict is between
pursuing personal goals and committing to more impersonal ones. To live for
oneself, while simultaneously living for others. The moment I focus more on the
personal wants, the lesser I will contribute beyond me. In this era of instant
gratification, focus is on fulfilling one’s desires faster than before.
However, instant gratification has not necessarily made us contended, but, to
the contrary, it has made us more self-centered and is gradually driving us to
be less happy than the generations that preceded us. We may be plunging
ourselves into sadness by our own creation. And while I am acutely aware that
for the health of society, and myself, I need to look beyond my personal wants,
and that to be happy I must attempt at what Lacan suggests, I am equally aware
that I am falling short.
There is
no moral to this piece.
