The Rashomon Effect

I finished watching the Japanese film "Rashomon" last night.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa the movie tells the story of a bandit who rapes the wife of a samurai in 9th century Japan.

The story is told by a witness of the crime and as the movie unfolds we realize that four variations of the same story are creating alternate realities.

In otherwords, the flashbacks only reflect perception and not the reality. We never find out what really happened but we learn lessons along the way.

We learn that murder can bring greater social acceptance than telling a lie.

We learn that humanity is full of deceit, lies and sin.

We also learn that humanity can be redeemed by the act of a single good man trying to do what's right.

I have to admit that watching Japenese films from the 1950s isn't the most entertaining evening -- it involves a level of intellectual commitment and mental endurance.

But Kurosawa is an expert of making a great film about a single idea.

"Rashomon" makes us realize that each individual has a different perspective on life.

"Ikiru" teaches us that we all have a reason for living that is greater than our day-t0-day life.

Kurosawa's other films certainly teach other lesssons and I'm excited to learn those lessons as I get time to watch those movies.

My challenge to you is to find films, books, magazines, music......anything that challenges your ways of thinking.

I've been stuck on the idea lately that it's truly amazing that most children raised Lutheran stay Lutheran and most Catholics stay Catholics and most Muslims stay Muslims and most Jews stay Jewish.

Maybe I'm the fool but I'm a Lutheran turned Universalist and I'm sure it's because I've done everything possible to expand my ways of thinking.

To take the time to watch films and read books and talk to people with divergent points of view.

And what I've come to realize is that all of our viewpoints on life are both true and false.

That there is no one correct way of seeing the world.

That to some extent all of us are stuck in dead-end jobs and we must find the truth in life that will allow us to overcome the mundane nature of everyday living.

To find the truth that will allow us to....

Enjoy the ride,
Damm