| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 59.1 | Being There | 3258::ROBERTS_CR | the evening sky grew dark | Wed Mar 30 1994 16:27 | 5 |
| I recently watched 'Being There' for the first time. Any of you who
have seen it, I was wondering about his references to 'the old man'.
also - did seller's character seem a lot like a Rainman type?
|
| 59.2 | Saw it a long time ago | VMSDEV::HALLYB | Fish have no concept of fire | Wed Mar 30 1994 16:41 | 8 |
| I thought it was obvious: 'the old man' was his boss -- the guy who
died at the very beginning.
Didn't strike me as a Rainman type -- Rainman had more brains than
Chance, though Chance could actually kinda hold a conversation, at least
one about gardening.
John
|
| 59.3 | Being There | 12368::michaud | Been There | Wed Mar 30 1994 18:59 | 8 |
| I loved that movie the first couple times I saw it! I still
never completely understood the ending though ....
[spoiler warning]
Was he able to walk on water because he was so dumb he didn't
know that it's impossible, or was he supernatural (like maybe
an Angel or an Alien)?
|
| 59.4 | | 35186::BACH | They who know nothing, doubt nothing... | Wed Mar 30 1994 21:50 | 3 |
| I loved "The Party". Rented it by accident and rolled all night long.
Dumb but funny.
|
| 59.5 | Re. Being There | 42712::SMITHA | Il y a une singe, dans l'arbre | Thu Mar 31 1994 06:34 | 50 |
| I've been waiting ages to discuss the ending of 'Being There' but
will do it behind a <spoiler>.
Before I do I'd just like to say that i thought the movie was absolutely
brilliant. Not classic Sellars slapstick, which I think disappointed the
majority of people who saw it, but something much deeper.
Ok, 'nuff said, now into the spoiler....
I thought the brilliant twist at then end was that Chance was the new Messiah.
Proof being he could walk on water.
Theory being :-
No-one knew where he'd come from - no background, no parents, he was 'just there'
with the 'old man'
He was pure in thought and deed. He disarmed potentially dangerous situations
by his persona. He wasn't tempted by Eve.
He could communicate with anyone, and everyone - at all levels of life -
understood him. e.g. the ambassador, the business-magnates, the servants, the
kids in the street.
And here he was, just about to become the most powerful man in the free-world.
What better position to be in to put right the wrongs of the world ?
|
| 59.6 | 2 thumbs up | BROKE::CLARK | Chairman of the Bored | Thu Mar 31 1994 11:56 | 1 |
| re -.1 that's an excellent interpretation of the ending!
|
| 59.7 | | 7892::SLABOUNTY | Is this p_n great or what? | Thu Mar 31 1994 12:12 | 4 |
|
And I second the motion. Never thought of it.
GTI
|
| 59.8 | yah.... that's it. | 11435::MURPHY | Symbolic stack dump follows... | Thu Mar 31 1994 14:31 | 19 |
|
Possible spoiler
I had thoughts along that "new messiah" line, but I never put it
together as well as in .5 (SMITHA). Now the movie's even better.
I exspecially liked the point that he wasn't tempted by Eve - I
never related it to the bible (not that I generally relate to the
bible).
One thing that was never solved for me (even with this explaination)
was the Maid's feeling that she had been jilted for racial reasons.
She lost her place with the 'old man' just like Chance the Gardner
(or Chauncey Gardner) did. I never felt closure on that issue.
Why was ne never able to comfort her like he did the others?
Steve
|
| 59.9 | what about the title? | 11435::MURPHY | Symbolic stack dump follows... | Thu Mar 31 1994 14:35 | 12 |
| and what about the title? The only thing I could relate it to is when
he (spoiler)
saw himself on the closed circuit TV and ended up being hit by Eve's
driver. He felt he had been on TV.
Is "being there" equated to "being everywhere" like the alleged messiah
is supposed to be?
|
| 59.10 | Be here now, be there then... :^) | 40300::OUIMETTE | Don't just do something, sit there! | Thu Mar 31 1994 18:55 | 17 |
| Re: Title
It's been years since I read the book, but I believe that the title is
a reference to a state of mind of being fully present in the present
moment, not planning for the future, not caught up in the past, but being
here now, a state of mental clarity and purity. Describes Chance,
anyhow.
Or maybe I've just read too much Ram Dass :^).
In any case, the book was excellent, a highly reccomended read. The
Author, Jerzi Kozinski also (as I recall reading) wrote the screenplay for
the movie, had a great deal of say in the casting, and last right of
refusal. I believe he wouldn't sell the movie rights under any other
conditions. The results speak for themselves. I think he also has a cameo
appearance. In any case, "Being There" and "The Painted Bird" are both
very powerful books.
|
| 59.11 | Re: The ending | 45464::WHITWOOD_N | Nigel Whitwood | Fri Apr 29 1994 06:49 | 10 |
| I've always considered the ending as a device to underline the
stupidity of those who misinterpreted Chances's simplicity for
greatness. I don't believe that the author intended the audience to
believe that he could actually walk on water but rather to say
(visually) to the audience, "It wouldn't surprise any of these morons
if Chance could walk on water".
|
| 59.12 | Sh*t happens | TURRIS::EASI::GEENEN | Illud cape et ei fibulam adfige! | Tue Oct 11 1994 20:34 | 20 |
| Never having read _The Painted Bird_, I'd always interpreted the title
"Being There" to be something out of one of those Asian (or is it
Middle-Eastern) religions where nothing matters except the present,
over which one has little or no control. Therefore everything that
happens is pure "Chance".
Has anyone else noticed that when Chance is called to the phone for
supposedly his first ever hands-on encounter with that device, he
doesn't know what it is or what to do with it? Seems to me that
anyone that has watched TV as much as he had would be familiar with
it. The rest of us are supposed to be scarred for life over the
movies and TV we've absorbed over the years, we not being able to
separate reality from fiction. But Chance apparently never made any
connection between them. Is it because he's so purely innocent and
unassuming or is he normal and we're messed up?
Sellers is magnificent in this movie. The outtakes at the end are a
complete uproar -- "Are you Julio?"
Carl
|