One Life, Two Perspectives

In the recent weeks, we have watched two films, which involved two very similar characters. Both Cool Hand Luke and R.P. McMurphy started from "nothing" in their little microcosm, and eventually rose to iconic people who not only determined their own fate in the end, but also changed the people around them (their "followers") for the better. But from all of this, some very interesting questions come up, which primarily follow some of the very fundamental elements of humanity.

For one thing, there’s always been a pretty universal question in humanity: Just how right is this society I live in, and what do I do about it? Such people like McMurphy and Luke have adopted a similar view on the whole thing: Society is the enemy, no questions asked. And it’s true that people will live by that idea. But what I find even more interesting about humanity is how it has perceived such people throughout history, for in general, such people have been declared “insane”, “against God” and the like. At the same time, however, there’s something that crosses every such person’s mind: Who’s right, me or the rest of humanity? Even though things like this have been debated over countless millennia, there’s one simple solution that people tend to overlook: Certain people are meant for certain things, others for others. They’re simply varying philosophies, and with varying philosophies, there is no “right” or “wrong”.

-Will Duffield