The Invention of Lying and the Myth of America
I once rented the 2009 movie The Invention of Lying from the local library, and one of the first things that came to my mind while I was watching it was the notion that this imaginary world where the movie is set -- a locale where no one can say anything but the harshest and bluntest of truths -- was supposed to be a fictional version of America. Or at least a fictional version of America as it must have seemed to English actor/writer Ricky Gervais when he first came over to this country from his homeland.
After all, Americans tend to take pride in being more honest than the English, more direct than the English and less likely to shade the truth with diplomatic white lies than the English.
So while the latter half of the film can be seen as a religious satire, the original inspiration might have been the temptation to poke fun at us "straight-talking" Yanks in such a way that most of us wouldn't catch on.
Of course, if you don't like that theory, I have others... but I like this one best.
As for the religious aspect of the movie, I found the premise of the movie to be a lot kinder and sympathetic toward religious people than I expected even though I found its idea of religion being just another form of lying to be more than a bit questionable.
Then again, the most questionable part of the movie was the part that expected me to believe that a woman who looked like Jennifer Garner could ever fall in love with a guy who looked like Ricky Gervais. After all, Gervais is not exactly famous for playing likable characters in his native England, let alone romantic heartthrobs. And though his character in this movie is a lot more sympathetic than, say, the character he played in the UK version of The Office, the romance between his character and Garner's still seemed less than convincing.
Then again, when I look upon some of the more unlikely real-life relationships I have witnessed since this movie was first released, it seems more and more believable. Or at least as believable as one might expect from a movie about lying.
I once rented the 2009 movie The Invention of Lying from the local library, and one of the first things that came to my mind while I was watching it was the notion that this imaginary world where the movie is set -- a locale where no one can say anything but the harshest and bluntest of truths -- was supposed to be a fictional version of America. Or at least a fictional version of America as it must have seemed to English actor/writer Ricky Gervais when he first came over to this country from his homeland.
After all, Americans tend to take pride in being more honest than the English, more direct than the English and less likely to shade the truth with diplomatic white lies than the English.
So while the latter half of the film can be seen as a religious satire, the original inspiration might have been the temptation to poke fun at us "straight-talking" Yanks in such a way that most of us wouldn't catch on.
Of course, if you don't like that theory, I have others... but I like this one best.
As for the religious aspect of the movie, I found the premise of the movie to be a lot kinder and sympathetic toward religious people than I expected even though I found its idea of religion being just another form of lying to be more than a bit questionable.
Then again, the most questionable part of the movie was the part that expected me to believe that a woman who looked like Jennifer Garner could ever fall in love with a guy who looked like Ricky Gervais. After all, Gervais is not exactly famous for playing likable characters in his native England, let alone romantic heartthrobs. And though his character in this movie is a lot more sympathetic than, say, the character he played in the UK version of The Office, the romance between his character and Garner's still seemed less than convincing.
Then again, when I look upon some of the more unlikely real-life relationships I have witnessed since this movie was first released, it seems more and more believable. Or at least as believable as one might expect from a movie about lying.
Labels: Ateísmo, Estados Unidos de América, Invenciones, Jennifer Garner, La Mentira Original, Películas Nuevas IV, Películas Religiosas I, Ricky Gervais
posted by Tonio Kruger at 2:34 PM
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