There was a time, back when I was still relatively new to Steemit, when I started doing some weekly posts, and then back around the beginning of this year I had the 2 Minute Steemit Tips series, and in February I did my Steemians of Anarchapulco series... I REALLY like sequential posting of that kind, and I'm working on bringing some of that back into my blog as part of my larger shift towards a more structured life over the coming months.

In just a few days I'll be putting out the first edition of Tuesday Talks on the Tao Te Ching, wherein I will introduce & discuss one chapter of the Tao each week. Today, I'm kicking off another series that (for the moment at least) I'm calling Sunday Cinema Reflections. Be warned, while I do not plan to spell out the whole story of any of these movies, there will most likely be at least some spoilers in every episode.

Episode 1: K-PAX

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The Movie

K-PAX was released in 2001, stars Kevin Spacey & Jeff Bridges, includes an absolutely astounding ensemble cast, and has quite the amazing score to top it off. The film is an adaptation of a novel (by the same name) by Gene Brewer, which actually turned into a pentalogy. The director, Iain Softley, really hasn't made that many movies (compared to many in Hollywood), so it was really interesting to see that he also directed Hackers, one of my favorite movies as a young human.

The Story

Part of what makes this movie so interesting to analyze is how absolutely engrossing it is, while having very little actual plot or activity happening. The majority of the film is simply conversation, there are only a couple of locations featured, and certainly they're not actually trying to offer a really compelling beginning-middle-end. The focus of the intention really seems to be to simply get humans to step out of their standard gestalt and take another look at reality.

The film starts with Prot (Kevin Spacey) appearing in a train station, helping a woman up who had just been robbed, and promptly getting carted off to a mental institution when the police arrive and don't like his responses. From that point on, the main focus is on Prot's ever-deepening conversations with Dr. Powell (Jeff Bridges), who assumes that he is delusional, and wants to "fix" him.

Over the course of the film, Dr. Powell's life is drastically changed, as are those of most every human on the floor of the psychiatric hospital where Prot is visiting. As Dr. Powell attempts to find a diagnosis and a cure, Prot just keeps on changing people's lives and taking notes for his report on Earth. The movie ends not by wrapping things up nicely in a clear package, but leaving you asking: "Well, was he from K-PAX?"

Honestly, I find the most unrealistic part of the entire story is the fact that no mysterious government agents come and take Prot away at any point.

Some Quotes

Prot: Let me tell you something, Mark. You humans, most of you, subscribe to this policy of an eye for an eye, a life for a life, which is known throughout the universe for its... stupidity. Even your Buddha and your Christ had quite a different vision, but nobody's paid much attention to them, not even the Buddhists or the Christians. You humans. Sometimes its hard to imagine how you've made it this far.

Dr. Mark Powell: What if I were to tell you that according to a man who lived on our planet, named Einstein, that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light?

Prot: I would say that you misread Einstein, Dr. Powell. May I call you Mark? You see Mark, what Einstein actually said was that nothing can accelerate to the speed of light because its mass would become infinite. Einstein said nothing about entities already traveling at the speed of light or faster, at tachyon speeds.

Dr. Mark Powell: It's one thing to take an interest in your fellow patients. It's quite another to make you think that you can cure them.

Prot: You seem overly upset, Mark. To borrow a phrase from Navarro: You need to chill. For your information: All beings have the capacity to cure themselves, Mark. This is something we've known on K-PAX for millions of years.

Dr. Mark Powell: Listen to me: On this planet: I'm a doctor, you're a patient.

Prot: Doctor, patient: Curious human distinction.

Dr. Mark Powell: It's not your job to cure Howie, or Ernie, or anyone else, it's mine

Prot: Then, why haven't you cured them, yet?

Prot: I wanna tell you something Mark, something you do not yet know, that we K-PAXians have been around long enough to have discovered. The universe will expand, then it will collapse back on itself, then will expand again. It will repeat this process forever. What you don't you know is that when the universe expands again, everything will be as it is now. Whatever mistakes you make this time around, you will live through on your next pass. Every mistake you make, you will live through again, & again, forever. So my advice to you is to get it right this time around. Because this time is all you have.

Why I Wanted to Share K-PAX

I first discovered this movie through a song by Wookiefoot, which featured samples from the movie to open & close the track. The quotes are quite profound (both featured above), and I recognized Kevin Spacey's voice, so earlier this year I finally got around to asking Google where the sample was from and voila!

This movie holds so much emotion, so much wisdom, so much comedy, and is truly a wonderful piece of art, offering some delightfully different ways of looking at life. I also really enjoy how well they play with the "Is he or isn't he?" question of Prot's origins, without ever actually telling you. Apparently in the book it was made even more unclear whether he was actually from another planet or not.