"I
Heart Huckabees" - The Hidden Message
My
grandmother used to point out, “You can get away with saying
almost anything if you do it with a warmhearted smile.”
I Heart Huckabees embraces that lesson. The point of
the movie: Popular approaches to spirituality and personal development
are ludicrous. Though the point is negative, cloaked in humor,
the movie accomplishes its mission.
Lily
Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman comically demonstrate the vast difference
between, on the one hand, knowing all about spirituality, and
on the other, actually being spiritual. They playfully show how
the true meaning of spirituality is not accessed by a large vocabulary
of metaphysical clichés. The cast of characters, made up
of a galaxy of imbeciles, abound with fashionable buzzwords and
distorted concepts. They’ve read volumes of books and memorized
the buzzwords, but they’re all outrageously confused.
Through
those characters, I Heart Huckabees pokes fun at current
spiritual practices—a menagerie of circular quagmires and
mind-altering techniques. It mocks spiritual methodologies in
general, exemplified by zipping people up in plastic bags or attempting
to “transcend relative existence” by repeatedly beating
their head until, for a brief moment, thoughts and feelings are
suspended.
The
movie shows spirituality as inundated with characters like those
portrayed by Tomlin and Hoffman, each with their own tidy little
world complete with a self-justifying set of beliefs. Each character
seems oblivious to their own confusion, while they’re quick
to point out the confusion in others—alluding to an epidemic
among spiritual groups, ranging from religions to the plethora
of New Age cliques. In so doing, the movie illustrates how easy
it is to see such confusion in other people, but how very difficult
it is to see it in yourself.
I
Heart Huckabees isn’t just about getting a few laughs;
it holds up a mirror to spiritual practitioners throughout the
world. As presented in the movie, anyone who looks into that mirror
sees everybody else’s face in it, but not their own. That’s
called the “I Get It” syndrome. Freeing yourself from
the “I Get It” syndrome has been likened to passing
through the eye of the needle. There is no cookbook for that passage.
The facilitation of it is a subtle art. If I Heart Huckabees
has any long-term value, it would be in having you look in the
mirror to see where you really are, in hopes that you would then
move beyond it.
The
movie cries out: If there is such a thing as profound spiritual
understanding, mainstream spiritual movements have missed it.
People pursue Buddhism, Hinduism, Existentialism, and just about
any other “ism” or guru out there, but real wisdom
continues to elude them. The ability to laugh at yourself is indeed
a wonderful thing. I Heart Huckabees invites spiritual
groups throughout the world to take a step back, look at themselves,
and smile.
In
so doing, it implores spiritual leaders and seekers everywhere
to take a new and more mature step forward. However, I Heart
Huckabees is essentially mum on the subject of what that
next step is. The only suggestion, presented at the end of the
movie, is to throw the baby out with the bathwater and abandon
spirituality altogether. Spirituality’s quandary, though
identified, is not resolved. No viable solution to the dilemma
is offered.
It
might seem natural at this point to suggest what real spirituality
is. But that would ignore the valid point hidden within the movie.
People claim to understand and be spiritual all too freely. Cultivating
true wisdom is a subtle craft. True spirituality is profoundly
elusive.
From
that perspective, I Heart Huckabees has a very positive
flipside. It identifies the predicament this age of spirituality
finds itself in. In so doing, it offers humanity an excellent
opportunity to step out of the mess and move beyond it. Hopefully
I Heart Huckabees marks the dawn of a bright, new, spiritual
future—the beginning of a deep, sober, mature inquiry into
what lies beyond all the mumbo jumbo. Perhaps it marks the time
when spiritual seekers and teachers alike no longer fall prey
to the “I Get It” syndrome. By providing a snapshot
of modern spirituality, perhaps this movie can help awaken a deeper
and more significant understanding than was ever thought possible.
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