Purposeful Confusion

Kate and I just watched "Synedoche, New York", Charlie Kaufman's latest film. I'm normally a big fan of his work. "Eternal Sunshine" and "Being John Malkovich" were brilliant, and I really enjoyed "Human Nature". "Adaptation" was good, though not quite on par with rest. But Synedoche...I don't know. I'd really like to like it, but I'm afraid it's just not warranted. The jury is still out, but leaning toward the gallows. The film was just too taxing to enjoy, without any real payoff at the end for all your efforts.

But any film that leaves you feeling some emotion strongly at the end was at least worth the time expended on it. And, as with Kaufman's other movies, the baggage ripped open for you by the viewing is a tangled mess of emotional odds and ends, dangling wires, and unwashed questions.

I love that feeling, that experience of having most of your presuppositions about the world smeared across the microscope slide, their stuffing pulled out, and their gears and machinery splayed out for examination. That moment when how you think you see the world and how the world actually is temporarily stop agreeing. When the deck is reshuffled and then thrown into the wind. It's fleeting, but it's moments of purposeful confusion that help us reevaluate, take stock and prioritize.

Ultimately we're just wet-wired circuitry on legs. Self-assembling feedback loops that sometimes need a little extra current to form new connections. A little creative short circuiting. Targeted confusion aimed at clearing out the cobwebs and greasing up the machinery, breaking you out of repetitive behaviors and thought patterns. Sometimes you just have to go a little crazy to maintain your sanity. Purposeful confusion is a release valve.

So go read "Naked Lunch" and rewire.