![]() ![]() But as he drives down a series of Central Park–adjacent streets, David realizes he’s the only person on them. The camera pans over a bustling New York City as David wakes up to the dulcet tones of Cruz and Diaz intoning, “Open your eyes.” Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place” scores his tranquil morning routine: he meticulously plucks a gray hair from his lush mane, showers, pulls on a crisp button-down, and hops into his Ferrari. But it’s Vanilla Sky’s opening scene that feels particularly eerie to watch right now. These themes certainly have a lot to do with our current moment, where everything that once defined us feels slippery and diffuse, and where we’re all unwilling shut-ins pacing around our apartments in masks. Without getting too spoilery (though we’ll do that below), the film sharply pivots from a relatively straightforward narrative into a labyrinthine meditation on loneliness, alienation, loss of identity, and the nature of reality itself. He lives in an apartment that could’ve belonged to Patrick Bateman, casually sleeps with and discards beautiful women (including Cameron Diaz’s Julianna Gianni), and throws lavish birthday parties attended by Steven Spielberg.ĭavid’s seemingly charmed life slips through his fingers, though, after he falls hard for Sofia (Penélope Cruz), recklessly abandons Julianna, gets in a disfiguring car accident, and loses everything that once mattered to him: his power, his charm, his friends, his empire, his Tom Cruise face. A remake of Alejandro Amenábar’s 1997 Spanish film Abre Los Ojos, Vanilla Sky follows David Aames (Tom Cruise), a fabulously wealthy New Yorker who inherited his dad’s publishing empire and essentially does whatever the fuck he wants. Happiness without meaning for most of us appears to lead to an internal conflict, an inability to cope with the chilling chasm the conflict leaves in our souls.The director reflects on his famously divisive sci-fi thriller, its ideal ending, overlooked easter eggs, and the new scripts he’s working on in quarantine.Ĭameron Crowe’s famously divisive 2001 sci-fi thriller Vanilla Sky has been called a lot of things over the years: an “ incoherent jumble,” “ tremendously vivid,” “ self-destructive cinematic havoc,” “ scrupulously moral.” As an unapologetic appreciator of this big, messy film, I’d like to add another adjective to the list: prescient. Throughout the movie, David is repeatedly asked by others, "What is happiness for you?" It is a question we must all ask ourselves and it is a question we must ask in relation to what makes our lives meaningful. The majority of us philosophically reject the notion of virtual happiness, only to embrace it materially through various mediums, e.g. In addition, the average American spends 5+ hours per day watching TV. even falling asleep at the keyboard only to dream of the virtual life. ![]() Some individuals spend every waking hour playing these RPGs. The latest RPGs allow you to create characters in your own image and to live life however you want. ![]() Much of our daily life is spent watching TV, playing games, etc. What Baggini doesn't delve into however is the fact that people philosophically reject the idea of virtual happiness. ![]()
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