A Reaction to the K-PAX Movie

Warning: May contain spoilers, though I find this film strangely immune to spoilers.

This will be an affirmative appraisal of a boring movie. Boring how? The same way St. Augustine's "City of God" and Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations" are boring. Catching on? Vulgar boredom is a great predictor of actual merit. I will try your patience the next sentence if you're still reading.

Light is the most inspiring entity in this film. Followed closely by the most stoic, Buddha-like Kevin Spacey you've ever seen. If Ben Stein could lose any lingering shreds of personality and yet attain enlightenment, that's pretty close to K-PAXian demeanor. Now, why do I say that light precedes the protagonist? Because Prot (Spacey) is a personification of light, not the other way around. By way of dubious physics that'll be covered further down, Prot travels by light yet is somewhat averse to it when in crystallized human form. It is Prot's weak-spot on earth. Light signals major plot development, usually to foreshadow a breakthrough in persuasion regarding Prot's claims. The contrast between a stoic Prot and Everyday America's buzz around him isn't mentioned. It is very clearly demonstrated.

Upon arrival in a way that isn't exactly subtle regarding the, shall I say, enlightenment of the main character, he is swiftly treated to a justice system flushed from the ethers by an old lady in distress. In a demonstration of competence, the NYPD relegates our sojourner to a nut house. Jeff Bridges makes his appearance with a perpetually amused scowl and plays the role of wise overseer and shrewd observer. Though to be fair, I suspect a being befitting many traditional conceptions of a benevolent God would have encountered those he deemed as crazy before his visit to a mental institution. He landed in NYC, come on. And it's only in context of this insanity, somewhat muted by formality and apparent ability to ask "how high" upon being asked to jump through society's hoops, do other characters in the movie become apparent.

Normal. Too normal. Words befitting a C-student crop up. Mediocrity, average, complacent, somewhat decaying, bland. Nothing downright unsavory, but one gets the sense that Hollywood wrapped people-costumes around TV-induced stupor and had it walk around and mumble. There was no other character that inspired anything, good or bad. The kids looked cute and darling, but that's because they're kids. There was no exchange of knowledge; only it's denial, deconstruction, and reconstruction in the form of "aha, so you're really a traumatized guy from the quaint regions of New Mexico, and your personality performed mitosis upon being shocked out of it's gore by... well... gore." Fumbling through the rest of the screenplay, we arrive at a camera blackout at 5:51:10 AM.

Therein lies a perfect visual summary of my reaction to the movie - when Prot leaves, it all falls apart. One is left with the riveting tale of ex-nuts reintegrating back into the society that drove them there in the first place, either by virtue of a repulsive "smell" or by its wise decision to put anyone out of the mold into sculptures of a politically correct prison. Why is this a point of contention? Because the prisoners..err..patients did not act irrationally. Yeah, you read that right. Sure, they weren't "normal" , but in truth, I failed to notice any exceptional insanity. Meaning, the psychiatrists and other characters at large didn't seem devoid of mental deadwood. Allow me to perform a case-by-case study. Don't worry, this won't take long.

Mrs. Archer had unrealistic expectations of romance, put on so much makeup she looked like the cover of Whore Magazine, and didn't appreciate nice guys serving them out of concern for her health and happiness; instead insisting on her no-show object of infatuation. Aforementioned attributes being unique to Mrs. Archer, of course. "Normal" women aren't like that at all. Of course not. They're all reasonable when it comes to relations with guys, and don't belong in mental hospitals by the standards displayed by Archer.

Just try to tell people that they smell.

An obsession with germs and carcinogens and the like? Well, Ernie is certainly unique in that respect. If only he learned that it's no big deal to fret over the slightest discoloration, scratch, dust mote, allergen, and so on. Isn't that right, Suburbia USA? However, seeing as how he was swept away with a broom by a culture that sees merit in putting "CAUTION: HOT COFFEE" on containers the customer specifically requested be filled to the brim with hot coffee... I don't think further comment is necessary.

Bess didn't talk to anybody because she felt no need to fraternize with crazy people. We should all be so fortunate.

I'm not at all sure what Howie's alleged problem is.

I said in the beginning that this is a positive appraisal. That statement flows from the fact that it was us, mediocre normal people who are no less demented than subjects of the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute that created all this. The light shows, the subtlety of messages derived from the film... everything. That is fantastic.

Oh, and for those dubious physics? Had to mention it, for I am a geek of sorts. Traveling at the speed of light, Prot would not have traveled a thousand years, per his perspective, in getting here. The trip would have been literally instantaneous if light speed was truly achieved. In fact, to even say "traveled" is a fallacy, for there would be no time spent between any two points of his light-speed journey. Perhaps in such "travel" Prot gains the wisdom and peace that he displays. To travel at c is to be everywhere at once. Everywhere. Relativity brushes up to the divine, for one turning into/traveling with a beam of light one sees infinity in the tiniest instance. No humans can comprehend such a thing; there's no point in my trying to expand on this.

Unless we can harness cosmic significance and power without blowing ourselves up, stick to looking at bluebirds.