mindless

[Paul Mackin]

Since two p-listers have broken the ice and said what GR means to
them, I feel like I dare jump in.

I _do_ think it is possible to read GR as a metaphor for a philosophical
viewpoint: the recognition of our essential abandonment-in-the-world;
and acceptance that any sense of control we feel over our lives is a
fleeting illusion.

Will and Marc each touch on abandonment (adrift in a world beyond
comprehension, children's tales often about abandonment). The big A is
everywhere in GR, up to and including the disposition of the hero
himself in the most prejudiced manner possible. He's written-out-of-
the-script as they say on the soaps.

We're all abandoned in the end. We all die. We are all preterites here.
It's like the Christian view of Fallen Man except this being the 20th
Century there can be no hope of Redemption and Ressurection. We may
hear voices from beyond, and try to heed them. But no one is there.

Yes, we are all preterite and abandoned. It's all we've got to call our
own. So, logically I guess we have to make the best of it. (At least it's
a level playing field more or less).  Therefore, in GR, the actors, though
purposely drawn of cardboard (without the z coordinate to use Wallace-type
terminology), nevertheless perform on occasion more or less gratuitous
acts of human kindness. Along the way, as they pursue their mindful and
mindless pleasures. It's the human thing to do.

All of the above also goes on the societal level. The great sophistication
of human language (this includes abstract stuff like mathematics) and
bureaucracy can't  _really_ control Mother Nature as she presents
herself to us.  Any victories (like the Rocket) are hard-won and temporary. 
 
A possible reading foax?

					P.