This whole split personality theme originally presented by
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a main theme in a lot of modern Hollywood movies.
Spider man, Super man and pretty much most superhero is a good example of the
split personality theme. I watched another movie that I found very interesting.
The movie is called Limitless, staring Bradley Cooper and directed by Neil Burgur.
I find the way it integrates this theme into the movie is very different
compared to all the super hero movies. They take a very modern and scientific
approach to the movie that sorta makes you believe it's a true story. Even
though all these movies are different, there is two constant in everything with
this theme. First is that all the characters are stronger in some way and feel
liberated and the second is there are consequences for all their actions.
In the movie limitless, Bradley cooper plays the role of a
broke writer that has no inspiration and is about to get evicted from his house.
His brother in law see's the condition he's in and gives him a experimental
pill call NZT that improves brain power from a max of 20% all the way up to an
80%.After taking this pill, he finishes his book in 2 hours and gets extremely
rich and successful. What ends up happening is that he finds out that everybody
that used the pill had the same affect of being unstoppable, but ended up being
extremely ill or dead. He also has some problems with the mob and repaying them
for the money he borrowed to get rich in the first place. This proves my
previous statement of feeling free and powerful meanwhile paying the price for
it.This theme is relevant to the class novel we read, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when Jekyll turns into Hyde and feels free and liberated. Every time Jekyll takes the potion he created, he turn into Hyde. Which is his evil side that he always had repressed inside of him. You can compare that to the human brain in the way that a human has all this potential but can only access a maximum of 20% of their brain power. Every time Jekyll is in the form of Hyde, he feels free and does things he would never even imagine of doing when he is Jekyll. The movie is similar in the way that the character Bradley plays reaches success way past his wildest imaginations. The last comparison I have to make between the novel and the movie is that they both pay for their freedom. Hyde ends up being wanted for killing Dr.Carew and has to hide like a fugitive. In the movie however, the character has to find a way to fight the side effects from this drug. Even though the drug makes you turns into your absolute best, it slowly kills your insides and you die. The character in the movie feels the effect of that after a few months of using NZT. He also has other problems with the mob, police and people trying to kill him to get NZT for themselves.
Kinda begs the question if freedom is really free? And if so, too what extent is it completely free?
I mean, in every story with this theme, the character with the split personality gets trouble. Or you can think of it as getting punished....
Now that I think about it, I wish I had that pill during exams, would be amazing. Except for that side effect... I'll just use my knowledge with that pill to modify the recipe and fix that little bug where it kills you! What would you do if you had access to NZT? Also what else movies or stories can you think of that can relate to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that don't consist of a super hero?
By the way, Limitless is a great movie and I encourage you to watch it if you haven't already.
You beat me to it! My post was suppose to be about Limitless, I guess i'll share my comments on this thread: .
ReplyDeleteI asked Louise in the beginning of the semester if we can watch this film in class, it connects deeply to the idea of Frankenstein, and The Hulk.
The film bores similarities to Frankenstein because it plays with the imagination of creating something, to change the state of mind somehow. Just like Dr Jekyll’s potion in The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde that transforms Jekyll from good to evil. When Cooper is on this pill, he can do whatever he pleases, and it somehow tweaks his intelligence by increasing the percentage of his brain capacity.
The ending is different just because it is a movie, therefore the protagonist must always win against his enemies, but the idea of the story is still the same.
What do you think about having a substance that can alter your way of thinking yet also make you the best you can be? Would it be a success or failure to create such a powerful tool?
I really think this movie works well in integrating all the different aspects of “creating” just as we’ve seen reoccurring in Frankenstein, The Hulk and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Hyde. PLEASE REFER IT TO LOUISE SO WE CAN WATCH IT IN CLASS! ☺
It is a great movie! If I was in that place and had the pill I would of done exactly what they did in the movie.Take one pill and use my brain to fix all the side effects of the pill.Sorta like if you had one wish,you'd wish for a million more wishes.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be a success to people that can afford the risk.In other words,people that are really desperate.