My Choice for the Best Philosophical Movie
When people think of philosophical movies, they may think of The Matrix, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Memento. I am going to argue that one of the best philosophical movies is Steve Martin’s The Jerk. The movie tries to answer one of philosophy’s biggest questions: What is the meaning of life? And I believe it does a pretty good job of answering it.
That may sound ridiculous if you have never seen it, and perhaps even if you have. But the movie deals with racism, religion, purpose, and, ultimately, the real reason we are here. The Jerk may look like a stupid, mindless comedy, but it is actually a philosophical movie. And I think it is the best because it offers answers, not just questions.
The first thing I mentioned was racism. Racism in the late 1970s and early 1980s was looked at differently than it was in the 1990s, and differently again from today. But I think the answer The Jerk gives remains the same.
Navin, played by Steve Martin, was adopted by an African American family, but he does not know he was adopted. So, in a funny moment, his parents tell him that he is not really Black. He is shocked, and of course he overreacts, which is why it is funny. He has noticed that he looks different from the rest of his family, but he has never understood that the difference in their skin color is supposed to mean anything. Much like my father being short meant nothing to me as a kid, or now.
And that is the movie’s answer. Skin color does not tell us the value of a person. We have to be taught to attach meaning to those differences. Navin sees his parents, brothers, and sisters as his family. That’s all.
The movie does not spend much time on religion, but it touches on it while saying something true about life. Navin’s mother tells him that he has a “special purpose,” and she clearly means some higher or spiritual purpose, something God intended for his life.
Later, Navin meets a motorcycle stunt rider named Patty. She is a very wild woman, and she shows him what his “special purpose” is. It is sex.
After that, Navin runs around excited because he finally knows his purpose. It is meant as a joke, and it is funny, but he is also telling part of the truth. Biologically, we are here to procreate. That does not mean every person must have children, but reproduction is how life continues.
Yet Navin’s life with Patty is not satisfying. He is not happy.
I am going to speed through the rest of the movie because I want to get to what I think it is really saying.
After Patty, Navin meets Marie, played by Bernadette Peters, and falls in love with her. He is very happy with her, but she leaves because he cannot support her. Love may be wonderful, but the rent.
Then Navin invents the Opti-Grab, becomes rich, finds Marie again, and they build a life together. For a while, he is happy once more. He has love, money, success, and more possessions than anyone could possibly need. What could go wrong?
Well… Navin is sued, loses everything, and ends up broke. This is where the famous image from the movie comes from: Navin walking away while insisting that he does not need anything, all while picking up one object after another to take with him. He does not need anything—except this ashtray, this lamp, a chair, and a few other things.
The scene is ridiculous, but its meaning is clear. Those material objects did not really matter. They gave him comfort for a while, but they could not give his life lasting meaning.
At the end of the movie, Marie returns with Navin’s family. While he was rich, Navin had been sending money home every week, and his family had saved it. They are now wealthy, and everyone ends up together.
They live happily ever after.
This is the most important part of the movie because it shows that nearly everything Navin thought would make him happy was temporary. Sex made him happy for a while. Love made him happy for a while. Money, success, and possessions made him happy for a while. Navin spends most of the movie finding happiness and then somehow losing it.
So, what is the meaning of life?
You may say your purpose is to make money. Why do you want money? So you can buy a larger house. Why do you want a larger house? So you can live more comfortably or feel successful. Why do you want that?
Or you may say you want power. Why? So you can accomplish more, gain status, or earn more money. Why do you want those things?
Or you may say you want love. Ah, the greatest of them all. Why? So you can share your life with someone, build a family, or feel that you belong. And why do you want that?
We could continue doing this all day, but eventually every answer arrives at the same place: because I believe it will make me happy.
The movie never says this directly. But the whole story points toward it. Navin searches for his purpose through identity, sex, love, achievement, money, status, and possessions. Each one gives him something, but none is enough by itself.
So the purpose of life, at its simplest, is to seek happiness.
But that answer creates another question: What does it mean to be happy?
Navin is happy many times throughout the movie, but the feeling never lasts. He finds sex, then wants love. He finds love, then needs money. He gets money, status, and possessions, and then loses all of them. Navin may have discovered his special purpose, but he still has not discovered how to remain satisfied.
That is the problem with many of the things we believe will make us happy. Money, power, status, and possessions are like appetites. We can satisfy them for a moment, yet they return. There is always a larger house, more money, a higher position, or one more thing we absolutely need.
Lasting happiness requires more than getting what we want. We have to be satisfied with what we have and recognize when it is enough.
The answer I take from the movie is that happiness is not found in one special purpose, one achievement, or one possession. It is found in loving, belonging, helping one another, and learning when enough is enough.
So yes, I believe The Jerk answers the meaning of life.
Watch it and have fun. It’ll make you happy.
Albert Jr.
Author of The Nature Within Us
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