A Filmmaker's Guide to: Sartre's Philosophies

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.

Sartre's Philosophies

What are they?

Sartre's philosophies can be boiled down and categorised into the realm of existentialism and they include:

• humans live in constant pain and misery because of the fact that they are 'condemned to be free'
• each individual is responsible for their own conscience thoughts, actions and beliefs
• whenever someone states that their social stature is a result of society itself and cannot be changed as it is not within their power then they are deceiving themselves
• the 'other' may often be objectified by larger society and therefore, not be seen as an individual but as a type or a whole; this is dangerous for the sense of responsibility in the self of those not part of the group of the 'other'

So, when we look at these few theories [which have been simplified and I have basically taken the most famous ones here to make the article readable] the first thing we have to do in order to understand them is apply them to literature. The first book I want to take you to look at is the famed novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte and have a look how we can apply Sartre's philosophies to the novel.

As we know, "Jane Eyre" is a bildungsroman [a coming-of-age novel/an education novel in which the main character learns and grows into their actual self] and Jane grows up in a strange household where a book is thrown at her head by her cousin, her aunt is not very nice to her and she is constantly ridiculed by the staff of the home. One could say that Jane is treated really badly. But, there is room to show that Jane is in part responsible for her own treatment.

For example: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

When Jane is being spoken to by the headmaster of Lowood School when Mrs. Reed signs her up and states she will pay for Jane to go to school.

Mrs. Reed states that Jane is known to be a bit of a liar and obviously, coming in at only a few weeks before this happens we, as the reader do not know whether this is true or not. What we do know is true is that children tell white lies here and there and Jane is a child.

She has been provided roof and home by her aunt, who has recently lost her husband of many years and is clearly depressed and angry at that fact. She says that "deceit is [Jane's] fault..." To this, Jane lashes out and blames her aunt for everything wrong and all the verbal abuse she gets from her cousins. To Sartre, this would be a fault. In terms of being 'condemned to be free' Jane is basically being given house and home even though she is an orphan. So this means that Mrs. Reed has lost her brother and relatively at the same time she lost her husband and yet, this young child is shouting and screaming at her. Mrs. Reed does not react.

Jane blames Mrs. Reed for everything and yet again, in terms of Sartre stating that we are all responsible for own our actions, Jane would be at fault yet again.

This is supported by the fact that when she attends Lowood school, she still harbours a lot of anger towards everyone who is strict towards her. It is actually Helen who teaches her the Sartrean way of life - in which she has to be responsible for her own thoughts and actions and this is when Jane decides to calm down and learn instead of reacting.

A List of Other Works

1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
3. Sons and Lovers by D.H Lawrence
4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
5. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
6. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
7. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
8. What Happened to the Corbetts? by Nevil Shute
9. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
10. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

What about in film?

Character actions in film is what pushes the plot along and honestly, it is only when they either acknowledge or ignore the mistakes that they make that leads to a resolution because of the way characters often act with ignorance, as we all do. We do not act, normally, with any intent. We just exist. However, in Sartre's philosophies, we are always aware even when we do not think we are. So let us have a look at which films portray this better than others and it is normally the films in which the character does not 'seem' to recognise what they are doing to push the main plot along or when the character intentionally acts out of malice for others:

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Psycho
3. Jackie Brown
4. Misery
5. Primal Fear
6. The Deer Hunter
7. The Amityville Horror
8. The Wicker Man
9. Barry Lyndon
10. American Psycho
11. Sweeney Todd
12. Inglorious Basterds

I am sure there are many others, but these are the ones that I knew from the top of my head that I could relate to Sartre's philosophies.

Here is some further reading on the topic...

Further Reading:

• Sartre, J.P (2003). Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. 2nd ed. UK: Routledge.
• Sartre, J.P (2000). Nausea. 2nd ed. UK: Penguin Modern Classics.
• Sartre, J.P (2010). The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination. 2nd ed. UK: Routledge.