Click is a very
average Adam Sandler film based on a character who suddenly acquires a magic
remote that enables him to “fast forward” and through many of the tumultuous
points in his life. Sandler’s character, Michael, is a very hardworking
architect and often works long hours to try and advance his career and provide
a very good life for his family. Michael often sacrifices time with his family
for work and seems to not be able to say no to his boss. Michael is given a
magical remote by a shady fellow named Morty in the “Beyond” section of a Bed,
Bath, & Beyond. He soon finds that the remote allows him to control time
and he is able to go back and revisit events from his past and fast-forward
through parts of the future.
This is
related to Robert Nozick’s thought experiment the “Experience Machine” where
individuals are able to enter a much more pleasurable simulated reality. This
experiment is an attempt to refute hedonism and show that some things other
than pleasure (or sheer bliss) have value and increase one’s well-being. While
the thought experiment is very enticing and enables one to picture what type of
life they would be able to have in this “virtual reality,” Nozick aims to
refute the notion that happiness is the only thing of value by pointing out
that most people will not “plug in” (or in this case, “click in”) even if they
could. Nozick states that people want to actually do things, not just
experience them and that these experiences are just a byproduct of one’s
accomplishments. He also goes on to talk about how people want to be in control
of their own life and not be held to a man-made reality. Individuals also want
to be people of virtue and use the lessons learned from past experiences and
hard work to result in more accomplishments.
The movie Click relates to Nozick’s Experience
Machine and helps to refute the theory of hedonism because Sandler’s character
starts to realize that as he fast-forwards through time, his
body is on "auto-pilot" - his mind skips ahead, while his body goes
through the motions of everyday life. As the movie goes on, the remote starts
to fast-forward without Michael controlling it. Michael's various attempts to
dispose of or destroy the remote fail, so he resolves to change his life so
that the remote can't control him. This part of the movie is in line with one
of the arguments against the Experience Machine (and therefore against
hedonism) in that the person “plugged in” to the machine cannot possibly change
the course of the pre-set experiences, so an experience that was once seen as
potentially full of happiness is now one that the person finds melancholy. The
person also has no control of the future situations and is now at the mercy of
the experience machine (or in this case, the magic remote).
The
theme of the movie and the underlying notion of Nozick’s idea is that all
experiences in life matter and that sometimes the bad experiences in one’s life
are some of the most instrumental. These experiences are not good within
themselves but should not be overlooked. The “experience machine” or the magic
remote cannot (in theory) be programmed to help individuals learn these lessons
from tough moments or allow individuals to change preferences over time.
Michael learns that while he has great ambitions to become successful
professionally, it is his wife and kids that will bring him genuine happiness.
The moments that he “fast-forwarded” through, often became pivotal moments in his
life where he learned some valuable life lessons. This movie is an example of how moments of
“pure bliss” can be outweighed by very real, often tough moments in life. We do
not always know for certain what exactly it is that we want from life and
moments where we learn valuable lessons are sometimes the most valuable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOuby0cSa0I
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