Zelig is Woody Allen’s fake documentary about a man whose chameleon-like ability to adapt himself to be part of any group – Zelig becomes Chinese in a Chinese restaurant – results in his rise to 1920’s pop culture stardom. In Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation, the Charlie Kaufman character tries to write a screenplay about the theory of evolution, in part to prove to his twin brother (a successful writer of popular thriller movies) that it is still possible to make “real” films. Today, in a culture of social media and AI generated images, the absurd plots of these films perhaps seem less absurd than in the past. At a time when it becomes increasingly difficult to separate a private self from public performance on social media and to apply labels of “real” and “fake” to images generated around us, such absurdist films help us reflect on the moral and cultural function of cinema. In this paper, I examine how Allen and Kaufman raise serious questions about the nature and value of authenticity, an important philosophical concept in ontology, ethics, and aesthetics. How does fiction – by definition not “real” – enable us to have more “real” / meaningful experiences and to live, in an ethical sense, more authentically? Both Zelig and Charlie, characters under immense pressure to adapt and conform, compel us to explore how ideas about the nature and the value of authenticity have changed over time; and what meaning (if any) this concept has for post-millennial culture.

Authors:
John Griffith, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Professor John Griffith is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at National Taipei University of Technology in Taiwan

See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule

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