- This topic has 3 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 10 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Throughout the film, we are repeatedly exposed to a multifaceted aspect of human life that is lying. Interpersonal lying is prevalent in the characters of Thomas/Rashid and Auggie, however there are some lies that are more internal, as seen in the stories of Cyrus and Ruby. Thomas and Auggie both lie to others to benefit someone, whether that is themself or others. Thomas lies to protect himself from the Creeper and his goon in one scene by using fake names, hopping from place to place, and not disclosing his situation to Paul. In another scene, Thomas lies to his birth-father so that he can see him from a new light and establish the lost connection that could’ve been. Auggie lies in similar fashion, however his lies usually have a goal of benefiting himself and others. An instant of this is his playing along with Ruby when she picks him up that Felicity is his daughter. In this moment, he does not run away, but plays into what could perhaps be a lie for the possible benefit to the two women or even his shaky relationship with Ruby. Later, this pops up again when he gives Ruby money and lies that his business venture took off. He benefits from repairing the broken relationship a little and helps Ruby to whatever end she goes to for herself and her daughter. The most evident scene occurs at the end, when Auggie tells his story of impersonation on an old woman’s last Christmas. The act and story is entwined with lies, yet proves the lies can be beneficial.
Introspectively, Cyrus and Ruby show how lies can be tied to the core of oneself. In Cyrus’ case, it is easy to see in his conversation with Thomas how he wants to be a better man and tries to remind himself that the scars given unto him will make it so. However, in the confrontation between Thomas and Cyrus, it is more clearly shown how he still bears his previous unhealthy mindset with him through how he laid his hands on Thomas, verbally denounced the possibility of his past coming to “haunt” him, and how the director frames some of the shots of Cyrus with his prosthetic limb in the foreground while Cyrus himself is less prominent. Ruby’s lie to herself stems from familiarity and love, as there is the possibility that Felicity is not Auggie’s child and the possibility that she can save Felicity. Her relationship to both Auggie and Felicity shows how she paints the relationships to be completely benevolent and hopes to do some good for either of them. Though not inherently a lie, her notions are misguided and unrealistic of people.Word count: 450
Hi Chaz,
I like your observations about the prevalence of lying in the world of the characters in “Smoke”. It does seem like many characters lie with non malicious intent, and maybe even good intentions. I’m not sure that Cyrus’ attack on Thomas was out of a resurfacing of a previous unhealthy mindset, though. In fact, Cyrus seems to consider his past mistakes grave errors. Perhaps Cyrus’ attack is just a result of Thomas’ “lies” being revealed, and not through a flaw of Cyrus’ character. I think an important aspect of the lies in the film is that they are often hard to distinguish from reality. The reality and characters of smoke are intertwined with lies, and you put it well saying that these lies “can be tied to the core of oneself”.I really like this and very much agree, as lying was the first thing I came out of the film thinking about. You did a good job talking about the diversity in lying within the film, as this is something I did not particularly think about. I think the lying that takes place in the film connects with its setting of New York, as the culture of the city is one in which you will often need to lie in order to get what you want. This is because of the attitude New Yorkers have which Rashid touches upon in the diner when he is wary of Paul’s offer, and says that New Yorkers wouldn’t do something like offer a place to sleep – they are instead very closed off.
I thought your reflection on interpersonal lying and the prevalence of lies in our daily lives was really thought-provoking and it definitely made me see the film in a new way. The characters in the narrative seemed to use lying as a means of holding on to their dreams and hopes for themselves. In other words, the lies the characters tell create a path for them to be who they want to be. Without these lies, they fear facing what reality could have in store for them. Eventually the characters’ use of lies to dream become indistinguishable from the truth as is the case in Auggie’s Christmas Story. As you said, our lies are often tied to our cores and perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing because we are “innocent when we dream.”
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
