The Poignant Question in 'Alpha Dog'
A few days back, I was watching the movie Alpha Dog, a true life story, which is actually about adolescents enjoying a luxurious life on dope money. Some are in it for the fun, some are in it for the thrill and some for the dark power they get to wield on others.
The latter kind becomes the problem because when problems surface they tend to get insecure and get to use their power to eliminate the problem at any cost without regard to life.
A young innocent teenager who admires the dope dealers lifestyle becomes prey to this dark power. He is kidnapped on impulse. The police start a serious search. Then they do not know what to do with him. The guys there for fun and thrill want to make him a friend by sharing in their luxurious life style and they girls, that way this kid could be dropped off as a friend who would be grateful for all that they share.
But the guy who enjoys the dark power wants this innocent guy eliminated as he cannot trust this kid. Just when the guys take the teenager to release him, the malevolent character instructs one of the con guys to kill the teenager. The naïve teenager pleads for life but is killed cold blood.
There is a scene in the movie that is heart rending. It is an interview with the real life mother of the teenager. She is a completely distraught woman who seems increasingly imbecile with every sentence she utters because she laughs and gags at the end of every sentence to hide her overwhelming tears. But even then tears profusely flow.
In her tearful tirade against life, nature and God she asks a highly profound question. She vents her pent-up anger against God. She questions God with extreme anguish. The most important question that she puts to Him with great vehemence is the question of purpose.
She rages ‘What is the purpose of this? For what purpose did my son die?’
This brings out a very important point of how important purpose is in facing suffering in life. Man needs purpose. The undeniable need for an ultimate purpose, even in death, points to the reality of purpose.
Many nihilists maintain that every semblance of purpose is an illusion to help man live. Even this genuine need for an illusionary purpose belies the reality of purpose. But a nihilist may argue that even the need may be illusionary. He tends to forget that death isn’t illusionary, death is real. When death is real the need for a real purpose to really overcome the real loss of death also has to be real.
Even as the movie is over, her heart rending words questioning purpose reverberate through our beings.
The latter kind becomes the problem because when problems surface they tend to get insecure and get to use their power to eliminate the problem at any cost without regard to life.
A young innocent teenager who admires the dope dealers lifestyle becomes prey to this dark power. He is kidnapped on impulse. The police start a serious search. Then they do not know what to do with him. The guys there for fun and thrill want to make him a friend by sharing in their luxurious life style and they girls, that way this kid could be dropped off as a friend who would be grateful for all that they share.
But the guy who enjoys the dark power wants this innocent guy eliminated as he cannot trust this kid. Just when the guys take the teenager to release him, the malevolent character instructs one of the con guys to kill the teenager. The naïve teenager pleads for life but is killed cold blood.
There is a scene in the movie that is heart rending. It is an interview with the real life mother of the teenager. She is a completely distraught woman who seems increasingly imbecile with every sentence she utters because she laughs and gags at the end of every sentence to hide her overwhelming tears. But even then tears profusely flow.
In her tearful tirade against life, nature and God she asks a highly profound question. She vents her pent-up anger against God. She questions God with extreme anguish. The most important question that she puts to Him with great vehemence is the question of purpose.
She rages ‘What is the purpose of this? For what purpose did my son die?’
This brings out a very important point of how important purpose is in facing suffering in life. Man needs purpose. The undeniable need for an ultimate purpose, even in death, points to the reality of purpose.
Many nihilists maintain that every semblance of purpose is an illusion to help man live. Even this genuine need for an illusionary purpose belies the reality of purpose. But a nihilist may argue that even the need may be illusionary. He tends to forget that death isn’t illusionary, death is real. When death is real the need for a real purpose to really overcome the real loss of death also has to be real.
Even as the movie is over, her heart rending words questioning purpose reverberate through our beings.