Being John Malkovich: The Meaning Of Life

One of the metaphysical arguments that is evident in “Being John Malkovich” is meaning of life, and the specific theory of Cyrenaic Hedonism. According to the founder of Cyrenaic Hedonism, Aristippus of Cyrene, meaning of life is found in the immediate satisfaction of sensual desires, and in finding pleasure in all circumstances despite the obstacles that may present. (Stickney, 150) Aristippus also states that the keenest pleasures are not necessarily intellectual, nor always moral. (Stickney, 150) Through the portal to John Malkovich’s brain, the three main characters; Schwartz, Lotte, and Maxine achieves their desired pleasures; Schwartz achieves his sexual desires towards Maxine and his pleasure of success as a puppeteer, Lotte achieves her sexual desires towards Maxine, and Maxine also achieves her …show more content…
However, Schwartz, and his wife do not seem to be bothered with their inappropriate sexual desires for Maxine, and eventually achieve their desires anyways. In one scene, Schwartz points a gun to Lotte and threatens her, so he can achieve his sexual desires for Maxine, which is another immoral thing to do, and in another, Schwartz even locks Lotte inside a cage to indulge his pleasures with Maxine. (Being John Malkovich) However, at the end, when Schwartz is no longer living in John Malkovich’s body, and not able to achieve all of his pleasures, he loses meanings in his life. (Being John Malkovich) This contrasts to the Aristippus’ theory of Cyrenaic Hedonism once more, by showing that pleasure directly relates to meaning of one’s life. How the three main characters from “Being John Malkovich” encounter the portal to John Malkovich’s brain demonstrates the Aristippus’ theory of Cyrenaic Hedonism, by showing how meaning of life is found in pleasure, and how extreme one can get to achieve his/her

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