Stranger Than Fiction- Movie Day!!

STARTER: Review Existentialism
Write a definition in your own words of the following terms:

• Existentialism
• Existential Crisis
• The Absurd
• Absurd Hero

​Class Biz

• Missing DP Updates! You have until Tuesday of next week (BEGINNING OF CLASS) to email me your link for up to 80% credit on the assignment
• Check the hmwrk/calendar page for the reading schedule for The Stranger

Finish the film, Stranger than Fiction
Take notes on existential themes that we've covered so far that you see in this movie.  Try to capture quotes that might fit with those themes.  (*Note the terms on the board) 
Terms/ideas to consider:

• Restlessness and discontent as necessity for progress (Thomas Edison quote)
• Meaninglessness
• Existential crisis
• The absurd
• Absurd hero

DISCUSS the film
Questions to consider:

• Is Harold Crick an absurd hero?
• What does Ms. Eiffel represent?  How might Harold becoming aware of her voice relate to existentialism?
• How does Harold’s angst impact his perspective on his own life?
• What or who might Dustin Hoffman represent? (think about his advice to Harold about pancakes AND to accept his death...)
• What do you think Harold's watch represents or means?
  
• What might this film be saying about living an authentic life?​

DISCUSS Chapters 1 and 2 of The Stranger

• Food for thought: What is the significance of the title? Who is "the stranger" and in what ways are they estranged? How does Mersault's indifference relate to the Absurd?
• Do you like Meursault? What is your opinion of him?
• Pages 9-10: Are we defined by others' perceptions of us? Is our existence determined by others recognizing, observing and labeling us? Relationship to Social Media? Relationship to the concept of alienation?"
• Read page 11 and page 18: Is Mersault's response to his mother's death simply indifference or it is something else?  Why might M not want to face the reality of his mother's death?
• Page 19: As I was waking up, it came to me why my boss had seemed annoyed when I asked him for two days off: Today is Saturday......But in the first place, it isn't my fault."  What element of existentialism does M's attitude contradict?
• Read pages 22-24: Does Meursault take an active role in his own life? Why not?  
• Camus says that WWI was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but then we had WWII so nothing really changed.  This is the cold indifference of the universe that he and other existentialists were picking up on. Why sacrifice all those lives in WWI if nothing really changed?