The original goodness of human nature is the "Three Character Sutra" that we learned at the beginning of school, which is the point of view put forward by Mencius. However, with the development of the times, Xunzi put forward the concept of "at the beginning of man, sex is inherently evil". And the topic of whether human nature is inherently good or inherently evil has been debated for thousands of years. Xiaobian feels that the most important thing about these two views is the guiding role of human nature. If he uses the inherent goodness of human nature to manage the masses of society, he uses indoctrination as a means. And if we use the inherent evil of human nature to manage, it is based on punishment to restrain the inherent evil thoughts in human nature. But no matter which way you indoctrinate, there are pros and cons.
After thousands of years of evolution, the current management model of mankind is based on indoctrination and punished by law. Art comes from life, art in the form of expression often to the extremes of society as an example, with the invention of film, people often put imaginary social problems feedback on the big screen. The films in the film that take the inherent goodness of human nature as the starting point are often aesthetic, and they are the lives that people yearn for, and the director uses the storyline and pictures in the film to infect the audience's heart, and often when we see this kind of movie, we sometimes can't help but cry, and the blood of the people who watch it is boiling.
But when directors use the idea of the inherent evil of human nature to make films, the films are often depressing and suffocating, and in 1996 the Coen brothers made a film with a black theme. The film is dominated by jazz, with the dark side of the storyline, and the whole film gives people a depressing feeling. Although this type of film existed for a relatively short time, it had a profound impact on the development of future films.
In 1996, the Coen brothers made a crime movie called "Ice Storm", and the entire film can be said to show the dark side of human nature on the big screen. Lies, absurdities, etc. are the main themes of this film. The story takes place in Minnesota, USA, and the protagonist is a middle-aged man Jerry. Jerry's life is carefree at the beginning of the film, but in his heart there is the trouble of thirty standing and achieving nothing. And this trouble also stems from his work environment, he is a professional agent, taking care of his own business, but he is not happy about it, because he has a rich husband. The achievements of the old man's career have given him a lot of pressure, and this pressure also stems from his own heart, from the gap between rich and poor.
In this context, Jerry fantasizes about success every moment, but no matter how hard he works and tries to think about the idea of making money, it will not return. Jerry's father-in-law is a successful man, and Jerry wants his help, but in exchange for ridicule. Disheartened, Jerry had a terrible idea of kidnapping his wife, and he found someone to kidnap her and then asked the old man for money.
Jerry's idea in the movie is a typical example of sexual evil, and when he encounters suffering in life, he completely loses the basic bottom line of morality, and completely disregards the deep feelings between husband and wife, and puts his wife in danger. His evil thoughts bring the film to a realm that is untouchable by law and morality. Jerry has found two killers, and there is no moral bottom line, they can sell their souls for money. The dark side of human nature is increasingly bottomless under the discovery of the Coen brothers. In the film, a piece of snow shows a cold picture, bringing the audience not only the cold of the senses, but also because of the coldness of human nature.
With the picture of the big screen, the audience also slowly penetrates into the cold side of human nature, to explore the side that has not been seen in life. And the inherent evil of human nature is the seed hidden in people's hearts, once released, it will spread rapidly, the protagonist Jerry thinks of the success of his career, there is nothing wrong with him, but what he does becomes a slave to money, and it is also because of money that the two killers have no moral bottom line. It is such a story that staged a killing in the ice and snow. Jerry did not initially have violent tendencies, but as the story progressed and the lies were uncovered, the seeds of evil hidden deep in the heart were free of moral bondage and quickly sprouted and grew in a short period of time.
In the film, the life of Margot, a small town policewoman, is the most contrasting, she is willing to live an ordinary life, and in the ordinary life she finds unlimited fun and is full of enthusiasm for life. Margot is like a beacon in human nature, lighting herself up and illuminating others, in stark contrast to Jerry's sinful behavior. Margot is easier to meet and easier to enjoy the joy of life. Her husband is an ordinary person, but when Margo needs to carry out a mission at three o'clock in the morning, his husband will warmly prepare breakfast for her. In ordinary life, the couple used simple language to outline another definition of human nature, human nature is inherently good.
Policewoman Margo lives an ordinary life, but she is not willing to be ordinary, she is also positive, but her positivity is manifested in inner sublimation, not material enjoyment. This has a strong contrast to Jerry's view of money, Jerry's upward ideal is based on money, and his self-esteem and self-love can be abandoned. The contrast between the two is precisely the proposition of "nature is inherently evil" and "nature is inherently good".
The directors, the Coen brothers, set the picture of the whole film very concisely, but they have their own characteristics in the shaping of the characters. Under the ice and snow of the film, they found a better background map, the cold environment can set off the dark side of human nature, in the vast snow, people look so small, which can also interpret the absurd story.
In the course of the public's life, everyone is a hurried passer-by to each other, whether it is "nature is good" or "sex is evil", after all, they cannot escape the arrangement of fate, and there is already an arrangement in the underworld. Just like Jerry in the movie, the mechanism can still end in failure. The last line of the film seems to be the director's guidance to the public: "Life is colorful, not to have money, you fall so next time, it is the best proof." This sentence is the punishment for "inherent evil in nature" and the guidance for "inherently good nature.". As for people's lives, we should laugh and scold people and be free to be people. Human animalism sometimes transcends the bottom line of morality and law, but good and evil will eventually be rewarded, and this is the reincarnation of the Heavenly Dao. So when we do good deeds, we should continue to do them, and when we do evil deeds, we should correct ourselves. This is also "do not do what is good and small, and do not do it with evil."