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Big Fish The movie Big Fish can hardly be described as such that has a plot, in traditional sense of this word. We will be much better off referring to it as compilation of seemingly odd stories, which nevertheless are united by the motif of existential transcendence, as the way of perceiving the true essence of surrounding reality. Will Bloom come to visit his dying father Edward, who takes an immense pleasure in telling fantastic stories about his life. These stories feature the variety of fictional characters, such as giants, witches and talking donkeys. Thus, at the beginning, Will dismisses even the possibility that these stories might relate to the reality. However, as time goes by, Will begins to realize that certain aspects of Edwards storytelling provide him with valid reasons to begin doubting his own vision of the world.
Despite the fact that these tales appear to be nothing but a product of Edwards imagination, Will slowly learns to refer to them with cautiousness, because he gradually realizes that these stories have the potential of shattering the system of his existential beliefs. At the end of the movie, Will is faced with the prospect of reassessing his previous worldview, even though he does not understand where to begin from, because his fathers stories provided him with the glimpse on alternative reality, which he never suspected of existing. Big Fish contains many themes that relate to the ideas of Thomas Kuhn, who in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions described the essence of scientific progress as never-ending struggle between old and new paradigms of scientific knowledge. According to Kuhns, scientific breakthroughs are made possible by peoples ability to utilize an unconventional approach, when it comes to dealing with conceptual challenges.
For example, we are all aware of the fact that it is Earth that revolves around the Sun and not the other way around, even though that our perceptional experience validates the geocentric concept of universe. Thus, we can say that our empirical understanding of objective reality cannot always serve as the solid foundation for the establishment of a scientific discipline. To know does not necessarily mean to understand. Isaac Newton had spent ten years, while trying to figure out the main principles of celestial dynamics, but it was not up until the falling apple hit him in the head that he had a scientific epiphany. The same can be said about the character of Will Bloom in Big Fish. At the beginning of movie, he refers to the unexplained as anomaly and dismisses it altogether.
However, as movie progresses on, Will begins to realize that his father might not be a liar, after all, but simply a person whose ideas are little ahead of its time. In its turn, it prompts Will to consider the possibility of his empirical convictions leading him away from the actual truth. As result, Will goes through existential crisis, as he begins to doubt the validity of his most fundamental beliefs, in regards to the nature of objectivity. Initially, the inconsistencies of Edwards tales used to irritate Will. Nevertheless, as time goes by, he gradually adopts a different outlook on stories contradictions.
He begins to understand that the illogical properties of his fathers stories do not undermine the value of Edwards ideas. We can say that realization of this fact allowed Will to expand his mind. Immediately after this, Will experienced the equivalent of scientific revelation he became transformed, within a matter of few seconds, after he saw his father turning into a fish. This corresponds to Kuhn's understanding of what the concept of revolutionary science stands for. Such science relies on peoples ability to get a spontaneous insight on the very essence of complicated scientific matters, without having to indulge in research, on their part.
When person looks at completed puzzle too closely, what he sees does not make a lot of sense. It is only when person moves away from the puzzle that picture becomes instantly clear to him in its entirety. When Will adopted a position of an unengaged observer, after having disposed of its existential anxieties and prejudices, he became enlightened. He realized that the magical realm of his father really did exist. Thus, it would be quite appropriate to refer to Big Fish as the movie that contains Kuhn's ideas that are being artistically redesigned, for the purpose of creating a dramatic effect. The scientific truth always reveals itself as an obscure nonsense, prior to being incorporated in sciences mainstream theories.
Bibliography: Dennis, Richard Big Fish Movie Review. 2003. Reel Reviews. 5 May 2008. web Forster, Malcolm Guide to Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 1998. University of Wisconsin. Philosophy Department. 5 May 2008.
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Research essay sample on Peoples Ability Big Fish
