2 years ago1,000+ Views
Dissecting Two Types of People in Waking Life
Richard Linklater's 2001 film Waking Life explores a plethora of topics ranging from existentialism to society to the meaning of life. But one scene in particular explores and dissects two different types of people that exist in the world, people who act and those who think.
What's important in this scene is the dialogue. Sure, the film is rotoscoped (the process of drawing over each frame to make the film seem animated, Linklater did this again in his film A Scanner Darkly) but the four men that are having a conversation are the focal point of this scene.
As they walk down the street they pontificate and talk to each other, they dissect and take apart society's negatives. They talk about what they will do and why it's important. At first, it seems like a pretty inspiring or informative conversation. It lets the audience see the world under a different lens but when that feeling and theme change as soon as they run into the old man that's clinging to the telephone pole. The old man doesn't know how he got up there and doesn't want help to get down. It's at this point where one of the men state the truth of the scene, that the old man is just like them. He has something they have and they have something he doesn't have.
In one line, the film changes the whole them and idea of the scene. The focus shifts from the initial bits of dialogue between the four men to the idea that while people can be on opposite sides of a spectrum they can also have so much in common.
We've all heard the old cliche/joke that starts "There are two kinds of people in this world..." and maybe it ends with something inspiring or funny or rude. But the truth is, there aren't "two kinds of people", there are just people. All of us have something in common even if it is our differences.