The stage has been set for the three viewpoints of Jack, Sally and Oogie-Boogie to clash. Jack, with the help of the Halloween Townsfolk (Forms of Reason) and the kidnapping of Santa Claus, stands ready to take over Christmas (Faith). Sally tries her best to make Jack see reason (pun intended) and to stop his attempt to improve Faith by means of Reason, and Oogie-Boogie holds Santa in the clutches of his bug ridden, baggy hands.
So with that in mind, let's continue.
Just before Jack can take off on his mission, Sally attempts to obfuscate his path by pouring fog juice into the town well. When Jack despairs that he'll never be able to take off, the town despairs with him. It's actually a little touching to see the disappointment evident on everyone's faces. A little zombie child sheds a tear and cries dejectedly "There goes Christmas..." It's as if the hopes and dreams of Reason itself have been crushed, and it makes me think that Reason, on some level, longs for a lasting union with Faith. In a charming nod to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jack penetrates the fog by having his ghostly dog companion, Zero, light his path with his glowing nose.
Jack, like a scientist going door to door with his newfound Faith, embarks on his quest. He flies on a coffin sled pulled by skeletal reindeer, delivering ghastly toys to frightened girls and boys. Needless to say, he does not understand Christmas, nor does he understand Faith. Regardless of his good intentions, people around the globe are disturbed by his behavior. So disturbed, in fact, that they mobilize the military to stop him. This is similar to what happens if you run about, willy nilly, trying to externally influence other people with your faith. The nature of Faith is that it is not something that can be forced on someone. It's something that only you can experience for yourself. As explained earlier in the Town Meeting scene, Faith is essentially incommunicable. To top it all off, if you force Faith on someone, it's only going to sour that person's view of Faith.
As Jack joyously (and unwittingly) ransacks Faith, Sally voices her concerns in one of the very best songs of the film.
The subtle love story between Jack and Sally is central to our philosophical concerns. It illustrates both the relationship between Faith and Reason as well as the differing viewpoints within Reason itself. Of the two, Sally is the more in touch with the reality of Faith. She sings "I sense there's something in the wind that feels like tragedy's at hand." Through unprovable, incommunicable knowledge provided by Faith, she knows that Jack's plan is flawed. "And though I'd like to stand by him, can't shake this feeling that I have," she continues. She clearly understands the good intent behind Jack's idea, and she feels that Faith and Reason need not oppose nor dominate one another. "And does he notice my feelings for him? And will he see how much he means to me? I think it's not to be." Sally's tone is darkened with realism that could be confused for pessimism. Jack is oblivious, just as Reason is oblivious to the concept of knowledge gained by un-Reasonable means, and Sally realizes that as much as she may long for the proper union of the two, Faith and Reason are separate. Though they should both attempt to understand each other, they can never be one.
Sally also points out that Jack's plan does the most harm to Faith itself. "Where will his actions lead us then?" she ponders. If he exposes the world to a flawed and disingenuous version of Faith, the world will inevitably reject it. Much the same as people of Faith attempt to live godly and worthwhile lives to lead by example, Sally believes that Faith should be tempered with Reason in a way that takes the real elusive nature of Faith into account, not one in which Faith is made to be something it is not.
Meanwhile, Jack is carrying out his plan with fiendish efficiency. Nothing lasts forever, though, and the aforementioned military is galvanized to shoot him out of the sky. At first, Jack is (again) oblivious, thinking that the search lights and explosions burning up the atmosphere are the people of the world celebrating, thanking him for doing such a good job at handling Faith. His illusion is cut short when the sled is pierced by a freaking howitzer shell, and he, Zero, undead reindeer and all go plummeting to the earth. Those in Halloween Town see this from afar and assume the worst. Jack is declared dead, his plan failed. Despair grips the land of Reason, and Oogie Boogie still has Santa, the only one who can fix this, captive. Sally takes it upon herself to rescue the avatar of Faith, but her mission fails, and she too falls prey to the Boogie Man.
It's around this time that we see Jack at his absolute lowest. His moroseness doesn't last for long, though, because it isn't in Jack's nature to be moderate. He is an extreme, obsessive, and ultimately optimistic factor. Once he gets a good idea into his head, he won't be down for long, as the below video will make clear.
7. Jack laments the failure of his plan when he realizes how negatively people have reacted to having Faith forced on them. But, ever the symbol of Reason, when he examines his methods in retrospect, he excitedly begins thinking of how he could do better next time.
This scene is among the most powerful and rich in the entire film. It contains not only the turning point of Jack's thoughts on Christmas, but also an instance of thesis-antithesis-synthesis. This is when two differing, usually extreme viewpoints clash, hence the thesis and the anti-thesis. The synthesis occurs when something or someone happens to reconcile the two points in a compromise that ultimately turns out to be the correct viewpoint. When people on two different sides believe something very, very strongly, there is usually some amount of truth in what they believe. Why then, if they both have a measure of truth, should they conflict with one another? According to the Islamic philosopher Averroes, truth cannot conflict with truth. This is called the Double Truth Theory. If Jack was correct in wanting to understand Faith better, and, as his recent misfortune has made clear, Sally was correct in warning him to not subject Faith to Reason, then the correctness of both Jack and Sally needn't be in conflict but rather working towards the same goal.
To put it another way, let's examine the scene itself. The imagery alone is poetic enough to convey a deep regret and sorrow on Jack's part. He has fallen from the sky to land in the arms of an angel, a representative of Faith itself. Like a believing scientist who begs God in prayer to make clear the answers, so he comes to this angel. Also, observe what is left of his cloths, the tattered remnants of his Santa Claus suit. He is now in a state of flux, a crisis of identity. Is he Jack, the Pumpkin King of Reason? Or is he Jack, the Santa Claus, avatar of Faith? "What have I done? What have I done? ...Why all I ever wanted was to bring them something great! Why does nothing ever turn out like it should?" he moans as he surveys the destruction his plans have wrought. His intentions were good; he wanted to touch something ideal, something more than this mere world of the senses, and he wanted to share the goodness he found. There was nothing wrong with this, but clearly his methods ended with a most undesirable result. His thesis was partly correct, but so was the anti-thesis.
So what of the synthesis? The mood changes when Jack begins to examine his plan more closely through retrospect. "I never intended all this madness, and no one really understood. Well, how could they?" He realizes that in dealing solely through means of Reason (the Townspeople Forms of Reason), he was doomed from the start. He was working completely out of his element. In fact, it was amazing he even got as far as he did. Suddenly, he comprehends the synthesis. By discovering the limits of Reason, he has a better understanding of what Reason can do. In learning what NOT to do, he has come one step closer to learning what he SHOULD do. This wasn't a failure, but a learning experience! He joyously casts aside the torn visage of Faith to embrace his true identity, Jack, the King of Reason. It isn't that he dismisses Faith completely, but rather that he knows now to play to his strengths. "For the first time since I don't remember when, I felt just like my old boney self again!" Jack has found a sort of Greek fulfillment in finding his virtue and sticking to it. "And I just can't wait until next Halloween, 'cause I've got some new ideas that'll really make them scream!" Jack knows now that in this teleological universe, his place is to work towards truth via Reason, and that doesn't mean he can't have a great appreciation for Faith too. Both Faith and Reason are doors towards truth, and both should be embraced, in their due respective time, by each individual. His road to truth has been set beneath his feet, and he resolves to walk it to the end.
Suddenly, it all becomes clear. He has made a mess of things, but the act of making the mess has given him clarity of thought. Now that the grand experiment is over, he must restore the status quo. This can be done by returning Santa Claus to his rightful place, but where is he now? The ones to kidnap Santa Claus were the minions of Oogie-Boogie, so surely Santa is there at the Boogie Man's lair. With determination in his eye sockets, Jack storms back to Halloween Town to set things right.
At this point, I would show you a clip of the final confrontation between Jack and Oogie Boogie, but my searches bore little fruit, so I'll quickly describe.
Jack shows up, returning from the grave as far as the Halloween citizens are concerned, demanding that Oogie-Boogie relinquish Santa. Oogie seems afraid, but we quickly learn it is a ruse. Oogie-Boogie flips a switch, and suddenly his entire lair comes alive with mechanical precision to stop Jack from saving Christmas. Finally, Jack exposes Oogie for what he is, nothing but a fraud of an idea, a parody of a living thing, a sack full of bugs. "How dare you treat my friends so shamefully!" Jack shouts in anger. Whether Jack is referring to Sally and Santa or the countless enslaved bugs is unclear, but either way, it is a philosophical statement (which I will leave for you to work out =P).
8. All's well that ends well. Jack is now secure in his identity as a man of Reason, but with a greater comprehension of the legitimate relationship between Faith and Reason. Snow, an alien symbol of Christmas (and therefore, Faith), begins to fall in Halloween Town. Faith and Reason, in discovering their boundaries, are brought closer together than ever before.
Oogie Boogie is vanquished, Santa is freed to save Christmas, and Jack returns with Sally to the now overjoyed Townsfolk. As Santa flies overhead, he shouts "Happy Halloween!" as a courtesy, to which Jack replies "Merry Christmas!" It's almost a statement that says the two understand each other now. Snow begins to fall in Halloween Town, much to the wonderment of the Townsfolk. Just as Jack experienced Faith, so too do the Townsfolk each discover the value of Faith. The picture is almost one of the individual on a grand scale. Because Jack, the King of Reason, has found harmony with Faith, so too is Reason itself affected.
And so it is that we end on one of the most uplifting scenes of the film, Jack's realization that he loves Sally, just as she has loved him this whole time. The love between them always seemed a bit forced to me, almost unbelievable, but when viewed in a philosophical light, it makes much more sense. The two differing viewpoints inside reason, the thesis and the anti-thesis, have found synthesis at long last. And just as our gaze lifts up towards the stars in the final shot, so too does that blessed synthesis, that vehicle for truth, lift us up and away from the limited world of the senses to see something greater, something that only could have found through both Faith and Reason.
I love this movie, if you couldn't tell. =D
I hope I've given you all something new to think about. Whether you are of Reason and don't yet understand what it is to have Faith, or a person of Faith who feels satisfied without Reason, Christmas is a time to come together. This Christmas, let yourself believe in something, or allow yourself to ask those really big questions. Searching for truth, whether through means of Faith or Reason, is never a wasted effort.
Merry Christmas and Happy Halloween to you all!
Maybe I'll do the Grinch next year...
Fascinating study! Also interesting that in the graveyard, the angel holds a book. This may represent reason in the form or knowledge or learning, or it may represent, given the angelic context, revelation, which may be the element that ties faith and reason together. It also may represent, in the symbolic sense, the book of judgement, which identifies those who have been granted eternal life (another fascinating contrast, since Halloween focuses on the dead). I am curious to know how much of this you think is Tim Burton's intentional allegorizing and how much it is a vehicle for your own views. In any case, so much hinges on what one takes faith to be, whether it is believing without evidence, or through belief encountering evidence that others fail to see. That makes the role of revelation all the more significant. If revelation is indeed "revealing" -- making the invisible visible -- rather than the declaration of elements to be accepted, it says a lot about faith. Again, a most fascinating study!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've found it fascinating! You know, I didn't even notice the book, but it's neat that you did. The theories you brought up would have been fun to poke around with.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Mr. Burton intended his poem to be an allegorical of anything, but upon closer examination of his religious past, it doesn't seem out of the question that he would've thought about this topic more than once.
It seems that Faith is extremely prominent while Revelation isn't. Everyone has some degree of Faith. The axioms that we hold to be self explanatory/sufficient actually have no real weight if we examine them. Belief in almost anything at all is contingent upon the axiom of the senses. The senses are among the most fallible of things, yet we have to have faith in them to function. The Revelation here would be that my eyes, which I have Faith in, reveal unto me a computer screen and a keyboard. Everyone has faith in one axiom or another. Even the atheist believes in the same mode as the Christian, and while we find that one receives Revelation more than the other, I would argue that few receive genuine Revelation.
I dunno...I just daydream too much. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I saw this movie so many times this year that I kept formulating some kind of interpretation. I do that a lot. Sometimes I watch ants scurry and draw philosophical meaning, or I'll do that same by looking at patterns on walls. I'm not really trying to press my views on anyone. Just daydreaming out loud.
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