Forgiveness I: Dogville: Pirate Jenny Syndrome

Lars von Trier’s 2003 film Dogville is one of the greatest philosophical provocations in cinematic history. The topic of forgiveness will be primed with a showing of this three hour allegorical film. (The film is long and will take up all our time at the Victrola. If attendees want to discuss the film afterwards, we may move to a nearby cafe or restaurant.) Part 2 on this topic will be a discussion of the concept of forgiveness, and will happen in early January (stay tuned for the date). Part 2 will center on what recent and contemporary philosophers have had to say on puzzling aspects surrounding forgiveness, some of which the film introduces.

Picture God sending his only begotten daughter to atone for our sins. This is what would happen to her and how she might respond. Replace the stylization of a man nailed to a cross decorating church steeples with a woman collared and chained... Dogville challenges common views of hospitality and hypocrisy, indulgence and vengeance, humility and arrogance, and the film pushes forgiveness to the breaking point. The film is marinated in ethical, political, religious, and aesthetic innuendos. Recall, 9/11 was still then a fresh event…

WARNING: I saw this film in a movie theater when it first came out. At the closing scenes, about half the audience walked out. Many people, perhaps most, are made “uncomfortable,” to say the least, by the film. Making his audiences squirm in the interest of pressing hard against easy answers is a hallmark of von Trier’s films. It’s not the physical violence or sex. These are pretty low-key by Hollywood standards. It’s the violence to common moral preconceptions that unnerves those who are unnerved.

The showing will be free and open to club members who RSVP. The location will be at our regular venue (the Victrola Cafe on Capitol Hill). The film is also available online if you prefer to watch it there or can’t make the group showing.

|| Resources ||

A quick primer on the films of Lars von Trier: https://youtu.be/iXyTWHAS50o

“On the Nature of Dogs, the Right of Grace, Forgiveness and Hospitality: Derrida, Kant, and Lars Von Trier’s Dogville,” Adam Atkinson, Sense of Cinema, Issue 36. http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/the-metaphysics-of-violence/dogville/

“The Christ Figurine of Dogville,” Jürgen Pessoa. http://www.phlogma.com/aporia/wein/dogville/index.htm

A fuller writeup with more resources will be developed here: https://dogville.philosophy.exposed