Chasing Heraclitus - Act II Begins

After a three month break from working on my film script, Golden Gate, the pedal has gone to the metal once again. During my hiatus, I completed the incredible How to Listen to and Understand Great Music audio class from The Great Courses series. The Music Listening lectures introduced to me many new characters of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Eras, including Liszt, Haydn, and the more ethnically influenced works of Chopin and Brahms (Polish and Hungarian traditional). All great stuff, and for sure things I wouldn't have been able to seek out on my own, or at least would have had to stretch. Listening to the music of these composers, and learning about their lives has been of profound influence to me, in the way that one would read books on sculptors, painters, and yes, filmmakers.

Now I'm knee deep into a class on Ancient Greek Civilization, which I need under my belt for many reasons, but specifically for certain scenes and events within the narrative of Golden Gate's second Act. While the story already rests on a fair amount of mythology and philosophy, the basic tenets of ancient Greek culture are something that I've all along wanted to use to ornament, if not feed into the plot directly.

Well I think it's probably about time to shed a little light, without being too specific and giving away any plot points, on the philosophical underpinnings of Golden Gate so far. Are you ready? Okay then.

The first act is about Harmony, and finding the synchronicity of the individual with his/her environment through music and action. You could almost call it a ballet, at the risk of it sounding cheesy and pretentious. The philosopher, mathematician and ancient cult leader Pythagoras is its principal influence.

The second act is about Chaos, and the inevitability of Change- how sometimes it is a very good thing, while sometimes it is downright tragedy. I feel a rumination on this theme in today's day and age is inevitable given the current state of world affairs, though I began writing down the ideas for Act II back before any US presidential candidates even announced their exploratory committees. The fact is that this philosophy of change is at least 2500 years old, dating back to the time of Greek philosopher Heraclitus, one of the so-called "pre-Socratic" philosophers, meaning he formulated his philosophies before the time of Socrates.

Though very few of his works have survived, the works of Heraclitus have made a significant impact on our culture. He saw the world as made out of fire- always constantly changing. One of his most famous fragments, with its varying translations, goes something like this:

"No man can ever step into the same river twice, for it's not the same river, and he's not the same man."

While this may sound like a poetic and overly romantic notion to some, it's actually one of the few ancient philosophies that translates into our modern world scientifically. While in no way do I believe Heraclitus knew about or had the capacity to analyze our biology on a cellular level 2500 years ago, I see it as a striking coincidence that the cells in our bodies are dying and being remade constantly; so much so that in (on average) about seven years, none of our biological cells are the same as they were in the seven years previous. So we could not possibly be the same EXACT humans we were even a day before, possibly even hours or minutes before, because biologically we AREN'T the same self-aware collection of cells. It blows my mind to think that I am technically the fourth full version of myself, even though I can remember quite clearly large chunks of the lives of the first three.

The "river" part of the "same river twice" statement is a bit more obvious, and is reflected in other fragments of his texts, such as "all is flux." Liquid by nature flows constantly (unless it is frozen, of course), and this effect is amplified by the mechanics of a river, flowing from one large body of water to another. The smallest parts of the river, whatever units they chose to divide it up into during the time of Heraclitus, ceaselessly reconfigure themselves, so much so that, like the undulating cells of our bodies, it would never be the same river at any point you would analyze it. I find it quite amazing that something like Chaos or Complexity theory, scientific fields only a few hundred years old, can find their patron saint in an ancient Greek philosopher that lived a few THOUSAND years ago.

However, the fact that Heraclitus's philosophies are scientifically provable wouldn't have been much of a consolation to him. It would simply confirm what he feared- that solidity was impossible, even nonexistent. That we as humans base our way of life on false security, false stability. As much as we try to predict, we can't reliably know the outcome of anything of detrimental importance, or at least things that would effect us in the long term, in a world that is in constant flux. Our lives are built on a reality of liquid fire.

Heraclitus was known as "the weeping philosopher." and is depicted as such in paintings of him by Johannes Moreelse and Hendrik ter Brugghen circa the year 1600. Given his philosophies, pondering the nature of change, one can agree that his perpetually melancholy state of mind held no mystery as to the cause.

Heraclitus is represented in Act II of Golden Gate, most prominently within the "soul" or "essence" of the city- indeed the actual setting where the story takes place. The city itself becomes very much one of the main players in the narrative. It is a fully functioning character that must come to terms with its own identity.

This is not as abstract an idea as one might think at first glance. Every city has a personality- a way in which it interacts with other cities, its visitors, and its citizens. The city of Golden Gate is no exception. It's forced to redefine itself in function and purpose. How will it react to say... the seditious acts of some of its inhabitants? Or more importantly, how will it treat radical agents, introduced from outside the city, who threaten the harmony of the system? How can a city in itself make its own decisions? And how do these decisions affect its fellow characters?

I'm afraid you'll have to wait for Act III to find that out.