The
Limit Experience in Regarding Henry: A Limit Experience Resulting in Ethical
Awakening
Thinking about “Limit”
Experiences and Situations
The
film
Regarding Henry (1991 starring Harrison Ford and Annette Benning) [Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regarding_Henry ]
can be considered nowadays a rather unremarkable film that is too sappy and
corny for an audience, many of whom are “jaded” and used to more glitzy films. I
consider it though a chance to reflect on the concept of “limit.” One of my
favourite
theologians, the University of Chicago theologian David Tracy, considers
“limit situations/experiences” a major key for understanding and reflecting
about the most important questions of human life and existence and how these
relate with God, spirituality, and religion. According
to Tracy, the concept of “limit situation” refers “to those human situations
wherein a human being ineluctably finds manifest a certain ultimate limit or
horizon to his or her existence.” Tracy distinguishes two main kinds of
existential situations: “Either those ‘boundary’ situations of guilt, anxiety,
sickness and the recognition of death as one's own destiny, or those situations
called 'ecstatic experiences'... intense joy, love, reassurance, creation.” (David
Tracy [1975], Blessed Rage for Order, p. 105).
Let me
explain “limit” in my words. A “limit experience or situation” can be described
as an intense moment when something major (either positive or negative)—be it
an event, an overwhelmingly magnificent or evil person, extraordinary beauty or
ugliness, a serious crisis or extraordinarily beautiful moment, or the like—so
powerfully discloses the limits of human beings to understand the mysteriousness
of human existence. It forces us who experience this event as “a limit” to nevertheless
make at least some sense of this event’s mysteriousness that transcends
the ordinary limits of human understanding. How to do that? By
attempting to do an interpretation of the experience (“interpretive
understanding”). That’s just a fancy way to say: When faced with a limit
situation, we try to put forward a possible explanation of the event. Of
course, it is obvious that the effort to make sense of limit experiences often
takes place in the midst of many strong positive or negative emotions, such as
hope, faith, love, anxiety, sadness, anger, fear, despair, etc., elicited by
such powerful experiences.
The Limit Situation in Regarding
Henry
Let’s
go back to Regarding Henry. First point for consideration: At the
beginning of the film, we see that New York lawyer Henry Turner is at the top
of his game. He is a tremendously successful lawyer who “has everything” in
terms of worldly success. At this point, take note first that in order to reach
such success in one’s career, Henry has had to work and study hard, hone his
rhetorical and reasoning skills, have the right connections, and pursue
everything with drive and perseverance. Being successful in life is itself an
impressive feat that could not be reached without much sacrifice. Being
university students, most of you are in that “struggling” stage now.
But
Henry’s life and success are obliterated in a single moment because of a seemingly
random and senseless shooting that almost kills him and tragically reduces him
to the state of a helpless person who has lost even the most basic of human
capabilities such as walking or speaking, let alone reading or writing. This is
the story’s BIG limit experience and situation. How can a whole life of hard
work culminating in great success be gone in a few seconds? Such tragic
experiences make us come face to face with our limits to comprehend life’s utter
mysteriousness. Henry himself as well as his family and colleagues think of the
whole situation as a tragedy. But is it really? (see the Zen story below)
The Change that Happens in
Henry: Before & After the Limit Situation
In
the course of becoming a successful lawyer, Henry’s humanity (we understand
little by little as we go on with the film) became severely compromised: He
prosecuted without adequately considering the ethical rightness or wrongness of
the causes he was promoting; he didn’t value much his family; he had an extramarital
affair going which affected the people he loved; he didn’t have any concern for
poor and marginalized people.
But
being reduced to a helpless state sort of wiped his slate clean. All the former
bad, unethical habits he had as a successful lawyer were gone. Being humbled by
the experience, he became a decent human being who had a high ethical sense, was
connected with the joys of life (symbolized by the puppy), deeply loved his
wife and daughter, cared nothing for worldly success but instead for human
connection, had time for the little significant things in life that make it so
much richer. It is all summarized in the words that the Turner family Latina housekeeper, Rosalina, tells him after his recovery, “I like you much better now, Mr. Henry.”
Wisdom (Spirituality /
Philosophy of Life) in order to Face Life
How
do we react to such limit situations/experiences, particularly, negative ones?
Most of us are hoping that life would go on smoothly or “good enough” for us. But
real life is not so. If it isn’t already, life definitely becomes tough and
hard. What can we do in order to survive and also flourish in the midst of the
many setbacks and tragedies of life? This is something that we have to
prepare for in order to be not completely taken by surprise by the difficulties
of life.
One
message that this course on perplexing issues will emphasize is this: In order
to be prepared for life (especially its suffering), we must acquire true WISDOM
(not only knowledge!). (In more religious terms) We have to develop some kind
of spirituality; (in more philosophical terms), we have to acquire a robust
PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE (both of those expressions are contained in the word
“WISDOM”) so that we could develop resiliency for the sufferings and “curve
balls” of life and even find authentic flourishing, fulfillment, and happiness
as human beings.
[Optional Reading]
The Zen-Daoist Tale about the
Farmer and Good-Luck/Bad-Luck
This is one of my favourite Zen
stories. It tells us that what we perceive as “good luck” or “bad luck” is not
often accurate because many things in life can be understood only with the
passage of time and when put in the bigger context of a greater reality. This
story sheds more light on the message of the film Regarding Henry.
(This version found in the
public domain at: https://blog.mindfulness.com/meditation/are-these-bad-times-or-good-times-the-story-of-the-zen-farmer
)
There once was an old Zen
farmer. Every day, the farmer used his horse to help work his fields and keep
his farm healthy.
But one day, the horse ran away.
All the villagers came by and said, “We're so sorry to hear this. This is such
bad luck.”
But the farmer responded, “Bad
luck. Good luck. Who knows?”
The villagers were confused, but
decided to ignore him. A few weeks went by and then one afternoon, while the
farmer was working outside, he looked up and saw his horse running toward him.
But the horse was not alone. The horse was returning to him with a whole herd
of horses. So now the farmer had 10 horses to help work his fields.
All the villagers came by to
congratulate the farmer and said, “Wow! This is such good luck!”
But the farmer responded,
“Good luck. Bad luck. Who knows?
A few weeks later, the farmer's
son came over to visit and help his father work on the farm. While trying to
tame one of the horses, the farmer’s son fell and broke his leg.
The villagers came by to
commiserate and said, “How awful. This is such bad luck.”
Just as he did the first time,
the farmer responded, “Bad luck. Good luck. Who knows?”
A month later, the farmer’s son
was still recovering. He wasn’t able to walk or do any manual labor to help his
father around the farm.
A regiment of the army came
marching through town conscripting every able-bodied young man to join them.
When the regiment came to the farmer’s house and saw the young boy's broken
leg, they marched past and left him where he lay.
Of course, all the villagers
came by and said, “Amazing! This is such good luck. You're so fortunate.”
And you know the farmer’s
response by now…
“Good luck. Bad luck. Who
knows?”
---
