Knowledge, Love and Character Analysis on the Film “Last Night” by Don McKellar Essay

Knowledge is commonly defined as expertise and skills developed by a person out of an experience or from education. Basically, it is the theoretical or practical understanding of an issue or subject. It is what is known in a certain field or in other words, facts and information. It can also be defined as awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation (Kunii, Ramamoorthy, Ching, & Wu, 2007). Our brain is the one responsible for processing the data or information that a person receives. Aware or unconscious, everything that the brain encounters, is filtered and stored. For this reason, we acquire the knowledge and eventually learn new things. Learning is a huge part of human development. Knowledge is acquired through different means. It can be from learning or an experience. Learning can be stated as an acquisition and development of memories as well as behaviors which include skills, knowledge, understanding, wisdom and values. There is presently no agreed definition of knowledge but there are several existing theories about it. Knowledge acquisition involves a complex cognition processes like perception, communication, learning, reasoning, and association. The word â€Å"knowledge† is also used to define concrete understandings of a subject or context thus uses it for a specific purpose.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the movie â€Å"Last Night† by Don McKellar, this knowledge of possible future events are portrayed. The characters are subjected to a situation where they know that they only have few hours left to live. Their response on this issue changes their usual character trait making them do things they won’t usually do. Knowing that they only have six hours away from the very end, each character planned what they want to do with their remaining life. Like the case of Patrick Wheeler, an architect played by Don McKellar, after knowing that he’s only six hours away from death, decided to go home and face it alone in his apartment because of his wife’s death still hangs heavily upon him. Because his wife was already dead, it has greatly affected him and made him suffer in his solitude. It brought him the feeling of being incomplete. (Leong, 1998).   Patrick best portrays a type of love called Agape. It is often referred to as Divine Love and involves  Self-sacrificing love. Peter decided to sacrifice the chance of loving another woman. He only loved one woman – his beloved wife. Also, there are the characters like the young married woman (Sandra Oh), who rushed home planning to commit suicide along with her husband, but she got stuck across the town away from him and may not make in time fulfill the promise made. This portrayal of character exemplifies love where she wants companionship till her last breath. Her idea of true love is based whether they will end up together whatever happens. She believed that by doing this, she loves him that much that she is willing to die with him (Block, 1998). This type of love can be categorized as Mania. It is a kind of love could lead to obsession or craving. It can also lead to exaggerated feelings and excessiveness where one would willingly take his or her life because on the emotion. Patrick’s friend, Craig (Callum Keith Rennie), is a womanizer who intents on living out a compulsively detailed sexual wish-list. His character displays the love for pleasure. He wants to achieve his fantasies before his life come to an end. This symbolizes the type of love called Eros. It deals with sexual desires and considers that physical attraction is a way of expressing love. On the other hand, Duncan (played by director David Cronenberg) alertly calls each of his customers to assure them that their service will be continued until the final moment. On this part of the movie, Duncan displays the types of love called Philia or brotherly love. It represents the love that is generated or even related because of common goal or interest. It bonds every one in unity and cooperation. It also displays Storge, or friendship love, which expresses and involves respect and concern for another person’s interest and welfare. Patrick’s mother (Roberta Maxwell), after realizing the situation, insists that the family hold a pseudo-Christmas dinner (Block, 1998). She portrays love for her family and her satisfaction of seeing them together even at the very end. It can also serve as a celebration of the years of their life. Jennifer (Sarah Polley), Patrick’s sister, decided to go to a street party with her boyfriend Alex (Trent McMullen). This shows her love for her partner that she wants her last moments with him. This could portray Romantic love (venus). Each of the characters is trying to find a sense of achievement in their last hours, so that before their death they will be satisfied that they had not wasted their life. In overall, the movie emphasizes the human behavior towards the awareness of future events. It illustrates human response when one has the knowledge of what may occur. An individual, for the reason that his brain process the information, tends to think hard about it and make him draw conclusion, makes plans on what to do and others. This is because of complex learning and cognition which motivates the brain to function (Ormrod, 2007). There are still remaining types of love like Ludis or the flirtatious and teasing Love. This type of love is associated with a kind of love for teen agers. In this kind of love, game playing plays a big role of expressing love and it is like an outward expression of love. Furthermore, is most often intended to arouse another to physical attraction, which can lead to Eros â€Å"sexual Love†. Another is Pragma or the Logical Love which expresses unification though common goals and interests. It is the kind of love that is based on shared interests and common backgrounds. This love is influenced by a system of principles, and the application of reason, and deductions to common experiences that describe and define relationships among propositions in terms of implications, contradictions, and contrariety. (Records, 2007) References: Block, T. (1998). Last Night (1998) [Electronic Version]. Culturevulture: Choices for Cognoscenti. Retrieved October 20, 2007 from http://www.culturevulture.net/Movies/LastNight.htm. Kunii, T. L., Ramamoorthy, C. V., Ching, H., & Wu, T.-Y. (2007). Money, Health, and Happiness. Complete Automation Laboratory. Leong, A. (1998). Last Night Movie Review. Ormrod, J. E. (2007). Human Learning (5th ed.): Prentice Hall. Records, P. (2007). Love [Electronic Version]. Retrieved October 24, 2007 from http://proagency.tripod.com/love.html.