K-Pax by Emily LaBrie

I love K-Pax and loved it since it came out. You have to love a movie that makes you want to believe in aliens. However, that is not why the movie is terribly important. The movie gets to the very fabric of what makes people tick from their day to day. There conceptions of who they are, what they do, and what they believe. To add, if somebody does not exactly fit societies of idea of how they should act, they are often deemed at best, weird; at worst, crazy.
When I speak of people questioning who they are and what they do, I am of course referring to Mark. He is the one with a doctor’s degree in psychology and Prot is the one who seems to be ten steps ahead of him at every turn. He knows how to cure patients, he is a very convincing alien, he is exceptionally smart, and he even tries to get Mark back together with his son. The “crazy” one seems to have life figured out. And if Mark cannot successful treat Prot, what does that say about the chosen profession in his life that has put distance between him and his son and put his marriage near danger of ending?
In going back to the idea that one who is seen as crazy is the one who seems to know everything or has life figured out. That is pretty profound. It reminds me of Kierkegaard and his idea that what life and society expects of us leads us to unhappy and untrue lives. However, if you live an existential life, then you when you take responsibility for you choices AND make them no matter what you feel society thinks you should do, then you are truly experiencing your life. Alien or not, that is Prot. It was just that one small detail of thinking you are an alien……but as long as that person is not a danger to others, what does it matter. In class discussion we talked about people being touched instead of “crazy.” It is funny how clearly they think that they think. I guess some know that they are different or cannot operate on a level that is acceptable to society, and that has to be torturous. But having known a few, no matter if they are geniuses or if they think they are the reincarnation of Galileo, they deserve at the very least humane treatment, and at most, very special care and attention. Maybe some are like Prot (Robert Porter) and they are just suppressing something horrible they need to talk about. Anyway, it is just a thought.