Megan Wood Blog #9 (assignment-Limitless)

I have to say first that I smiled when I found this poster advertising the movie Limitless. What a clever marketing strategy: gain attention for the film by creating a mock advertisement for the very pill that the film is about, a commentary in itself on the way we constantly search for fixes for our fast-paced, crazy lives.

In the film Limitless, Eddie Morra—a washed up, down-and-out writer—tries a new drug called NZT. To his surprise, his brain begins working like a machine, expanding its capacity to function limitlessly. The catch is, any NZT-user must take it for life, or they will become sick and die. He didn’t know that. Before he realizes the consequences, he thoroughly enjoys the benefits. He is able to finish a draft for his newest book contract. His dealer, Vernon (ex-wife’s brother) dies in a tragic murder, but lucky for Eddie, before the cops get there he is able to snag a bagful of NZT and a handful of cash. Determine to change his life, he begins regularly taking the pills, and starts to push the limits of learning, studying, and cheating his way into a job as a stockbroker, quickly becoming the hotshot of Wall Street. Everything is great until he starts having blackouts, losing huge portions of his day—became a murder suspect, getting in trouble with thugs and beginning to feel the effects of not taking the pills.

This movie has two main themes: first, it acts as a meaningful commentary on the stresses of life in a fast-paced world and the options one has of alleviating such stresses; and second, it acts as a morality tale about the consequences of the natural human desire to push boundaries. Society demands us to push the limits and get high in all areas of life: on work (energy drinks and focus pills) on play (alcohol and drug abuse) and even overdoing it in your spiritual life (finding yourself at church, in bible meetings, on e-readers, in confession, through self-help books, etc). Ironically, we constantly search for ways to better our lives, yet end up just complicating them. The movie takes a literal interpretation of enhancing yourself rather than the things around you, but the message is there: enhance yourself and quit focusing on the things around you!