What is a movie? A Cinephile Blog from Icelandcinemanow.com

Films that do philosophy: The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying (2009) tells the story about a man living in a world where the human race has never discovered the concept of lying. Therefore there is no deception and no deceit and everyone pretty much says what they think.

One day our protagonist, down on his luck, invents the lie and because everyone will rather believe his word than the evidence of what they see he can convince anyone of anything.

The films has many philosophical aspects and presents many of them very clearly but the biggest one in the film is without a doubt the concept of god.

In this world no one is religious until our protagonist tells the people of that world that there is a afterlife.

The film presents us with a philosophical example and it evens gives us a presentation of how that example could look like. The film is, in a way, doing philosophy.

But what is it telling us? That a world without lying doesn’t work? That we can’t believe in god without being deceived? That virtues like honesty and openness have their darker sides?

What philosophical text is the movie referring to? Is it presenting us with original philosophical dilemmas or is it just catering to our funny bones?

The film seems to make connections with Immanuel Kant for one and our moral duties to tell the truth. Here is a excerpt from The Metaphysics of Morals:

For instance, when the precept is: "Thou shalt not promise deceitfully"; and it is assumed that the necessity of this is not a mere counsel to avoid some other evil, so that it should mean: "Thou shalt not make a lying promise, lest if it become known thou shouldst destroy thy credit," but that an action of this kind must be regarded as evil in itself, so that the imperative of the prohibition is categorical; then we cannot show with certainty in any example that the will was determined merely by the law, without any other spring of action, although it may appear to be so. For it is always possible that fear of disgrace, perhaps also obscure dread of other dangers, may have a secret influence on the will.

But there is something more going on in this film. As I said before, it does not stop with this intriguing moral question on the concept of lying but goes further. Much further into the existence of god and wonders if god can even exist if we are unable to lie.

The world that the movie presents us with is a world where the concept of god has never been introduced. People simply believe the evidence of their experience. They do not exaggerate or say something that isn't. So the only man that can introduce these people to the concept of god.. is a liar. And at that point the film dives into philosophical thinking that can be connected to Jean-Paul Sartre discussion in Existentialism is a Humanism:

An angel commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son; and obedience was obligatory, if it really was an angel who had appeared and said, “Thou, Abraham, shalt sacrifice thy son.” But anyone in such a case would wonder, first, whether it was indeed an angel and secondly, whether I am really Abraham. Where are the proofs? A certain mad woman who suffered from hallucinations said that people were telephoning to her, and giving her orders. The doctor asked, “But who is it that speaks to you?” She replied: “He says it is God.” And what, indeed, could prove to her that it was God? If an angel appears to me, what is the proof that it is an angel; or, if I hear voices, who can prove that they proceed from heaven and not from hell, or from my own subconsciousness or some pathological condition? Who can prove that they are really addressed to me?

The Invention of Lying asks very serious questions about our morals and belief system and it is a wonder that it didn't receive any of the controversy that surround films that ponder such issues. But after all, it's just a comedy. Right?