Vanilla Sky.

In class on Wednesday a discussion was started on the topic of a "happiness machine." Immediately, I though of the movie Vanilla Sky, starring Tom Cruise. I had watched this film last semester in my psychology class. I will first give a brief description, or as brief of a description that I can make, about the movie.

In the movie, the character Tom Cruise plays seems to be golden, he has everything going for him. When this girl he has been involved with for awhile wants more, he says no. She picks him up in the car and then speeds off a bridge, instantly killing herself. He, however is lucky and survives the crash. Unfortunately, his face is completely distorted. He goes through life now, feeling like an outcast. Then, one night after his pursuit of this new girl fails, he falls onto the street drunk. After that, life picks up for him again, everything is going swell until disaster disturbs the happiness he has. Near the end of the movie, the viewer finds out that after that drunk night, he placed himself into a happiness machine. This is all I can remember about the movie, and I think it is a well enough description.

At the end of the movie, Tom Cruise had the choice to stay in the happiness machine, he chose to "wake up" from this everlasting dream. I feel that people would not want to remain in a happiness. Although we complain about life and think how much easier things would be if we were happy forever, we would never choose to be. Maybe for a little bit of time, but not for long. If things go perfectly for too long, everything becomes boring. I think that we like the challenges life throws at us, because if we can overcome our obstacles, we feel better about ourselves. If put into a "happiness machine" I believe that people would most likely prefer real life in the end.

What are your thoughts on the matter?