Recently I went and watched the film “Limitless” at this theater down the street from my apartment here in New York City. The film was entertaining and I’d be lying to you if i said i didn’t truly enjoy it. The reason i got into this movie was because for me it was truly a thought provoking one. Limitless had me entertained but left me truly sad at the end of it and I’ll get into that in a second.  For those of you that do not know the basic summary of Limitless allow to supply you with a brief one here… 

A down and out struggling writer is able pick the lock between his ears to give himself full potential over the use of his brain. His “key” is an under the counter pharmaceutical which allows him to essentially remember anything he has ever seen or heard and use that to his advantage after about 30 seconds after taking it.  The pharmaceutical drug is called NZT, (Some would call it ecstasy but that’s a whole different story). NZT allows the lead character of the movie  (Eddie  Morra) to learn new languages at the blink of an eye as well as, martial arts, and how to play the piano, he also learns things such as mastering the wall street world, and the “art” of money making etc. 

I am not hear to review the movie i am only here to tell you what this movie truly  reinforced for me, and that is that  generally speaking most humans are simply nothing but greedy pricks who only look out for themselves and need to feed their egos constantly to be able to sleep at night. That may sound harsh but i believe it to be true in most cases. Limitless truly illustrates that the only real success is money in this country and that has become the backbone ideology for not only the USA but also the rest of the world. In this film Eddie gets the chance to unlock the brain’s full potential and truly change the world for the better, but Eddie instead only looked out for himself, his job, his life instead of  Doing things that would clearly make a positive difference. He eventually runs for president (which some may say would allow him to make those changes) but thats not exactly the “change” i was talking about ;) Instead Eddie does what probably 99% of human beings would do in that same situation had they been given such a gift to unlock their whole brain’s function. We see Eddie give up his passion for writing to become a Trader (or Traitor) for Wall Street any way you want to look at it.  We also witness Eddie cheat on his girlfriend repeatedly once he learns a few languages and political science dissertations by heart to pull in some ass. He is looked upon by all (not only the characters in the movie but also the audience in the theater) as being this lovable guy you are rooting for to beat everyone else in the end. It made me recognize my own self faults because the whole time i was one of the people rooting for him. Director Neil Burger is even quoted as saying “Eddie does some very suspect things over the course of the story but I wanted the audience to be completely with him and always on his side”.  I guess that leads me to my next question. Do we instinctively root for the bad guy, with the money, the girls and the cars? The corporate “Hip Hop” mentality?   Is success measured by what you have compared to what others do? Is success the Mercedes and mansion? Or is it donating your time and caring/giving to someone in need? Would i have been on Eddie’s side if watching the movie instead of Wall Street he went to provide food and medicine to the poor, sick, and hungry? Or if he devised away to have world peace? Think about that. I know what the answer would be and to tell you the truth I was sad when i got home and disappointed in myself for not feeling that way sooner while i was actually in the theater. I get it its just a movie and its entertainment but entertainment is educations cousin.  Please don’t get me wrong here i am not preaching at all, all im saying is it seems cool these days to have more and more and more. In the Media thats all we see.  I’m just saying its pretty damn cool give too. I think giving should be the new taking. I believe giving and truly caring for some one in need will save this world.  What would you do if you could unlock your whole brain? You’ve already started by trying to answer that question.

I now know that i  will not allow even the sky to provide a limit to what i can exhibit.  Remember in Spider Man when Uncle Ben says “with great power comes great responsibility”  That is so very true. If you are capable of doing great things for your fellow man (even if it means popping a pill) and you choose the model, mansion and the sports car over it, you are setting limits not only on yourself but the entire human race. 

Its time to break Vanity’s Mirror,

NOTAR