ANAHEIM — Rev. Jon Turner gave a talk on “Buddhism at the Movies” at Orange County Buddhist Church on Feb. 2, using three recent films to illustrate his points.
In Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (2011), Owen Wilson’s character idealizes Paris of the 1920s, but when he travels back in time, he finds that the people of that era long for an earlier historical period, and so on.
“500 Days of Summer” (2009), starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, addresses illusions people have about relationships.
In “Hector and the Search for Happiness” (2014), Simon Pegg plays a psychiatrist who is dissatisfied with life and travels the world to find meaning.
Each film involves being trapped in a self-created reality, realizing the predicament and extricating oneself from it.
Photo by J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo