(Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to analyze a movie. I titled the article “Playing God�, because the main character uses another character like a puppet, and is essentially given “god-like power.� I am not implying that I support any specific religion or god.)

On the surface, Being John Malcovich is just another silly movie. Indeed, Being John Malcovich is truly hilarious. However, closer observation reveals, through symbolism, the underlying serious themes in Being John Malcovich. Kaufman (the writer of the film) says that he did not intend for the movie to have a moral, but I definitely see one, and many other critics agree.

Being John Malcovich is about a man named Craig (John Cusack) who discovers a portal on the 7 and ½ floor (talk about belittling! How would you like to work on the ½ floor, where everyone has to bend over just to walk?) of the office where he works. The secret portal leads directly into John Malcovich’s body. Whoever goes through the portal assumes Malcovich’s identity, and can control John Malcovich. Craig’s ultimate goal is to assume Malcovich’s identity to win the affections of Maxine (Catherine Keener). Several other characters take turns “being John Malcovich� (including Cameron Diaz and Malcovich himself) and of course, chaos ensues.

Craig, the film’s main character, is the epitome of the stereotypical “tortured artist.� Throughout the entire movie, it is evident that Craig is unhappy with his life, and wishes for escape. For example, Craig tells a chimp “you don’t know how lucky you are. Consciousness is a curse. I think, I feel, I suffer.� Craig admits that the reason he enjoys being a puppeteer is that he likes the idea of “being someone else for a while.�

Being John Malcovich begins with Craig doing puppetry. The act, titled “The Dance of Despair and Disillusion�, shows the Craig marionette smashing a mirror. I think the title of the puppet show is a parallel to Craig’s life, and the breaking of the mirror represents Craig destroying his own identity to be John Malcovich.

In most of the articles I have read about the movie, Craig is made out to be a villain for “trying to play God�. Craig does eventually use Malcovich just like a puppet, and of course, “to enter a man’s mind is the ultimate puppeteering experience� (Ebert).
There are some exceptions to the “anti-Craig� critics, including David Bruce.

Bruce defends Craig by saying “if given god-like qualities, we would use them for our own selfish gains.� Almost anyone is Craig’s position would have done the same thing. Deep down, this is the way most people really are. We could not have the power to control and manipulate someone’s life like that and not take full advantage of it. Another important point made by Bruce is that “for a film that has nothing to do with religion or god, it is a profoundly spiritual and theological story.� This film makes a powerful statement “about the restraint of god� (Bruce’s words, not mine) because we are free to make our own choices and mistakes with “no strings attached� (Bruce 2).

On the other hand, Richter thinks Being John Malcovich is a subtle, “anti-Christian story.� He supports his statement by saying that Craig creates puppets in his image (note that Christians believe in a god who created people in his image) and uses them to do his evil bidding. I think this idea is completely ridiculous. Craig’s puppets are inanimate objects, not creatures with free will. Craig’s puppets are incapable of doing anything on their own, let alone carrying out Craig’s so called “evil bidding�. Craig uses puppetry as an outlet for frustration and as a means to express himself. I admit that Craig took puppetry a bit far, but he is not “evil� and neither are his puppets.

Craig is depicted as a tragic hero (by Jason) because he sacrifices his life through Malcovich, because he loves Maxine. Tragically, Craig gets trapped inside, and the portal becomes like a Hell because Craig “is removed from all of his desires� (Jason). New meaning is given to the sexually-charged puppet show when Jason explains that Craig is not just a deranged puppeteer, but a well-read man making a literary reference to the Legend of Abelard and Heloise. Craig is “not a villain, but a pathetic soul longing for escape� (Jason). I agree with Jason, although I don’t consider Craig any sort of hero, tragic or otherwise.

Roger Ebert has only good things to say about Being John Malcovich, and claims the movie “supplies a stream of dazzling inventions, twists, and wicked paradoxes�. Ebert readily admits that the characters are odd to say the least, but this fact only serves to add credibility to the conflicting emotions present in the film, and provide “the opportunity for material that is somehow funny and serious, sad and satirical, weird and touching, all at once.

In conclusion, it is my opinion that Craig is not a villain, but a victim of circumstance. I am not justifying his actions, but he only took advantage of the portal to get to Maxine. However, Craig should have known that if Maxine did not love him as Craig, than she could never really love him as Malcovich either. Without Malcovich’s fame and fortune, Craig had no redeeming qualities, according to Maxine. I don’t blame Lotte (Craig’s wife!) for shunning Craig…was their marriage so unbearable that Craig had to pretend to be someone else to marry another woman?

I think the moral of the movie is that if you try to escape or run away from your problems, they don’t disappear. The problems are still there, right where you left them. Craig’s own despair was back with a vengeance as soon as he became himself again.

Sources

Being John Malcovich. Spike Jonze. Perf. John Malcovich, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Katherine Keener. Tristar pictures, 1999.
Bruce, David. Homepage. Pop culture from a spiritual point of view. http://www.Hollywoodjesus.com/being_John.html
Chang, Chris, “Head Wide Open�. Film Society of Lincoln Center. 1999.
Ebert, Roger. “Review of Being John Malcovich� Chicago Sun Times. Oct 1999.
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1999/10/102901.html
“Hunch Hour�. Pathfinder Online. Oct 29, 1999.
Jason. “Craig as a Sort of Anti-Christ�. Email to David Bruce, July 2000.
Nocenti, Annie. Personal Interview with Charlie Kaufman.
Richter, G. “BJM as a Subtle Anti-Christian Story.� Email to Bruce. July 2000.