Plot
Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
I really enjoy movies that make me reflect on who I am. In the light of my Ontological distinctions (and being human) K-PAX is one of those movies.
Prot (Kevin Spacey) has arrived on Earth as a visitor from K-PAX. Not long after appearing on a beam of light he is committed to the care of psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), who then struggles to balance his need to heal the human-looking Prot and to believe in him as an alien.
Dr. Powell’s actions throughout the movie are quite arrogant. At all times he it acting as if he knows the truth about what is and what needs to be done. This prevents him from learning and accepting what is before him. Even when Prot points out his failure to listen the good doctor dismisses it as a falsehood. “Mark, Mark, Mark…You are not really listening to me are you.”
Conversely Prot is a joy to be around. His mood is one of genuine curiosity. This allows him to almost float along yet remain solidly grounded and he ulimately takes better care of his carer and the other patients than the Earthlings who have the “knowledge and right” to do so. The is a fundamental rightness about him.
Some of our biggest society-wide stories are challenged in the film. At one point there is a conversation about our laws.
Dr Powell: So what about societal structure? Government?
Prot: No there’s no need for one.
Dr Powell: You have no laws?
Prot: No laws, no lawyers.
Dr Powell: How do you know right from wrong?
Prot: Every being in the Universe knows right from wrong Mark.
Dr Powell: But what if, if someone did do something wrong. Committed murder or a rape? How would you punish them?
Prot: Let me tell you something Mark. You humans, most of you, subscribe to this policy of an eye for an eye, a life for a life, which is known throughout the Universe for its stupidity. Even your Buddha and your Christ had quite a different vision but nobody’s paid much attention to them. Not even the Buddhists or the Christians. Prot: (sigh) You humans. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how you’ve made it this far.
“Every being in the Universe knows right from wrong”. What do you believe? Many films use violence (physical or emotional) to challenge our pre-conceptions yet all this film needs to do is show Prot eating a banana with the skin on. Not even monkeys do that! It made me feel quite uncomfortable because that’s not how we’re told to eat a banana. Thinking back on it, nobody has ever given me a reason not to eat the skin.
K-PAX was recommended to me and I’m recommending it to you.