Binx: philosophy and the movies

1. Walker Percy's work "exhibited a unique combination of existentialism, southern sensibility, and deeply-felt Catholicism" (www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Walker_Percy) so I am guessing that his main characters' philosophy are parallel to his own. Binx is most probably an existentialist. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. Even if Binx is somehow living life as people usually do, he still deviates from the norm. His aunt tells him what is expected of him or what he has to do in terms of being part of their family but he does what he chooses to do. He'd rather live in Gentilly, he'd rather sit and enjoy the movies, he'd rather live a relaxed life wherein he moves in his own pace. His search according to him is "what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his
own life" which proves that he is not the kind of person who is sunk in the everydayness of his life. He is obviously free.

2. Binx enjoys watching movies because he says that the movies are "onto the search but they screw it up". Maybe watching the movies makes him reflect on his own life and his search. He also learns alot from going to the theater to watch a movie. In one point he says that before he sees a movie, it is necessary for him to learn something about the theater or the people who operate it. I like what he said that he learned from talking to the theater's manager, "I have discovered that most people have no one to talk to, no one, that is, who really wants to listen." I think this is very true and this only shows how people are so caught up in their own lives that they do not slow down or have time to think and even listen to other people just for the sake of listening.