The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don’t have God because we’re scared of the bad stuff, maybe we’re really scared of the good stuff. Cause if there’s no god, than that means its inside of us and, we could be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things it’d be because we want to, or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us of the good in the first place. (The United States of Leland, 2003)
I really enjoy Ryan Gosling and most of his movies, but I was so surprised by his role as Leland that I had to tell everyone I knew about the film. Most people just shrugged me off with, “It’s just Leah and her silly Indie movies,” or more often, “her WEIRD movies.” Anything that’s not the Hollywood cookie cutter flick tends to turn most people off to watching. Not me. I love just about every kind of movie there is and if I haven’t experienced anything like it before, even better and I’ll try it out at least twice.
If you haven’t seen The United States of Leland, I highly recommend it. Don Cheadle, Kevin Spacey, Lena Olin, Jena Malone and Michelle Williams are also in it.
I’m rambling. What I connect with in this quote is the fact that Leland is saying maybe human beings have the ability to be good and bad all on their own, without a God or other religious deity out there watching over us. That we each have the ability to choose our own paths. This quote had me thinking for days and days, still does really. I mean, can you imagine the possibilities…
I’d really like to hear what other people think of this quote, so please share your thoughts. All I ask is you refrain from full-blow arguments or attacking another person’s viewpoints. I’m about as close to an atheist as one can get but I totally respect Christians, Catholics, etc. and their beliefs.
Whatever gets you through the day, but I’m just curious what thoughts this quote provokes for you, if any.
Look who’s leaving you a comment! 🙂 Thanks for introducing me to that movie so many years ago. I hadn’t heard a darn thing about it beforehand or since, but what a great one it was. Anyway, I read something very interesting today that made me think of what you wrote here, so I thought I’d share it with you.
“We’re put on this Earth with free will. We can choose to do this or that. We can choose to be good or bad. But sometimes I think most people are good and not bad only because they’re scared they might go to jail or Hell or someplace. Some guy once said: ‘Anything done out of fear has no moral value.’ Well, I think that’s right. I figure the only way you can be truly GOOD is if you’ve tried being GOOD, and you’ve tried being BAD, and being GOOD feels better.”
I like your quote a lot. It really makes you think. Thanks for posting!