The Iliad and Troy: Exploring the Problem of Imaginative Resistance

✅The film 'Troy' deviates from the poem 'The Iliad', particularly towards the end, by including events and conclusions not present in the original text.

🌍The problem of imaginative resistance refers to the difficulty we have in imagining morally questionable actions as morally right.

🛡️We can easily imagine physical and fictional scenarios that contradict our beliefs or experiences, but moral scenarios often pose a challenge.

💭Our resistance to accepting alien moralities in fiction may be a defense mechanism against being morally undermined by temptation.

🤔Empirical inquiry into the motives behind creative decisions in film is not always informative or reliable, as motivations can be complex and even unknown to the creators themselves.

How does the film 'Troy' differ from the poem 'The Iliad'?

—The film 'Troy' includes events and conclusions not present in the original poem. It creates additional scenes towards the end, such as the sack of Troy and the death of Achilles, which are absent in 'The Iliad'.

What is the problem of imaginative resistance?

—The problem of imaginative resistance refers to the difficulty we face in imagining morally questionable actions as morally right. While we can easily imagine physical or fictional scenarios that contradict our beliefs, morally challenging scenarios often pose a challenge.

Why do we struggle to accept alien moralities portrayed in fiction?

—Our resistance to accepting alien moralities in fiction may serve as a defense against being morally undermined by temptation. It could be a way to prevent ourselves from empathizing with morally questionable actions that we know are wrong in our own moral framework.

Can we imagine physically impossible scenarios more readily than morally challenging ones?

—Yes, we often find it easier to imagine physically impossible scenarios in fiction, such as time travel, despite their incoherence. In contrast, morally challenging scenarios require us to imagine actions that conflict with our moral beliefs, making them more resistant to our imagination.

Why don't we conduct empirical inquiry into the motives behind creative decisions in film?

—Conducting empirical inquiry into the motives behind creative decisions in film can be challenging. Not only are we often not skilled in that area, but filmmakers themselves may not have clear insights into their own motivations. Thus, getting informative and reliable answers may be difficult.

00:00The video explores the connection between the poem 'The Iliad' and the film 'Troy'.

00:20The film 'Troy' is largely based on the poem 'The Iliad'.

00:31The film adds events and conclusions that are not present in the original poem.

02:02The problem of imaginative resistance refers to the difficulty of imagining morally questionable actions as morally right.

03:48Imagining physically impossible scenarios is easier than imagining morally challenging scenarios.

05:41Our resistance to accepting alien moralities portrayed in fiction may serve as a defense mechanism.

07:51Conducting empirical inquiry into filmmaking decisions can be challenging and may not yield informative or reliable answers.