What is CHARLIE KAUFMAN?

In the vastness of the universe, humans are as good as dust. Each one of us are bound to waste away but some simply choose to waste away in style. Case in point, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, the man behind masterpieces such as Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Adaptation and more.

In place of navigating WHOs and WHENs, which Wikipedia certainly does better, it would be far more interesting to explore something very facile which hides under the guise of profound… WHAT exactly is Charlie Kaufman?

Charlie Kaufman is TRUTH.

_{“I’m not a concept. Too many guys thing I’m a concept or I complete them or I’m going to ‘make them alive’…but I’m just a f***** up girl looking for my own peace of mind. Don’t assign me yours”
-Clementine Kruczynski (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind)}

These words single-handedly shatter the manic pixie dreamgirl image that we unintentionally created in our minds. They challenge the shallowness behind our own perception and turns a trope on its own head. If you think about it, the profoundness of Kaufman’s writing is deep-rooted in our own psyche which manifests itself in the form of that lingering feeling of euphoric dread. As weird as they may seem, movies like Synecdoche, New York or I’m thinking of Ending Things or Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind only divulge the thoughts and feelings of an everyday human being which they may choose not to confront.

As Kaufman reveals his creative prowess through his screenplays, he reveals a part of himself to the audience who is now compelled to embrace those deep-seated feelings of heartbreak or inadequateness or a possibility of an inveterate mental affliction as they embrace Kaufman himself.

Charlie Kaufman is ABSURD.

_{“There is truth and there are lies, and art always tells the truth, even when its lying.”
-Craig Shwartz (Being John Malkovich)}

Absurd, in this context, can be anything which makes you go ‘Who does that?’ or in Kaufman’s case ‘Who thinks like that?’ Even without delving deeper into their respective microcosms, the very premises of his movies leave you scratching your head.

_{Story of a portal which leads directly inside the head of the actor John Malkovich}

_{Love story of two people who have each other clinically removed from their brain}

_{Screenplay about Charlie Kaufman writing a screenplay (Fun Fact: his co-writer, Donald Kaufman is fictional. Mind = Blown?!)}

_{Story of a writer who lays out his life on a stage just to make sense of his existence}

As the layers of the reality woven by Kaufman peel off, it becomes easy to empathize with his characters’ inner drives and causes, in extension, the absurdity of its all. Its difficult to understand where Kaufman is coming from yet his screenplays sort of open up that space in our minds to accommodate him through his work. Part of the absurd that we’re talking about originates from this inscrutability and the rest from Kaufman’s on-the-nose humor but its hard not to be in awe because at the end all that remains is somber longing for more.

Charlie Kaufman is SURREAL.

_{“You can say Anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”
-Lucy (I’m thinking of ending things)}

Watching a Charlie Kaufman movie is like waking up from a dream which lingers in your mind and the more you think about it, the better it gets. The ending of I’m Thinking of Ending Things for instance or the entirety of Synecdoche, New York. It won’t be wrong to say that these movies get to your head and play like an earworm, except it isn’t as bothersome. Even with all the climactic reasoning, his deeply flawed characters don’t deviate much from their initial states but their journeys definitely make you ponder on everything that triggers your existential crises. Very much like a dream.

Charlie Kaufman is a PHILOSOPHY.

_{“You are what you love, not what loves you”
-Donald Kaufman (Adaptation)}

Charlie Kaufman’s writing holds the power to transcend the conscious and invoke the unreal thereby settings off a flame of self-actualization in the audiences. It’s sort of turns into an interplay between questioning the reality and coming to terms with what is. What generates in his mind brings forth the philosophy of unabashed humanness in the face of existential devastation which makes despair more beautiful than ever.

Its mind-blowing how a human, while being every bit as tangible as any of us, can seem ethereal, same is the case with Charlie Kaufman. While overwhelming adoration might come off as adulation but it is definitely hard to argue that the man is pure genius!