PAGE 8 September/October EMagazine First

RELIGION: EXISTENTIALISM

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.
The philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche foreshadowed existentialism. Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. In existentialism, the individual’s starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience. The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is regarded as the father of existentialism. He maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving his or her own life meaning and for living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.

MOVIE REVIEW: HIP HOP REVOLUTION

Using an experimental narrative style, South African filmmaker Weaam Williams has infused her film with a texture and life that breathes with every cut. "Hip Hop Revolution" is first an exploration of the lives of a generation so touched by this genre and its culture that they are inspired to question, survive and conquer an unjust political system. Through the struggles of DJs, B-Boys, MCs and creative graffiti artists, "Hip Hop Revolution" depicts an element of hip hop so often forgotten - its power to inspire and catalyze change. A favorite at the 2007 AFI Silverdocs Festival, Willams’ film has been praised because it gives "voice to South Africa’s hip-hop subculture, and reminds Western viewers of the complexity of black experience, at home and worldwide."
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