MovieChat Forums > Defending Your Life (1991) Discussion > Stopping at Waiter/server level

Stopping at Waiter/server level

posted 17 years ago by timruf53223
21 replies | jump to latest

My wife asked this question this evening. What level of intellegence do you stop at when you are stuck in (purgertory - her word) judgement city for the rest of your existance as a server/waiter?

Add to that, tram driver, hotel manager ("My name is Stan" - Smile - and that's your job to do that every day.) and of course "I'm gonna bring you a some pie's!" and you gotta wonder, is there - at least to this movie - a little sign somewhere in the universe with a hand extended that reads "You must be this intellegent (fearless) to move up to the next level? And, would that mean that Stan will never move on, move up?

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] kaneforgov 17 years ago

Since this subject is never even touched on in the film it's impossible to answer the question or even speculate what the screenwriter's (Brooks) intention toward the subject may be.

[–] timruf53223 17 years ago

Some stimulating ideas. I really don't know that unless Mr. Brooks came on here and answered (And would we know it really was him?) with some intent, we would know how this worked. But, I thought it was one of those "How do we know we are alive?" questions they asked back in the days of Plato.

[–] mkayboi-1 17 years ago

I don't think that Judgement City was purgatory. Two possibilities are that:

1. The people who work in Judgement City may have already moved forward, and their ultimate destiny is to help those who have passed during their time in Judgement City.

Or 2. They aren't real people. They're just created to act as employees in Judgement City.

"First you ask if you can be red, knowing that I'm always red."

[–] Mickyfinn 17 years ago

For what its worth to your point #1, everyone in a 'servitude' postition in Judgement City seemed to be very happy in their work. Couldn't that be just as rewarding and important as any other role in Judgement City?

You just have to be resigned-
You're crashing by design

[–] danisdabomb 16 years ago

they're real. Bob Diamond said he himself was on Earth 6 times a while ago.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] CinAtlanta 16 years ago

My guess is that the people working the various jobs in judgement city would see very little fundamental difference between their occupations. They are all working with the "little brains" in various capacities to make their time there as enjoyable as possible, as they all seemed to enjoy what they did to equal degrees.

It's be like one parent playing catch with the kids, and the other parent playing Chutes and Ladders - the parents see very little difference between the two activities, but the kids may place great import on one or the other.

[–] An3 15 years ago

The message I got from this film is that smart people don't have to worry about material things, and it's not about money or position. It's about having a positive attitude in life, helping others, and doing what you believe in.

If you notice, all those servers/waiters in the film have a very warm attitude , and they are certainly smarter than all of us "little brains". They have overcome their fears and they don't mind accepting their roles in judgment city and helping others.

Probably one of the options of "Moving Forward" is staying in Judgment City for a while serving others. The notion of Moving Forward wasn't explicitly explained in the film, so this could be part of it.

Defending Your Life is certainly a great film !

[–] user23245 14 years ago

Drawing from another after-life movie that sticks with me, Beetlejuice, they allude that if you commit suicide you're destined to an eternity of servitude.

I think that works here too, for the service type positions in Judgement City. not necessarily bad, but can't move on as some sort of punishment for taking the greatest gift.

[–] skohl632001 14 years ago

The problem with that interpretation is that there's nothing in the film that hints at this in any way. You can't make up your own rules and interpretions about a film based on a completely unrelated one.

As another poster here already mentioned, it's all about how as we move on and get smarter we're no longer hung up on earthly things like being better (or worse) than others based on meaningless, human things like jobs, income, etc.

As has already been pointed out, the key indicator of this is how completely happy and content EVERY customer service person is in this film.

[–] dkgambler 14 years ago

I think those jobs are actually quite prestigious, in that the people who advance are "volunteers" to work at Judgement City. So even Bob Diamond might run the hotel for a while, if he wasn't a lawyer.

[–] mackthespoon 14 years ago

When I was in the Navy, all enlisted personnel had to work for 3 months in the galley when they first got to the ship. It might be something like that, when you first move on, you have to work in Judgement City for a certain amount of time before you move on to your actual assignment.

Judgement City clearly needed a better comedian, maybe Daniel got to do that for a little while.

[–] rpowers17 12 years ago

"Judgement City clearly needed a better comedian, maybe Daniel got to do that for a little while."

Good call! I never even thought of that.

[–] graymin 12 years ago

Maybe the 'staff' at judgement city is made up of people simply not worthy of moving on, The Pol Pots, Mussolinis, John Wayne Gacys, and array of random heinous humans. The universe recycles them as helpful in one way or another.

[–] jaddjamar 9 years ago

'Maybe the 'staff' at judgement city is made up of people simply not worthy of moving on, The Pol Pots, Mussolinis, John Wayne Gacys, and array of random heinous humans. The universe recycles them as helpful in one way or another.'

So Hitler made me pancakes?

So long and thanks for all the fish!

[–] mrnocal 11 years ago

I think it's just people who love their jobs (yes, there are people who love serving others and get great joy out of it), but also get to live in Judgment City with the best food and all without worry of gaining weight or whatever. Or, return to life and live with worry, mediocre or bad food, drudgery in jobs you hate...
Many have had lower paying, menial (some consider) "jobs" they loved.
To do something you love in a paradise of a city with no concern of the salary...a no-brainer (or a big-brainer?).

[–] Rheli 11 years ago

I also don't think they do much work. Look at how the food appears so quickly, as if by magic. Suddenly here are 13 pies, already packaged up. Etc.

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The IMDB site says, "Create a new list", but how could I create an old one?

[–] smoko 11 years ago

@mrnocal ...with the best food and all without worry of gaining weight or whatever.
Hell yeah, with that perk I'd happily work at some crappy entry-level service job. Every lunch break would be a blast.