We all know we’re going to die one day, but we’d rather not think about that.
Instead, we self-improve, plan our careers, chase money, and seek validation, striving to become something or someone of importance. We make these “hero projects” our life’s work as we avoid the more difficult task of grappling with our own mortality. And we raise our children to do the same.
That is the central thesis behind All Illusions Must Be Broken, a documentary film essay that invites reflection on the meaning of our lives, and the truths—or lies—we tell ourselves. On Feb. 18, CSUDH’s Hollywood by the Horns and Philosophy Department hosted a screening of the film and discussion with Jef Sewell, who produced and directed it with his wife, Laura Dunn.
All Illusions Must Be Broken is a meditation on the ideas of Ernest Becker, a cultural anthropologist whose book The Denial of Death won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize. Much of the film revolves around a 1973 interview between Sam Keen, then a reporter for Psychology Today, and Becker, who at 49 was nearing his own death from cancer. A “theorist of death,” Becker’s analysis of human nature spans philosophy, psychology, and sociology, with our destructive drive to overcome our animality, or “creatureliness,” emerging as a central theme.
The film contemporizes that concept by focusing on the accelerated disappearance of nature from modern human life. As we spend more time in cultural and virtual environments, rather than the actual environment, we allow screens to re-pattern and dictate our behaviors. Sewell posited that technology’s replacement of nature has allowed us to self-inflate to the point of delusion.
“Millenia of humans beings had the Milky Way as a backdrop for reality—it grounded you and shrunk you down,” he said. “In your generation’s time, you’re at the center of every experience on your phone. You’re the sun, and everything orbits you. It is destructive to your mental health because it’s not true.”
For Becker, as for Sewell, the mind is the “center of dishonesty.” Our brains react in highly predictable ways to stimuli and social conditioning, making us vulnerable to manipulation and control. When we allow screens to mediate the world for us, we relinquish our agency and remove ourselves from reality.
“You don’t have to have cosmic enlightenment,” Sewell said about how to find truth within this flawed system. “Just stop and do an inventory. Unplug and give yourself time to reflect. What are my assumptions about my life? Am I chasing something worthwhile? What happens when I die?”
Sewell said one reason he made the film was to introduce Becker’s ideas to a younger audience and ensure that these “big questions” still get asked. He acknowledged that the book that inspired the film is a difficult read, not just because of the hard subject matter, but because of its highly technical approach.
“Becker is so profound, and he’s just too good to let him disappear,” he said. “You make a film, and you have 88 minutes to give people a real sample of his ideas. I love when Becker says in the film, ‘I get to show how one dies.’ This man is a hero, and he gave a heroic performance.”
Sewell noted the difficulty in getting independent, thoughtful films like All Illusions Must Be Broken off the ground, but encouraged the aspiring filmmakers in the audience to pursue answers through their own art.
“Each of you has experiences that no one else in the history of the universe has,” he said. “You might discount that because you’re comparing yourselves to your own heroes. But don’t discount your own signature experience. So much has gone into you being you. Never discount that.”
