Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead–
A second element of this film provides insight into the difficulty each of us has in having our actions be the result of our own best thinking (this is not the same as acting in accord with the ups and downs of our emotions) and not the result of emotional pressure from others or pressure from within ourselves (this is acting in accord with the ups and downs of feelings.)
What the heck does that all mean? In BtDKYD, the older brother (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is in deep trouble with an expensive drug habit and a long-term embezzlement issue ready to be exposed at his job. The younger brother (Ethan Hawke) has child support problems and would like to be able to support his lover (big brother’s wife) and ask her to marry him. His problems, while troublesome, are not at the immediate life-changing level as his brother’s. When his brother first suggests the robbery of their parents’ jewelry store, he holds his posion. He knows what he thinks and says “No.” But, older brother is not one for long term thinking or concern for others. He’s also deft at manipulating others–a skill helping him to screw up his own life. He plays on the younger brother’s recent embarrassment at not being able to pay for a field trip for his daughter by offering a small amount of immediate cash. The younger brother loses his point of reference, his sense of himself and what he believes. He goes against his best thinking, engaging in behavior based on crossing his fingers and turning against himself.
How can you tell “best thinking” from emotionally based thinking? One way is time. The Emotional Guidance System in our brain is unable to consider the long term. The EGS just wants what it wants NOW. “I don’t want to hear about how what I’m doing now has long-term effects!” A person’s whose life is governed by the EGS is more dependent on “luck.” This is a scary way to live. If our lives are the result of chance or the choices of others, we live as victims. Our lives, our thoughts and feelings are up for grabs.
