Catingub, Cherrielyn C.

BSN III C; PHILO102 C

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

Tuesdays with Morrie is a film about a senior citizen who is dying of ALS (amyotrophic

lateral sclerosis) but wanted to touch the lives of many by passing down his knowledge and

philosophies in life. This paper will discuss Morrie’s philosophies in life, what he believes to be

of great value and the struggles in life.

One of the many philosophies of Morrie is about loving your family, to open your

emotions to them so that you won’t regret anything when a loved one dies. Another philosophy

of Morrie is about forgiveness, in the movie it was shown that he was not able to forgive his

father and did not even feel anything when his father died because of he didn’t find his

explanations to be sufficient and also because of his pride. It showed how Morrie deeply regrets

not forgiving his father, for something he should have, and how not forgiving him will bother

him for the rest of his life. He explains that we can't get stuck on regrets of what should have

happened. He advises to make peace with yourself and those around you.

Another part of Morrie’s philosophy talked about culture. “ remembered what Morrie

said during our visit: “The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves.

And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.” This quote

shows that Morrie does not agree with the way many people live their life. Many let the culture

dictate them how to live their life but his philosophy is that you must be your own person and not

to let anyone else tell you how to live. He took more time eating and looking at nature and

wasted not time in front of TV sitcoms or “Movies of the Week.” He had created a cocoon of

human activities– conversations, interaction, affection–and it filled his life like an overflowing

soup bowl.

Morrie also stressed the value about how people look at material things and using these

things to judge others instead of getting to know them personally. The quote which supports this

statement says that we should not depend on material things to find love or happiness. “"They

were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works.” Money

can not substitute for love, friendship and happiness. Morrie tells us how he felt about money

and status. Morrie felt that people look to much at what others have and base their friends on

money. You don’t need to have the biggest mansions or the most luxurious cars to find love and

happiness.

Morrie has always enjoyed the simple pleasures in life singing, laughing and dancing.

Material things had very little significance. “We've got a form of brainwashing going on in our

country...More money is good, more property is good, more commercialism is good. An average

person is fogged up by this, he is not aware of what is really important anymore.” This sums up

how he feels about the country and how people live.

He sees more pleasure in simple things such as singing and dancing, but the American

people look at pleasure as having more money than someone else or more property. Morrie sees

this as being a big problem in the country today. He feels that people should be themselves and

have fun without looking at how much they own.