AustLit

'To what extent can art transmit didactic content, to what extent can it teach? Is there an aesthetic relationship between a style of art and a lesson conveyed? In this paper I would like to look at two examples of art that go towards answering this question. The learning that I wish to examine focuses on an Epicurean content which, because of its lasting radical nature, speaks strongly in films that tend to be comprehended much more as "cult" than mainstream. After a brief discussion of themes arising from a two thousand year old legacy of Epicurean thought, I will trace some influences on two fascinating films that borrow ideas from this philosophical school for particular purposes: Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude 1971 and Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby, 1993. This paper is not an overall review of these films, but an examination of their philosophical content in this aspect' Source: The author.