What Remains of Edith Finch and Philosophy

what remains of edith finch - a game about living, existing, and dying.

this is the first in a new ongoing series on video games and cultural theory.

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[stevebaxi]

This is a fantastic video, my favorite one you've done! The presentation is calming and profound. Its like you're just having a chat about something that means a lot to you but in such a relatable way. Great job!!

Funny story about Examined Life: I don't know how other departments are but I feel like mine was lowkey obsessed with it. My first ever college philosophy class opened with the professor showing us the Cornel West clip. And then in my first epistemology class a year later, another professor showed the exact same clip. And it became almost a running gag where everyone I knew through grad school had seen that clip more times than anything else.

I'm curious if you've ever read Little, Big by John Crowley? Its very similar thematically, all about how generations of a family are plagued by coming to terms with death and life in this family home but with this added level of creating a generational narrative to justify that inevitability. Its really this fascinating slow burn about how we try to get a grip on and predicate our emotions in a way that's antithetical to how we experience them, and how the continuity of life informs that coping mechanism. Its really quite good!

[namonamc]

I recently played this game myself, so I came back and re-watched this video. You've done such an amazing job analyzing the relation between the past, the self, and living/dying/death. I love what you said about Lewis and how perhaps the family curse is not really a curse -- reminds me of reading Tokyo Ueno Station, the narrator who suffered for his entire life kept on bringing up a piece of memory of his mother telling him he's very "unlucky." But as the story progresses and as the tragedies start to unfold, slowly every recounts of how "unlucky" he is starting to wear blank as a reason for his misfortune, but he finds no other words to express this melancholic emotion, pressing on his "unluckiness." It gave me a sort of similar feeling when I was playing the game, this inability to really change anything in the past (the narrator of Tokyo Ueno Station is a ghost)... Sorry for the rants, and thanks for the wonderful video.

[Kathrin_yt]

Just watching now and had to jump in to say one of my new years resolutions was to watch every Cornel West speech!! I just am obsessed with his charisma and his soulfulness!

[Emileigggggh]

I have nothing smart to say, but I really enjoyed this, great video!

[LuckyBlackCat]

I live with daily anxiety about dying before I've had a chance to do the things that matter to me most.

[TheDuartePT]

One of those videos that immediately deepens your appreciation for the piece at its center. I remember enjoying this game back when it came out, but only in the past two months or so did I begin to respect what it sought out to do. This essay made my appreciation for it all the greater. Incredible work!

[Kathrin_yt]

wow I really felt that punch in the gut moment, I'm amazed you are able to have so many profound thoughts about a video game!

[OdinMMA]

I greatly enjoy this presentation with the music - I feel like I could meditate whilst listening to this.

[GoldenBloodyBeared]

Amazing. I finally understand what Benjamin ment by wreckage of time

[benjifricker-muller]

Thank you John for the profound, melancholy and exquisite video essays you’ve been making. Each strikes an uncanny tone that keeps ringing in my ears for days and weeks after. The time between each video just underlined the quality and care put into each one. When they emerge from the algorithm into my timeline it’s like finding some poetry slipped into an old book.

[jelliottlein]

I’ve been following you on Twitter for some time now, and enjoying your writing. I finally picked up a copy of Edith Finch this week in order to watch this essay. Both were great, thank you. KRZ is next.

[ThatDangDad]

Great vid! I'm a big fan of Edith Finch (and the Examined Life too). That was a neat analysis!

[humansincages]

This is brilliant. Probably my favourite video you've made so far.

[radreads]

This was incredible, Jon. Thank you for this 🙏🏽

[atomostrich]

This video comes just as I needed something today to give me hope for tomorrow, and the future more broadly, thank you very much

[CatchMeUp]

What an opener! And it just builds from there. Thank you for this.

[TheShadowfakx]

West’s speaks to a poignancy in that kind of knowledge that some of us might have preferred to skip over. It speaks to a pursuit that might have been much kinder —- ignorance is bliss comes to mind— if that alternative pursuit wasn’t so damn alluring.
The first third of your musings brought to mind Rutger Hauer’s brief yet impactful
“ Tears in the Rain “ soliloquy toward the last few minutes in Blade Runner. Bittersweet for some of us who understood its implication. For the young amongst us, to some degree, an abstraction.
For those amongst us with a little more tooth length, hardly an abstraction at all. West is quite clear and correct for this cohort: COURAGE.

[branna]

I really enjoyed this video. I, too, thought that the mere explanation of Edie being the villain was kind of cynical? and sad? I dunno. I would say this, your interpretation is closer to my own. Death is one of my greatest fears and, yet, I am so fascinated by it. What does it mean for life to end? If someone were to look into the peephole of my life, what would it look like long after I'm gone? Provocative questions without any good answers. Thanks for the video.

[baconspaceman]

fuck yeah! hype to smoke some weed and watch this