SCHOPENHAUER’İN İSTEME KAVRAMI İLE MELODRAMATİK FİLMLERE BAKIŞ

According to Schopenhauer, will is a blind and irrational force at the core of all existence. All living beings, including humans, are mere physical manifestations of this will and are driven by the desires it dictates. Schopenhauer argues that leading an ethical and wise life is only possible by suppressing the will and minimizing its influence on the individual. Love, as the will of the species, is also something to be avoided. Taking Celine Song’s film Past Lives (Başka Bir Hayatta, 2023) as a case study, this paper aims to explore how Arthur Schopenhauer’s concept of will manifests as a recurring formula in melodramatic films. To support this discussion, Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım (1977), In the Mood for Love (Aşk Zamanı, 2000), and Kader (2006) are also examined. In this study, the qualitative content analysis method was employed. By analyzing the actions of the characters in these melodramatic films and their ultimate choices, this study suggests that these actions can be interpreted through the lens of Schopenhauer’s concept of will. Drawing on Schopenhauer’s idealization of suppressed will and a life of pain and suffering, the opposition between will and the suppression of will in the characters of the selected films was examined. This opposition was identified in the aforementioned films and evaluated as a recurring moral dilemma in melodramatic films, in which characters are often trapped, leading to pain and suffering. It is suggested that this perspective can provide a new theoretical framework for analyzing melodramatic films.