Mr Nobody Sociology

For my film choice, I chose Mr. Nobody (2009) (Van Dormael). It is a film starring Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh Dan Pham, Rhys Ifans, Natasha Little, Toby Regbo and Juno Temple. The film is extremely artsy and experimental, I honestly chose it only because I knew nothing about the film and wished to challenge myself to see if I could find any hidden economics in a random Netflix pick. The premise of the film is that a young boy is split between staying with his father and running away with his mother after they split. This is not shown or given away until we go through the many outcomes of his life based off of multiple decisions, as portrayed by the older version of himself living as the last mortal in a world of immortals.

Alongside of utility theory, opportunity cost is given many examples. Opportunity cost being, “The most highly valued opportunity or alternative forfeited when a choice is made.” (Arnold) In this film a great number of opportunity cost are weighed and

Furthermore, because the film is based on a young boy’s ability to weigh every decision while he stands on the train tracks between his parents, he is able to see every opportunity cost in his lifetime and make decisions to maximize the utility of the outcomes. One of the most poignant uses of these is when he is given the choice at the bakery to choose between two pastries. The narrator even states that there is a cost to every decision. It is ultimately undecided which pastry he chooses, as he walks away from the bakery. Throughout the film, we are given convoluted glances at the choices between three female lovers in his alternate and intertwined lives. With each one he gets to see the benefits and is allowed to weigh the costs of giving up the others. This includes, but not limited to, what homes he lived in, how many children he has, what type of work he does and does not do, adventures he has, and even when and how he will die. All of this branches out of the decision over which parent he decided to live with after their divorce. The film itself is a nonstop barrage of examples of opportunity cost and on boy’s attempt to figure out which decision will maximize utility for him. Within the film, opportunity cost is shown better than any other film I have seen. No other film, to my knowledge, explores the importance of reflecting on