The Perfect huMan

In our pursuit of knowledge, we encounter works each reader interprets differently. This is not surprising, as we do not experience the same events as the person next to us. The creator of a work may have intended to portray one meaning, but audience members may understand the work in a completely different fashion after an analysis from their point of view. In the end, however, most scholars can agree upon a publicly accepted analysis of the work. In the HCOL 085 class last semester, we viewed Jorgen Leth’s short film “The Perfect Human” and came to a general understanding of the film’s meaning. However, after bringing a feminist epistemology to bear on this work, my sense of the film has changed drastically.

Initially, I interpreted the film as an analysis of humanity and superficiality. The focus on the perfect human dressing himself and getting himself ready is representative of the fact that humanity is defined by appearance and social actions, not thoughts, desires, or beliefs. Essentially, Leth is claiming that we are superficial, and we are all trying to attain perfection through our appearances and not what is beneath the surface. While the man is eating, the narrator asks, “what is he thinking?” and we are made aware of the fact that it is not easy to tell what is beneath the superficial layer. Prior to bearing a feminist epistemology on the text, I believed that Leth was making the point that we are all trying to understand each other’s behaviors and motivations, but because of our obsession with outer appearance, we are unable to know one another. So, the perfect human, in some senses, is one who is simple and naive and does not attempt to understand others because it is too difficult, but in other senses, someone who...

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...perficiality, but in fact, “The Perfect Human” is much more than that. Applying a feminist epistemology to this film forces us to notice how unfair he (and the world in general) is to women. Unfortunately, this is not the first or last time that women will be underrepresented in philosophical analyses of humanity. I can guarantee that if a woman had attempted to create such a film that investigates the nature of human superficiality it would have been significantly different. Works that are produced by men are more likely to be unfair to women, because they are bound to imitate what has been successful in the past. The first way to combat the unfair treatment of women is to point it out without hesitation and to discuss why it is so important to remember that social constructs of gender affect our knowledge so that we can pursue knowledge more effectively and fairly.