The Revenant: The Utility Of Vengeance

Hugh Glass (Leonardo Di Caprio) loses his family. First his wife and then his son. Wounded, he will recover from all his evils in search of the only thing that seems to be left to him in this world: revenge. To do this, he will have to overcome many obstacles, diseases, enemies, and inclement weather.

This acclaimed film revisits the Western Genre, currently in vogue in Hollywood. Just as Tarantino’s last “The Hateful 8” does, it presents us with a western one but colder, harder, dirtier than those classic westerns of pyrotechnics and warm colors.

A film that is a hymn to many things. One of them to survival. Watching it we can remember many others: “When all is lost” with Robert Redford, even somehow manages to resemble the controversial and fast-paced “Apocalypto” by Mel Gibson.

They all present us with male heroes who, totally alone, overcome any situation. The folkloric reality of the United States is loaded with these myths. In fact, our protagonist really did exist. It is a true story that has passed through the filter of the cinema to become a True Story.

We see how revenge fulfills an almost magical lifeguard function in the protagonist. We see the power of this sensation. How in a situation where practically everything is lost, a single wish can keep you on your feet. From a psychological point of view, the film traces a good description of how a feeling, in this case the thirst for revenge, acts as an anesthetic for the body and soul.

Motivating function

When we talk about how revenge fulfills a motivating function in Hugh, we are referring to the fact that thanks to revenge he manages to have a force that redirects his behavior and sets a new goal for which to act.

There are several theories that try to explain motivation. One of them is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In the movie we see how Hugh must satisfy some more basic needs in order to fulfill his final need. In fact, the film progresses gradually from the base of the Pyramid to its irremediable peak.

• (peak of the pyramid) : revenge.

• : his companions recognize his worth and realize that there is a traitor.
• – Find people in familiar situations who help you and whom you help.
• : He looks for safe places to take shelter, he looks for medicines for his wounds, he protects himself from dangers.
• (base of the pyramid) : eat, drink, sleep, shelter properly.

Function of giving meaning to life

Once the revenge is complete, Hugh abandons himself, his knees buckle, he is exhausted. The force that kept him alive and that gave him meaning to continue in it vanishes.

What the film seems to tell us is that without the need for self-realization, the rest of the needs will not even be satisfied. It would make no sense to do so. The relationship between needs would not be exclusively one-way.

In fact, psychologists see it in our consultations on a daily basis. Many hopeless people come to consultation because they do not find meaning in their lives. We see the importance of living according to our own values, the importance of having a life plan and that our lives have meaning.  When this fails, people neglect our food, our sleep, our relationships, even our own safety.

There are several authors who tell us about the Meaning of life. One of the first was Victor Frankl. The search for a meaning of life has a higher importance for Frankl than the mere satisfaction of other needs :

At present, Third Generation Therapies also point out the importance of the meaning of life :

Revenge and satisfaction

Although we are talking about the usefulness of revenge in a person’s life, this does not mean that we validate this motivation as the engine of life.

Several studies that verify the satisfaction in the execution of revenge, show that people feel less satisfied when they carry it out. So, if you were having it in mind, dismiss the idea (for this and countless other reasons)

As a clue as to which motivations are most productive, there are key elements that will determine the nature of that motivation. What are those elements? The emotions. These will determine the quality of the acts produced by the motivation.

In the case of revenge, the emotions that have participated in its construction are predominantly anger and sadness. Try better with motivations derived from situations that have produced other emotions, such as joy.

Conclusions and closing

With three Oscars behind him (best director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, best leading actor Leonardo Dicaprio and best photography Emmanuel Lubezki) Iñárritu takes the cat back to the water just as he did in 2014 with “Birdman” (4 Oscars, including best film and director)

On that occasion, the director spoke to us again about an extreme character who had lost everything (sanity, his family, fame and prestige …) he also spoke to us about the meaning of life and the Maslow Pyramid, giving him to the need for recognition and estimates the value of life engine.

With these films he does nothing more than pass the baton on to us, his viewers, personal analysis is irremediable. Therefore it is time to ask … And for you, what is the meaning of life?