The Master

9.8 “If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the history of the world.” The Master is an American portrait of masculinity, labour and authority with excellent performances and great cinematography. It’s an exploration of power and obedience, and the need to serve framed through masculinity. Freddie moves through masters, the army, employers, and Lancaster. He’s the average American worker stripped down to base masculinity, knowing only violence, sex, and work. He’s the perfect slate to mark, and looks for his leash. He’s dependant on guidance, his obedience is his purpose. He regurgitates the ideas of others, repetition in illusion of independence which he knows is beyond him. As the movie progresses we see how he processes his emotions and urges, who ultimately serve as his final master. He is ruled by his primal needs, by sex, by violence. When he drives away from the master, he goes straight to the house of a former lover. The idea of a woman overrides the idea of serving, but once he finds she’s moved on he’s yet again left without purpose. At the end of the movie, he leaves again for the final time and decides to become his own master. He repeats ideas just the same, but does it under no rule. He holds his own leash for the time being, only time will tell how long. The Master is a fascinating look at our innate need to serve something, and how we achieve purpose as a result.