Friday, April 27, 2012

Plato Visits the Moulin Rouge


Last night I visited the Moulin Rouge, “a night club, a dance hall and a bordello.” I was there to witness a supposed great love story. Yet there I found no love, no beauty, merely imitations of the concepts. First there is Satine, she is know as the most beautiful woman at the Moulin Rouge, yet how can a courtesan be beautiful? For her love is not real, she is paid for her love, and it is purely a replication of the beauty love. Next there is Christian, an aspiring writer. He spends his time not on intellectual study, but on the creation of love stories. Such an act as writing a love story is simply a different form of imitating the beauty of love. With his stories and “silly love songs,” Christian could easily have a negative affect on any true intellectuals around him. Finally there is love story itself. It seems only to be filled with physical love, sex and lust, nothing to produce a meaningful outcome. I believe Satine and Christian would be much better served to leave the Moulin Rouge, and find pursuits of wisdom and virtue. 

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