'Being There'
Garden Wisdom for the Ages
One of my favorite movies is "Being There," a 1979 film starring Peter Sellers.
Directed by Hal Ashby and adapted from Jerzy Kosiński’s novella, this film is a masterclass in deadpan satire. Peter Sellers plays Chance, an innocent gardener who has spent his entire life secluded behind the walls of a Washington, D.C. estate.
With a mind as simple as a child’s—the role is a forerunner to Forrest Gump—Chance knows only two things: gardening and TV. He is reclusive and illiterate and has lived and worked on this property his entire life.
When his benefactor, the Old Man, dies at the beginning of the film, Chance, the gardener, is thrust out of his sheltered bubble onto the streets of the capital. Through a series of hilarious, accidental encounters, he doesn’t just survive; he thrives.
From the Garden to the White House
He is mistaken for “Chauncey Gardiner,” a sophisticated man of mystery. Soon, he is rubbing elbows with the political elite and the President himself.
Although Chance is a man who is literally just talking about his plants because that is the only thing he understands, the world sees a profound visionary who uses elegant botanical metaphors to solve complex economic and social crises.
His encounters with highly placed people are very funny. They are charmed by his simplicity and honesty. They think 'Chauncy Gardiner' is a wise and profound man who uses metaphors of the garden to answer deep and thorny questions, when, of course, gardening is all he knows.
He quickly rises to public prominence and becomes a media sensation. The film exposes a society deeply in need of simple truths amidst its manipulations and self-serving follies.
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He only knows gardening and so his answers are from the garden:
President “Bobby”: Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?
[Long pause]
Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.
President “Bobby”: In the garden.
Chance the Gardener: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
President “Bobby”: Spring and summer.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
President “Bobby”: Then fall and winter.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
Benjamin Rand: I think what our insightful young friend is saying is that we welcome the inevitable seasons of nature, but we’re upset by the seasons of our economy.
Chance the Gardener: Yes! There will be growth in the spring!
Benjamin Rand: Hmm!
Chance the Gardener: Hmm!
President “Bobby”: Hm. Well, Mr. Gardner, I must admit that is one of the most refreshing and optimistic statements I’ve heard in a very, very long time.
[Benjamin Rand applauds]
President “Bobby”: I admire your good, solid sense. That’s precisely what we lack on Capitol Hill.
Watch this:
'Being There' is an endearing film, a black comedy, that portrays a man who lives in the present moment...
like the Tao that says, "happiness comes not from recognizing that we are all part of a great flow: it comes merely from flowing"
We all know this is true but how many of us can put it into practice?
Gardening - as Chance would tell us - helps us do that.
The Gardener Philosopher is something to be.
Thank you for being my dear valued subscriber - as Joni Mitchell says, "We are stardust, we are golden, And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden"
I enjoyed this post and will watch the film - thank you.
A truly great movie!