Craig Kircher
Pl 250
Due: 11/25/13

“The They” in The Ultimate Gift Sometimes in life a single person, also know as a Dasein or a being in the world, can be dominated by, “the they”, or a group of people that influence the choices you make. The domination of a single being by “the they” can be seen throughout the movie “The Ultimate Gift”. This domination is most prevalent in the first 15 minutes of the movie and this will be what I focus on throughout this paper. The main purpose in “The Ultimate Gift” is to try to get Jason, the main character, to step away from his family and make his own decisions with the guidance of his deceased grandfather Red. His grandfather forces him to go through a series of difficult tasks in order to understand the true meaning of life. Although these tasks will force him to go against everything he once knew, these tasks are important in order to get him to understand the true meaning of life.
In the first 15 minutes of the movie it shows his grandfathers death and a meeting to see how his assets would be distributed among Red’s family. His whole family thinks that they should receive a piece of Reds’ assets including Jason. No on in the family receives any of Red’s assets, and they think it is outrageous because they think they are entitled to them. Jason acts in the same manner as “the they” because he is expecting to receive some of his grandfather’s assets. Red has a different plan for his grandson and tells him in order to receive the ultimate gift he must first go through a series of tasks that he has set up for him.
This segment of the move illustrates Heidegger’s account of “the they” in many different ways. Jason, who in this example is the Dasein, has always been given everything because he comes from a very wealthy and dysfunctional family. In the movie his family and upbringing is to be considered “the they”. His family has taught him how to act and what his daily practices and norms should be. This is exactly what Heidegger says “the they” does. Heidegger says it give a Dasein a set of norms and practices that the Dasein should fallow. Jason has no true friends and he thinks that money is everything because that is what “the they” has told him is important in life. This causes Jason to be unable to think and make choices for himself, which is what Heidegger says is the negative aspect of “the they”.
Nietzsche would say that the “the they” is based on the master morality and the Dasein is based on the slave morality. The master morality is defining what is good. The goods in the eyes of “the they” would be to have power, strength, and a lot of wealth. This is exactly what is seen in “The Ultimate Gift” by “the they“; also known as Jason’s family. His family is all about having power and wealth. They