Directed by Mark Waters, Mr. Popper’s Penguins casts Jim Carrey as a businessman who — among other actions more central to the plot — wears a t-shirt featuring Buddha. A CBS interview includes Carrey’s explicit references to Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus. These references are followed by assertions that, within the context of religion, he’s “anything you want me to be.” In the interview, he goes further to express “It all comes down to the same thing, either your in a loving place or an unloving place.”
Unlike numerous celebrity proponents of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement, Carrey doesn’t seem to harbor any particular allegiance to TM; he doesn’t boast that TM saved his life, or that TM explicitly is the crème de la crème.
In fact, the “Jim Carrey is Here” Facebook page’s posting of a photo and video from his recent visit does NOT explicitly mention Maharishi University of Management, referring to MUM as “the university.”
From a marketing perspective, following the shock and awe of his prior visit to Fairfield, MUM did well to book Carrey for this special event featuring his fervent-touching-heart-felt- commencement speech available for your consumption on numerous other websites. Presented the Doctor of Fine Arts Honoris Causa degree from Maharishi University of Management, Carrey is the subject of a fallacy of relevance rooted in an argument by association that is, in part, buttressed by a subtle wave of false authority (argumentum ab auctoritate).
Bevan Morris’ opening declaration that Carrey is “… not just a People magazine pretty face” seems to leverage further arguments by association between Carrey and People magazine — though I find People Magazine to be the benefactor of Morris’ mumble in association with the longstanding humanity inherent in the Jim Carrey brand of comic relief. But what the university is actually doing is posturing Carrey in alignment with an agenda that isn’t necessarily congruent with his message; the university is embellishing a context to create favorable optics for itself at Carrey’s expense.
While Jim Carrey can relate to students and faculty through the medium of comedy and TM syntax, such as references to dream state cardinality and “wholeness”, the overarching premise of the Carrey brand seems to favor an all-inclusive approach to life, dreams, happiness, and hope as he advises that we find a way to “relax” in our journey and pursuit of happiness; to not be afraid to pursue your dreams.
But in wake of my critique, as I attempt to stay on message, I find the most relief in the irony in which this context of Jim Carrey and Maharishi University of Management is saturated. This video — of my favorite Jim Carrey moments — effectively expresses the attitude of MUMOSA.com in response to the wholeness of it all.
