The Invention of Lying

“The Invention of Lying” is a 2009 comedy. The film is set in an alternative reality in which people are incapable of lying. They do not even know what a lie is. They are unaware not only of lying but even of concealing something.

If someone’s outfit doesn’t match, they say so straight out. If a haircut doesn’t suit them, they point it out at once.

Imagine a world in which whatever passes through one person’s mind instantly reaches the other’s ears. Life would probably become unlivable.

Of course I am not recommending lying, but depending on the culture, people at least take care about what they say and where. So as not to hurt the other person, they may say a meal was lovely even if they didn’t like it.

Or when someone has to be told that a relative has died, people don’t say, “Your father is dead.” First they may say he is ill, that he has had a heart attack, or they use gentler words. Perhaps they choose phrases like “passed away” or “has left this world”.

But in the world of the film, imagine instead hearing bare truths such as “your loved one burned to a crisp in a fire” or “fell from the cliffs and was smashed to pieces”, said without a second thought.

In the world of the film, a criminal might at once give away information that would bring down an entire network. Perhaps crime networks would never even have time to form. Perhaps there would be no intelligence agencies either. Heaven forbid there were wars, but a captured soldier would reveal every plan, position and arms depot the moment he was asked.

An environment where no one even suspects, “Why would he lie?” The word lie does not even exist there. A world where even politicians don’t lie. Strange, wouldn’t it be?

In just such a world our protagonist Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) cannot pay his rent and goes to the bank to withdraw money. He has 300 dollars in his account, but he needs 800.

When the teller says there is an error in the system and she cannot see his balance, our hero says it is 800 dollars. Following the rule that a person’s word is taken as true, the teller believes him and pays out the amount he named. She believes him so completely that even when the system comes back and she sees that he has 300 dollars, she assumes it is a system error.

Even if no one else knows it, the first lie has been told and lying has been discovered. Yet our lead, the discoverer of the lie, cannot even define it. When he gives his name differently, his best friend replies, “How strange that I never learned your real name in all these years.” When he says he is black, the other person, though he is white, answers, “Your skin is a bit light, but never mind,” and believes him wholeheartedly.

Although the film leans heavily on comedy, it also stands out for its philosophical and social messages. It prompts deep reflection on the effects of lying on human relationships, society and life. The performances are also very good, offering an experience that entertains the audience while making it think.

The Nature of Lying and Human Relationships

At first people are incapable of lying and therefore speak directly. Although the police carry out a breathalyser test, they believe our hero rather than the device when he says, “My friend is not drunk.”

Or he says at a casino that he won on a machine but it didn’t pay out. The owner immediately pays him the amount he says he won.

But once Mark Bellison discovers lying, great changes take place in his relationships and in society. With the emergence of the lie, interactions between people become more complicated and the importance of trust in relationships is underlined.

Human Nature and Lying

The film also shows the complexity of human nature and how lying affects people’s behaviour.

At first Mark uses lies only for his own benefit, but later he begins to use them to comfort people and make them happy.

For instance, our hero’s mother is dying and is unhappy because the doctor tells her things like “you are going to die very soon” in the barest possible terms. He even tells Mark, “There are fajitas in the cafeteria, lucky you, you can have some after your mother dies.”

In an atmosphere where reality is stark naked and it is accepted that there is no life after death, Mark, to make his mother happy, says something like: “You won’t cease to exist. There is a man in the sky, and he will take you to another world. In that world there is no illness, no suffering, no old age. You will see your mother and father and your other loved ones there. Say hello to my father.”

These words cause a great stir among the doctors, and what Mark has said soon spreads to many people through the media. Over time, however, Mark shows the potential to abuse the power of lying and to manipulate people. He takes his lies as far as “I spoke with the Man in the Sky,” and people believe that too. But in time things get somewhat out of hand.

Because Mark cannot give satisfactory answers to the questions he is asked, headlines appear such as “Man in the Sky lets woman live to 104” or “Man in the Sky kills 40 people this year”.

The film emphasises the creator’s attributes of giving life and taking it. People are somewhat uneasy because they think the creator takes their loved ones’ lives directly. In our faith, however, there is an angel charged with releasing the soul from the cage of the body. And between Azrael and death there are veils such as illness and accidents. So when someone dies, people usually do not blame the creator; they speak of causes.

At the end of the film, the only people who can lie are Mark and his son. Though he screws up his face, the son tells his mother that the meal she cooked is delicious. Lying is genetically contagious, it seems 🙂

Although it would be impossible to find an environment as honest as the one in the film, it has sometimes been possible to capture such an atmosphere on an individual level.

In earlier articles I referred to John R. Schafer’s remark that “people are predisposed to believe”. As George Orwell says in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Yes, people are predisposed to believe, but some people are more predisposed to believe some people than others.

I think this predisposition to believe has to do with absolute obedience in the military. How can a subordinate obey a superior absolutely if he does not believe him? If the superior is questioned, so is his order. But the thought that the superior knows something has led subordinates to absolute obedience of their own free will. Otherwise no soldier would have listened to Mustafa Kemal at Gallipoli when he told soldiers fleeing because they had run out of ammunition, “I am not ordering you to attack! I am ordering you to die. Fix bayonets! Lie down!”

If the people to be believed are leaders of broad foresight and insight, like Sultan Alp Arslan, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror or Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, all well and good.

But what if the people believed in are tyrants like Hitler and their present-day reflections? What if the person being followed keeps misleading his followers with lies and manipulation? Then a very serious security problem and security weakness arises, both on an individual level and on a national scale.

Bahadır Şahin, in his article “Going Down in History”, draws a very telling picture of the limits of belief. He describes how even belief in Hitler and fear of him had their limits, in these words:

When he died, he was buried in a ceremony attended by French soldiers, and his family spoke of him with pride. His son said of his father, “He saved not only the city but many people’s lives.” Films were made and books written about General Choltitz, who was able to reply “Not quite” to Hitler when he asked, “Is Paris burning, Dietrich?”

With its comic elements, The Invention of Lying skilfully blends social, religious and philosophical themes, addressing the complexity of human nature and the questionability of social norms.

While the film stresses the importance of honesty, it also explores whether lying may sometimes be right in order to protect or comfort people. This dilemma encourages viewers to think and to understand the complexity of human nature.

Mark’s ability to influence and steer people with lies is a sign of power and manipulation. It shows the dark sides of human nature and how the desire for power can be abused.

There are so many lies in the world. Some are told in Turkey, some in America… Some are told in Palestine, some in China. And people choose for themselves which lies to believe.

While some tell white lies to make a patient on their deathbed happy, others can tell pitch-black lies as casually as drinking a coffee, using words like “It was for the children; they would have grown up to be terrorists.”

Though there is much truth to be told about lies, here’s hoping the truth prevails…

If you watch the film, or have already seen it, I would love to read your comments below this article.