Decision Fatigue in 'Kinds of Kindness': Free Will Explored
Cheesecake Factory Menus? Vodka or Whiskey? Do we really have a choice?
Do we humans crave routine?
Decision fatigue is a hot topic for many a famed CEO. Mark Zuckerberg has sported a gray t-shirt nearly every day of his Facebook, now Meta career (making his suit-and-tie appearances before Congress jarring.)
“I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve [the Facebook] community,” Zuckerberg said in 2014. “There’s actually a bunch of psychology theory,” Zuckerberg continued, “that even making small decisions around what you wear or what you eat for breakfast or things like that, they kind of make you tired and consume your energy.”
Steve Jobs was often sighted in his black turtleneck uniform. Barack Obama famously stuck to a daily routine and blue and gray suits during his presidency. Jeff Bezos has stated he prioritizes a relaxing morning routine in the morning (coffee, newspaper, breakfast with his family) and only aims to make three good decisions a day.
While some scientific studies initially supported the idea that decision fatigue is a real phenomenon, more recent analysis suggests the cognitive fatigue one may experience after making decisions may be due to other factors. Though the science may be murky, leaders in the spotlight sure have glorified the act of reducing the amount of decisions one makes in a day to conserve brain power for the important decisions.
The idea of decision fatigue doesn’t just apply to CEOs. In the less-chic corners of the internet, an oft-recycled meme stating something to the effect of “the hardest part about adulthood is deciding what to make for dinner every night.” How many times have you heard someone say “I wish someone would just tell me what to do.” When the options are limitless, and only you can choose, making a decision is astonishingly difficult.
Through the centuries, writer’s have waxed on about their fear of the blank page. Visual artists have dreaded the blank canvas. Unemployed friends and retirees who always dreamed of having more free time suddenly describe their free days as “boring” and can’t wait to jump into work again.
Consuming Routine in Kinds of Kindness
After a sweeping critical and box office success with his 2023 academy-award-winning film Poor Things, director Yorgos Lanthimos brings Kinds of Kindness just half a year on. The film offers a new triptych of short stories, written by Lanthimos and his old writing partner Efthimis Filippou (The Lobster, Sacred Killing of a Deer) in the form of a lengthy feature presentation.
In Kinds of Kindness’s first act, entitled “The Death of R.M.F”, Jesse Plemons plays Robert, a dutiful employee of Raymond, Willem DaFoe’s mysterious boss. Raymond plans every aspect of Robert's life: What time to wake up, what to read, where to go, what to eat, what to drink. Raymond set Robert up with his wife and schemed with doctors to ensure the couple could never have a child, despite their wishes. When offered a drink, Robert might ask for vodka, but Raymond will ensure he gets whiskey.
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One day, Raymond asks Robert to crash his car into another, and to get so hurt he must go to the hospital. When the crash isn’t as severe as Raymond hoped, Robert is faced with a choice: Does he continue to go along with Raymond’s assignments, even if they are unethical? Or does he walk free and begin making decisions for himself?
Any other movie might end this plot with Robert gaining self-confidence and learning to plan his own life. But in Kinds of Kindness? Freedom and infinite choice is a hellscape.
Robert simply does not know what to do with himself. What time to wake up? What to read? Where to go? What to eat and drink? The audience watches as he drives himself mad.
Narrowing Options: The Plant-Based Virtue
After eating plant-based for many years, I’ve come accustomed to scanning restaurant’s menus, looking for little green leaves or “v” markers denoting the few vegetarian options on the list. Most restaurants only offer two or three entree options for the meat-less among us, so I’m never faced with much of a choice.
However, on occasion, I’ll venture to a fully-vegan restaurant. On such occasions, I can scarcely hold a conversation with whomever I’m dining with until I’ve made my order — the menu is too distracting. What in the world will I order? A Sandwich? A Salad? Multiple sides? As an ardent lover of food, the FOMO is real. Especially if I’m in a neighborhood or city I don’t travel to often — perhaps I may never travel to it ever again — the menu might even send me into an existential spiral.
I find myself faced with feelings of both delight at the amount of options I’m presented with and genuine fatigue. As fantastic as options are, and as ridiculous as it might sound, I know if I was faced with endless options at every meal dining out, my overall daily stress levels might be higher. (After all, my husband and I were recently faced with the freedom to move pretty much anywhere in the country we wanted to, within reason/budget, and it nearly drove us mad.)
Last summer, I made multiple trips to an ice cream shop local to my father’s house. Like most folk’s favorite ice cream shops, this shop is regionally-renowned for its wide variety of homemade flavors and large servings.
Part of the reason why I, personally, love it so much is it has exactly 4 (occasionally 5) choices of non-dairy ice cream flavors and 2 sorbet options. Opposed to the 59 full-dairy options, no to mention a handful of other dairy-dessert offerings, I somehow perversely appreciate how I can count the number of dairy-free options on one hand. As jealous as I can be of other’s ability to digest lactose in the moment, I’ve witnessed the anxiety people feel waiting on line for their waffle cone.
“Should I get Butter pecan or Salty Carmel Truffle?” they said in increasingly panicked tones as they near the register. While both sound delicious, I remain in a zenful bliss with the knowledge that I will be getting non-dairy Cookie Dough, and Chocolate if they’re out.
When Robert in Kinds of Kindness is presented with the freedom to choose his own drink — at a bar that offers all of the typical mixed drink options, plus a generous wine list — he pleads with the bartender, “Can you suggest a drink for me?” After much hesitation, “A wine?”
“Red or White?” bartender replies. “Whatever you think is best.” Jesse Plemmon’s Robert replies in a tone that sounds as equally panicked as a customer with 59 ice cream flavors to choose from.
Life is a Cheesecake Factory Menu
I can’t help but wonder what Robert from Kinds of Kindness would do if presented with a Cheesecake Factory menu. The restaurant currently boasts 250 menu items and 21 pages. Surely, the waiters cannot suggest a dish without at least asking a preference of menu section or cuisine?
Actually, after watching Kinds of Kindness in full, I know exactly what Robert would do. Life is, in many ways, a Cheesecake Factory menu, at times filled with near-limitless options. By the end of Kindness’s first story, Robert stoops to the ultimate ethical low in order to allow Raymond to control his life once again.
All three chapters of Kinds of Kindness are interesting, original, and pearl-clutching. All three examine ideas of consumption, life, and death, with shocking imagery sprinkled throughout for good measure. Yet, ultimately, the film’s first story is its most impactful.
Kinds of Kindness is a 2024 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Willem DaFoe, Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer. Currently in theaters worldwide.
The Wise Words of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
I once watched an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee in which Jerry Seinfeld’s comedian dining partner (I can’t remember which!) are trying to decide what to order. After a beat, Jerry simply says “It doesn’t matter” in a serious tone. I think about it every day.
In a world of you-are-what-you-eats and treat-yourselfs and the prioritization of individual taste, realizing your choice of lunch today probably doesn’t matter is a little refreshing.
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Leave a Comment and let me know: What did you think of Kinds of Kindness? OR, more importantly: How long do you prefer your restaurant menus?
With gratitude,
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I'm with you on the plant-based choices — sometimes it's nice to only have one or two options! It makes you see the wisdom of wearing a uniform like Steven Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg as well.
Gotta admit, I've been highly skeptical of KINDS OF KINDNESS just because it has been released so soon after POOR THINGS. This has convinced me to watch it with an open mind. Can't wait to read more!