How Can a Man Be Rightly Sure of Himself?

Sureness and Unsureness about Love

In "The Apartment" Bud Baxter gets his promotion and his own office. He buys a new bowler hat, the "junior executive" model, and thinks he's on his way to the top. But Baxter is still unsure—he's embarrassed to wear the hat, and walks around like a lonely shell.

In a class some years ago, when I spoke about how I was driven to make money and buy things for myself that I didn't really need, Miss Reiss asked:

If a person made a lot of money but wasn't kind, would he feel sure of himself? Will a person ever feel sure of himself if he doesn't have good will?

The answer I have seen, is no, because what Aesthetic Realism shows is the ethical unconscious in a man won't let him get away with anything less than being fair. All the goodies he buys for himself will never fill the void.

A dramatic turn of events in "The Apartment" brings up a debate that Eli Siegel describes when he writes:

Two possibilities of man may be in a deep and intense fight. We all of us can find ambition and love at odds in ourselves. The desire for [love] can be hostile...to a desire to make a lot of money. Our possibilities do clash.

Fran Kubelik is with Mr. Sheldrake one night in Baxter's apartment, and when he leaves, she is very distressed and against herself for seeing this married man. She finds sleeping pills in the bathroom and takes them. Bud comes home, thinks Fran has fallen asleep on his bed, and angrily tries to wake her up, telling her to get out. But realizing the gravity of what has occurred, he runs to get a neighbor who is a doctor, and they work through the night to save her life. When Fran wakes up she tries to get out of bed, and says:

Fran.  I'm sorry, Mr. Baxter.

Bud.  Miss Kubelik—you shouldn't be out of bed.

Fran.  I'm so ashamed. Why didn't you just let me die?

Bud.  Miss Kubelik, you got to promise me you won't do anything foolish.

Fran.  Who'd care?

Bud.  I would.

As they talk, Bud finds himself wanting to have a good effect on her,and youfeel he really cares about someone else. He prepares dinner for Fran and himself, and in a memorable moment, takes a pot of spaghetti off the stove, picks up a tennis racquet and uses it to strain the spaghetti, humming happily all the time.

Later in the movie, we see that Bud's earlier dream has come true—he's risen in the company and has a cushy office. But when Sheldrake tells Bud he's going out with Fran Kubelik again and will need his apartment, Bud refuses. Sheldrake says:

Sheldrake.  Baxter, I picked you for my team because I thought you were a bright young man. You realize what you're doing? ...Normally it takes years to work your way up to the twenty-seventh floor — but it takes only thirty seconds to be out on the street again. You dig.

Bud.  (nodding slowly) I dig.

Sheldrake.  So what's it going to be?

Bud reaches into his pocket, pulls out a key, and drops it on the desk—but it's the key to the executive washroom.

Bud.  The old payola won't work any more. Goodbye, Mr. Sheldrake.

When Fran learns what Bud has done, she runs to be with him, and as they sit on the couch together, you feel Bud has a happy confidence that's new.

Through the study of Aesthetic Realism men everywhere can learn to have one of the most valuable things in life—an honest, deep sureness.

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