Free will



Free will is a topic that has been addressed in several ways throughout the Lonelygirl15 series. The question of free will has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical thought.

Aleister Crowley
The first indication that Free Will might become an issue in the series was a picture of Aleister Crowley, a champion of free will, hanging on a wall in Bree's room, as part of some sort of shrine.

Crowley's beliefs – the "Rights of Man" – were outlined most popularly in his text "Liber Oz" ; in it, he makes clear he does not believe in absolute freedom, but rather, that the freedom of one ends in the freedom of another: One must not use his own freedom to restrict someone else's. Most importantly, he also advocated that for such cases, laws and penalties should be in place. He called this the Law of Thelema.

The Law of Thelema
The free will espoused by Thelema (θέλημα) is a free will to act according to your True Will. As it states in the Book of the Law, "Thou hast no right but to do thy will.". An interesting argument following this is that this principle actually forbids many things you might want to do - committing a crime, for example, or simple health-damaging acts like smoking. Because, as the reasoning goes, these acts, be it by leading to persecution or damage to one's health, restrict the individual's ability to act in fullness, and, as such, violate his own free will by disallowing him to do whatever he wants. (In other words: One is not allowed to restrict any person's freedom; since heavy smoking would restrict a person's ability to breathe freely, for example, a smoker is essentially restricting his own freedom, and, as such, violating the Law of Thelema by giving in to his desire to smoke.)

This interpretation is interesting as it might be the reasoning behind Bree's diet - making sure she's truly following and embracing her True Will, not violating it by health-damaging foods.

Thelematic world view
The Free Will as envisioned in Thelema is not anarchy, as it is not without law – each individual is bound to his own True Will and to developing it by experience. It is acknowledged by the Book that this will lead to conflict ("As brothers fight ye!"), however, according to the teachings, wherever the wills of two clash, one must be wrong.

In this context, another quote from the Book is interesting – "If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him.". A "King", according to Thelema, is someone who is not only willing to act, but thinking out his actions and accepting responsibility for them as well. One who is mastered by consequences is not a King, but a slave. The Book states "Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever: the slaves shall serve.", and makes clear: "this is the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world.".

Free Will in Lonelygirl15
Bree's parents first met when her mother stepped into a discussion that her Bree's father was having with a friend about the play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Bree's mother believed so passionately in free will, that she felt compelled to walk over to the man who was saying that determinism was the theme of the play (Bree's father) and tell him that he was completely wrong.

On other occasions, it has been strongly implied that Bree had to do the Ceremony out of her own, free will, no matter what happens: Even after Bree was kidnapped and drugged, the Order didn't just force her to do the Ceremony, but tried to "persuade" her to do it out of her own free will. Another indicator is an overheard phone call Alex had, in which she says about the same incident: "[...] I do care because it's a violation of free will and you know... I know my principles, do you want me to recite them for you? [...]".

In an earlier incident, OpAphid had closed in on Jonas's home, and kidnapped Daniel straight from the town's bowling alley - yet, instead of saying "Do the Ceremony or he dies!", they drugged and brainwashed Daniel to persuade Bree to do the Ceremony.