The Beach Bum: 10 Tricky Philosophical Questions It Raises

10. What Is Personal Space?

Moondog, the free-spirited poet portrayed by McConaughey, doesn't care much for personal space. When Moondog's literary agent (played by a delightfully hammy Jonah Hill) grabs Moondog by the crotch and critiques its size, Moondog merely laughs and grabs Lewis in return. This odd exchange appears normal for them, a unique expression of their friendship.

"Unique" is the operative word here. Every relationship works by its own rules, and these two have come to the mutual understanding that there's nothing wrong with an occasional crotch squeeze. Moondog and Frank, his daughter's fiancée, have not reached this agreement. When Moondog wraps his fist around Frank's tallywacker and nicknames him "Limp Dick," Frank is less than amused.

Frank's reaction is natural. Experts on neuroscience believe that everyone has an instinctive bubble. We intuitively understand that there is a difference between what the study of proxemics labels as "public distance" and "intimate distance." The spaces between these two can be inhabited by those we trust to varying degrees, while we prefer to keep most others out.

Since Moondog has no bubble whatsoever, he doesn't see this. He doesn't see that, while there's nothing sexual in his actions against his son-in-law, he could legally be considered guilty of sexual assault. Life without a bubble, as much as he enjoys it, could actually be incredibly dangerous.

What allows Moondog to forgo personal space as he does with Lewis, whereas someone like Frank might suffer very real trauma from a similar encounter? Is it merely a neurological difference? Or is it possible to pop one's own bubble, allowing the interpersonal distances described in proxemics to remain entirely undefined? The Beach Bum's crotch-grabbers, much like Seinfeld's close-talker, don't seem to require a buffer zone of any type. Despite neurological evidence that this bubble is instinctive, perhaps its maintenance is entirely self-imposed.