CAN MOVIES MOVE US TOO MUCH?
March 12th 2008 05:14
Movies. They're a big part of Western society. They are an activity, a place to take your date, a way to relax, but always, an escape from reality. It is so satisfying to get lost in the idealistic notions created by emotional screenwriters.
But is it possible to escape and never come back? Are some people so impressionable that they are influenced by the themes and ideas in movies and begin to act them out in their own lives? Wanting perfect romances that flourish in a "sweep me off my feet, become my world" kind of way (The Notebook). Staying thin despite being a junk food junkie? (In Her Shoes). Power and authority seemingly earnt by good looks and a handgun? (Any Bruce WIllis film?!?)
How do separate what we see in the movies from what is actually realistic? Maybe we shouldn't. Maybe, if we did, movies wouldn't be fun anymore. If you find yourself watching movies and saying, "yeah, right, as if that would happen," then maybe you have lost the ability to watch a movie and escape into its whimsical notions.
So, maybe movies aren't entirely realistic, but the writers are humans just like us, and all humans technically function in the same way, so they must have a touch of reality in them.
I suppose it's a fine line between wishful thinking created by movies and cynicism created by the harsh realities of our world. What we need to do is find a balance, so we can enjoy a film, imagining for two hours that we really are chocolate trees in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory or running from dinosaurs at Jurassic Park.
But when the house lights come on and the credits roll up the screen, we need to know ho to come back to a world where that much chocolate is potentially deadly and those dinosaurs will kill you!
But is it possible to escape and never come back? Are some people so impressionable that they are influenced by the themes and ideas in movies and begin to act them out in their own lives? Wanting perfect romances that flourish in a "sweep me off my feet, become my world" kind of way (The Notebook). Staying thin despite being a junk food junkie? (In Her Shoes). Power and authority seemingly earnt by good looks and a handgun? (Any Bruce WIllis film?!?)
How do separate what we see in the movies from what is actually realistic? Maybe we shouldn't. Maybe, if we did, movies wouldn't be fun anymore. If you find yourself watching movies and saying, "yeah, right, as if that would happen," then maybe you have lost the ability to watch a movie and escape into its whimsical notions.
So, maybe movies aren't entirely realistic, but the writers are humans just like us, and all humans technically function in the same way, so they must have a touch of reality in them.
I suppose it's a fine line between wishful thinking created by movies and cynicism created by the harsh realities of our world. What we need to do is find a balance, so we can enjoy a film, imagining for two hours that we really are chocolate trees in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory or running from dinosaurs at Jurassic Park.
But when the house lights come on and the credits roll up the screen, we need to know ho to come back to a world where that much chocolate is potentially deadly and those dinosaurs will kill you!
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