GaryDLife and The Movies- Could They Ever Mix?
February 12th 2008 04:49
“So much in life reminds me of a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
Meg Ryan- You’ve Got Mail
As Meg Ryan’s charismatic, tussle-haired heroine in You’ve Got Mail contemplates, we draw inspiration and excitement from books, and also, as today’s vast pop culture testifies, from the films we’ve seen.
Their images, scenes and characters drift around on the periphery of our consciousness, and real life, ironically, draws them out as the original to which all of the ordinary occurrences must be compared with.
But why?
It is because these heroes and heroines seem larger than life, amplified versions of us. They lead fascinating, adventuresome, or at least more scintillating lives than we think we do. They seem to know what they want and just take it, and who doesn’t aspire to that? Who hasn’t wished that their life more resembled a book or movie of some kind? Come on, you know I’m right.
I admit I most certainly have. I some times wish I could be a little more like, or know people like the ones you see in movies.
Perpetually witty, fascinating, strong people who seem to always come out on top, usually with a bonus delightful love interest to top it all off? The ones who lead lives filled with imagination, surprise, intrigue, and romance. We pass these thoughts off as impossible. We often think that these screen adventures that have shaped so much of our experience, and transcended the years, that they don’t really happen in reality, or at least not in our experience of reality.
That the excitement , thrill, and enchantment we experienced as a child whilst watching a motion picture or immersing ourselves in that book will never return to become reality. We say to ourselves that “ it’s only a book, only movie, its nothing like real life”. We try to forget the effect they may have on our wishes and dreams.
But is this the right mind set?
...When you stop and think about it, all movies in existence must trace their roots back to real life. No artist is an island, we are all influenced by a common reality of existence.
Therefore, as created by those who have experienced such, films/literature cannot but help contain a trace of reality, as inherent to their nature. Of course, some will resemble it more than others, depending on the type of movie. But the said fact remains, that films and real life exist on the same plane because they are essentially family. One is simply a glorification, an adaption of the other.
For example, take the music and editing techniques from many well known cinematic classics and you will notice how much more of a semblance to real life can be taken from it.
We do essentially make our own movies with our lives, really. Some would like to say that their lives are a ‘spine tingling thriller’, while others would love to claim their life as a ‘heartfelt tale of star crossed romance’, or a ‘laugh out loud comedy’, as excessively cheesy as that sounds .
The point is, the movies project a certain kind of life, that by being confident, daring, loving, open and ‘true to ourselves (™) ’, is not completely out of one’s reach. In the end, all they are is the result of a table of creative writers, producers and directors sitting around brainstorming.That plus make up and special effects teams.
But I digress.
We are the only ones standing in our own way, though the laws of physics hate to hear it. All that needs to be done is for us to shrug off the cynical voice that dismisses our dreams in life as unachievable.
There’s nothing stopping us from living a life that is an ‘all-time classic’, except the belief that such a life is too far removed from reality to be feasible, therefore depriving ourselves of even the effort.
Were we to try, it would be a fantastic adventure, and though it certainly isn’t easy, things hardly ever are for our heroes and heroines, but that’s what makes them heroes in our eyes, isn’t it?
Meg Ryan- You’ve Got Mail
As Meg Ryan’s charismatic, tussle-haired heroine in You’ve Got Mail contemplates, we draw inspiration and excitement from books, and also, as today’s vast pop culture testifies, from the films we’ve seen.
Their images, scenes and characters drift around on the periphery of our consciousness, and real life, ironically, draws them out as the original to which all of the ordinary occurrences must be compared with.
But why?
It is because these heroes and heroines seem larger than life, amplified versions of us. They lead fascinating, adventuresome, or at least more scintillating lives than we think we do. They seem to know what they want and just take it, and who doesn’t aspire to that? Who hasn’t wished that their life more resembled a book or movie of some kind? Come on, you know I’m right.
I admit I most certainly have. I some times wish I could be a little more like, or know people like the ones you see in movies.
Perpetually witty, fascinating, strong people who seem to always come out on top, usually with a bonus delightful love interest to top it all off? The ones who lead lives filled with imagination, surprise, intrigue, and romance. We pass these thoughts off as impossible. We often think that these screen adventures that have shaped so much of our experience, and transcended the years, that they don’t really happen in reality, or at least not in our experience of reality.
That the excitement , thrill, and enchantment we experienced as a child whilst watching a motion picture or immersing ourselves in that book will never return to become reality. We say to ourselves that “ it’s only a book, only movie, its nothing like real life”. We try to forget the effect they may have on our wishes and dreams.
But is this the right mind set?
...When you stop and think about it, all movies in existence must trace their roots back to real life. No artist is an island, we are all influenced by a common reality of existence.
Therefore, as created by those who have experienced such, films/literature cannot but help contain a trace of reality, as inherent to their nature. Of course, some will resemble it more than others, depending on the type of movie. But the said fact remains, that films and real life exist on the same plane because they are essentially family. One is simply a glorification, an adaption of the other.
For example, take the music and editing techniques from many well known cinematic classics and you will notice how much more of a semblance to real life can be taken from it.
We do essentially make our own movies with our lives, really. Some would like to say that their lives are a ‘spine tingling thriller’, while others would love to claim their life as a ‘heartfelt tale of star crossed romance’, or a ‘laugh out loud comedy’, as excessively cheesy as that sounds .
The point is, the movies project a certain kind of life, that by being confident, daring, loving, open and ‘true to ourselves (™) ’, is not completely out of one’s reach. In the end, all they are is the result of a table of creative writers, producers and directors sitting around brainstorming.
But I digress.
We are the only ones standing in our own way, though the laws of physics hate to hear it. All that needs to be done is for us to shrug off the cynical voice that dismisses our dreams in life as unachievable.
There’s nothing stopping us from living a life that is an ‘all-time classic’, except the belief that such a life is too far removed from reality to be feasible, therefore depriving ourselves of even the effort.
Were we to try, it would be a fantastic adventure, and though it certainly isn’t easy, things hardly ever are for our heroes and heroines, but that’s what makes them heroes in our eyes, isn’t it?
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