Movies and Literature: too much fantasy?
An 8-month hiatus from posting anything new - but expecting others to keep current - is perhaps enough, although I would like to point out that Derek's blog has remained non-current even longer.
I am requesting input from my readers/fans: does it seem to you that many, if not the majority of films and books, now and in recent years (like 20) come out of the weird imaginations of the writers? I'll list the movies in our Aug. 20 Forum and ask you to count the sci-fi and otherwise non-reality films and compare with the number of non-fiction, please.
The Ant Bully
Barnyard: the Original Party Animals
Cars
Clerks II
Click
The Descent
The Devil Wears Prada
An Inconvenient Truth
John Tucker Must Die
Lady in the Water
Little Man
Little Miss Sunshine
Material Girls
Miami Vice
Monster House
The Night Listener
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pulse
A Scanner Darkly
Sketches of Frank Gehry
Snakes on a Plane
Step Up
Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
World Trade Center
You, Me and Dupree
Zoom
I myself am so-so about watching movies/reading books of the fantasy genre (I usually can't understand them) but am genuinely curious as to why there is so much of it and seemingly so popular: are people looking for escape from the real world because the real world is more frightening? Or should I just be impressed at the cleverness of the writers?
Please share your opinions on this subject and enlighten me in the process.
The oft-bewildered Grandma Barb
posted by Grandma Barb @ 3:09 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I forgot to say that, of the 26 listed on my blog, I found at least 12 fantasy/sci-fi movies; two were not described, so it's actually 12 of 24 and possibly more.
I had another thought about why the sci-fi/fantasy movies are popular: maybe watchers find a certain feeling of "security" watching scary stuff and telling themselves "it's all just made up."
or - are most people inherently programmed to view terrifying scenes, since it seems that the universe has been full of terrifying stuff since Day One.
Sorry if my thoughts are too profound for the common people....
One opinion is that movie makers are out of original plots; they need to distract us from this lack of creative story-telling with the bizarre and unreal settings, creatures, etc.
I read the first part of this theory-- about movie plots being repetitive-- in the newspaper; and it seems to provide an possible explantion for the excessive unreality in current movies that GB has brought to our attention.
I would also agree with the idea that movies are a form of escapism, and the more far-fetched, the more escapist.
Personally I don't care whether a movie has fantastical elements or not; I just want it to make me laugh, feel, or think.
Hmmm . . .
I am not sure what I think. I just know that there must be a lot of people enjoying the sort of movie that I can barely stand to watch a preview for. I rarely see a preview that I am interested in, and a majority of the time, I actually want to look away (I have even become more critical of the once- untouchable rom-com genre). Especially the scary stuff . . . I just don't understand. Maybe we should get input from ALB and T_H for enlightenment on the matter.
As brb said, I really don't care whether the movie is based in reality or fantasy (though I find reality based generally more moving/funny). We recently saw Little Miss Sunshine (great!) and Pirates of the Caribbean (entertaining), and, other than An Inconvenient Truth, I have no interest in seeing anything else on the list. But that isn't really addressing your question, is it, since really you are interested in what is going on in pop culture. Well, I will post this anyway. :)
Thanks, Elissa, for contributing your thoughts, which resonate with me.
Do you, or anyone else out there, worry at all that the popularity of sci-fi/fantasy movies, esp. those that feature violence bigtime, indicates a deterioration of people's values?
Post a Comment
<< Home