Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Our Movie Pathologies

One of my favorite movies is Fargo. I don't believe that my own North Dakotan heritage is the sole reason for this appreciation, but it definately plays an important part. There are many others who have no ties to the state that hold an appreciation for this film. "Margie" was one of the AFI's 100 Heroes. So, they get "it".

I recommended Fargo to one of my friends. She watched it. She hated it.

What am I supposed to think about this?

I could jump to the conclusion that it was a fluke in our cinematic schema. But upon further investigation, I realized that we have completely different movie taste. She didn't like Garden State, Amelie, and, this is the worst...doesn't like Six Feet Under. She found it too depressing. Instead, she enjoys movies like Cold Mountain, 13 Going on 30, and My Best Friend's Wedding. These movies are not bad. But when placed on the top of a person's favorite movies list, it is a natural reaction to ask this question, "Does this person get me?"

I think music, movies, and books are a revealing part of a person's personality. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate most National Lampoon movies (Animal House, Vacation), and I will spend two hours watching Men in Black, but these movies do not stick to the skin. They are excellent examples of a movie that I will watch when I don't want to think, analyze, or understand human emotion and motives.

I hate to sound so judgemental based strictly on a person's cinematic taste. I am not a snob. I just get confused when a person's entertainment pathology does not match their shown behaviors. Maybe, I am easily shocked when I hear statements like, "I could watch The Cutting Edge over and over."

1 comment:

firedancerdancin said...

When I start dating someone I literally ask myself, "if my movies/music and his movies/music were at a party would they hang out?" I think I actually got that from a book or movie, although i remember not which one. I think it is fair to say though, that our movie tastes do tend to say stuff about us, and movie/music snobs or not, I love all the movies YOU listed as favorites (Especially "Garden State" from which a male friend of mine explained to me that Sam (natalie portman) is to men what Lloyd Dobbler is to women. I thought that cute.)

I think our "favorite" movies are the fresh air in a very stale movie world. :-)

And because I know not EVERYTHING (pfffftttt), what is AFI? I wanna guess American Film Institute, but that's really me just pulling that out my butt.