Jack's Howard's video:
Why do we love films? A question I have pondered many-a-time as a self-professed film nerd, but have never really been able to come up with anything more intelligent than the standard "to escape" answer, or on occasion, "to see things from a different perspective". Turns out - these answers are perfectly okay! So if you have ever felt inadequate in your opinion on just why a film is that good because all you can think is one of these two seemingly standard answers... You are not inadequate, your opinion is valid, and your answer is not inferior to that of people who answer with an entire thesis on the development of film from the Lumière Brothers to present day (although if you are one of those wonderfully interesting people I applaud you, and in no way discredit your enthusiasm). *puts a lid on the motivational speech and gets on with the blog post*
To use a film "to escape" is a wonderful thing - these alternative realities and completely 'other' worlds have been created, crafted, made with love and care for our enjoyment and wonder, so if we should choose to leave our ordinary lives for something extraordinary, for just a few short hours, what's wrong with that? No film was ever made (I hope) where those involved thought, "Hmm, wouldn't it be simply marvellous if audiences were completely and utterly disinterested in inhabiting the microcosmic universe we've spent months pouring our hearts and souls into constructing?" No, that's unfeasible. We can find refuge and peace in the exploration of lives of others, and often we find ourselves living through the eyes of the characters for that short time, much as Jack used to climb on his sofa and roar along with Simba at the end of The Lion King (if you're reading Jack, we've all done it, and anyone who says otherwise is not to be trusted and should be regarded from a distance with a suspicious gaze). That might seem like a bit of generalised statement, but tell me you've never watched a rom-com and wished you could have a fairytale ending, or watched a sci-fi film and wished you could travel to outer space, or watched Indiana Jones and wished you could get away with that hat... Films can be a way for us to express emotion when we are otherwise at a loss of how to - I know I have often found myself blubbering away at a film that would useless only bring a single glistening tear to my eye because I'm going through something personally and don;t know how to deal with it in any other way.
And, films where you escape don't have to be sci-fi or fantasy or adventure; they don't have to be set in some other time or place; they could be set today, in the here-and-now, at the Number Seventy Two of your very own street, and you could still escape because you're still entering someone else's world. (Unless you live at the Number Seventy Two on your street...)
Which conveniently brings me on to loving films because "they offer a different perspective". *pat on the back for a well-planned post*
Often, films can have a "hidden meaning" behind their initial entertainment value. This is not always the case, to avoid another sweeping statement, but often is true to some extent. Some films may offer a fresh point of view on a historical event, other may tackle a social issue using an unexpected voice, and some films take a subject which seems part of everyday life and encourage us to consider it from a different aspect than is the norm.
It is with this, as Jack points out, that deconstructing a film can lead to greater enjoyment. Now, Jack deconstructs movies from the point of view of a filmmaker - oh that I had the opportunity for such a thing - whereas I personally deconstruct films in the same I would a novel. (I study English Literature at uni to put that in context.) I like to consider the motives of a writer or director, influences on the actors as they find the voices of their characters, and the delicate nature of finding just the right shot in order to fully communicate a particular emotion, in the same way an author chooses their words with conscientious diligence. Exploring films in this way can mean that we the audience come love a film for all its separate parts as well as its whole.
Like, for example, Ben and Jerry's ice cream! (Bear with me on this.) My favourite flavour is Clever Cookies, "vanilla ice cream with chocolate cookies and chocolate chip cookies and a chocolatey cookie swirl". All of those things separately - great, fab, yummy. All of those things together - A WHOLE NEW WORLD. But I wouldn't have chosen it if I didn't like and appreciate all the separate parts. Do you see where I'm coming from or was this a useless tangent?
So. What am I trying to say... We love films because they make us feel more intensely, they make us want to talk passionately about new issues and new experiences, they make us want to develop ourselves as thinkers and watchers and makers; we love films because they reveal something that we didn't know before, whether that is something about the world around us or something about the world within us.
RK.
