It's the fairytale love story... the kind of romance where Mr. Right or whomever the "lucky lady" is, comes running into your life just when you need them to... sweeps you off your feet and everything you thought was wrong, totally becomes right.
It's when you suddenly gain this fear of dark spaces, the paranoia that comes from hearing an "un-sourced" sound, the routine checks behind doors or under the bed and the creepy masks you put on for Halloween.
It's those thrills you get from doing something extreme and the protector
in you that feels unbeatable.
It's your undeniable humor and those quotable lines that become laughable unifiers.
in you that feels unbeatable.IT'S LIFE...IT IS MOVIES
Watching a film entails much more than pure entertainment. Some would say that movies are a way to escape reality and experience the world as we wish it was and as this may be true, from our very first experiences, movie have also been the vehicle of defining life. Through movies, we can get our ideas about love, fear, courage and humor.My question to you is, do you think movies tell us how to think or are they simple illustrations of what we are already thinking?
37 comments:
I saw "Edward Scissorhands" when I was 5, and up until I was 12 years old I had to sleep with my hands and feet covered in bed because I thought Edward was going to come cut off my hands. Life-scarring. I think that is an example of a situation I never, ever would have thought about if it hadn't been for that movie.
Marlena, I hope you're in advertising. This post was fun to read.
I think that movies do tell us how to think. Take for example "The Notebook" or "Twilight." I may offend some people, but both guys in those movies are creeps. Edward creepily watches Bella sleep at night and Noah becomes an alcoholic who sleeps around with a widow. For some reason the women in these movies love the men and their relationships work out. I think the movies tell us that these kind of guys are A+.
However, you do bring up a good question. What if the movies aren't convincing us these guys are A+, but what if the movies manifest to us that deep in the subconscious women want emotionally unstable men. It's the chicken or the egg question.
I definitely think movies tell us how to think and even feel. After watching a movie one always feels a certain way. A scary movie will make one jumpy and unsettled, a chick flick will make one feel happy and hopeful, an action movie will make one feel like she/he can conquer the world. When one is feeling a certain way, one is thinking a certain way. Movies definitely tell us what to think and feel.
Movies aren't like superheroes, they don't control minds. But they give us ideas. And then we interpret that to mean one thing or another. You can take two different people, watching the same movie, and they get two completely different things out of the movie. (For instance - the example of The Dark Knight from class). So I think it involves much more of the person's past and experiences that also influence the person's decisions. Not just the movie.
I think that movies are illustrations of what we are already thinking. Some people may be easily swayed by what movies say, but I am attracted to movies I find believable. I don't like films that seem completely far-fetched. I think young people are particularly impressionable and we should be careful to send appropriate messages through film.
I think about when I was first exposed to movies and that was at a young age. To me, movies told me what to think about. I got my ideas about love, comedy, and death from movies. I gained a lot of misconceptions until I was taught otherwise.
I think movies tell us what to think about. They bring up issues that I normally wouldn't think of on a daily basis. For instance, The Visitor brought up immigration, which is something that I have personally gone through, but have never really considered what happens to those people who come to the US illegally.
Both. Sometimes a movie can have no impact on my belief system. HOWEVER, at other times, it has opened my eyes to a culture or event that I had no idea about...."Taken"...."Valkeyrie" are examples of this
I definitely think movies tell us what to think about, whether it's a topic of fantasy or reality. "Gremlins"...yup, definitely saw it as a kid and am still scarred by it; "Legally Blonde"...made me want to dye my hair blonde; "Schindler's List"...made me cry and think about the Holocaust; "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"...made me realize how I take speach, ability to move around for granted; "Slumdog Millionaire"...made me think about not just slums and orphans in India, but all around the world, and what I could do to help. The list could go on forever, but I think it's clear that movies of all types influence what I think about.
I think that movies can influence us to act or think in a certain way, but I don't think that a single movie really has the power to drastically alter somebody. I think the changes come by watching lots of movies and little by little, as we watch these movies, are attitudes and values are shaped and changed.
It can go both ways. For example, I already thought teamwork was important when I saw "Miracle", but it helped to reinforce it for me. On the other hand, before I saw "The Visitor" in class, I hadn't thought about the way "illegals" are treated in our country. It was interesting to get that point of view on it.
I think for the most part, movies tell us what to think. I have been watching movies since a very young age and people's perception of life usually comes from movies. But I also think we think the things we do because of our own experiences. Movies, along with media and things like that...tell us what to think about. Conversations today, revolve largely on movies and issues brought up in movies.
Both and neither. Films can have a profound effect on our emotions, and they can have no effect at all. Films can open our eyes to a new way of thinking or how a people thinks but they cannot tell us what to think. Mainly films tell us more what to think about rather than what to think.
I don't think movies tell us how to think, but everything we see, expierence, listen to etc.. influences the way we see the world and our understanding of it and movies are included in that just as well as school, church, concerts, etc... Movies are made with different purposes, some to entertain, some to teach, some to convince.
I think it depends on how you view them. If you watch them as stories, just to be entertained, then you can just enjoy them. If you watch them on a deeper, more emotional level, then I can see how they would affect you and change you in some ways.
Excellent post. I believe that that movies both tell us what to think, while at the same time they are presenting ideas that we have already been thinking. For example, movies with agendas clearly try to give us an idea of what to think. But, comedies and romance, those have something that we desire and already want. And they tend to be predictable. It wouldn't really be considered "predictable" if the movie is presenting ideas we have already had in our minds.
Oh snap. I could copy my comment from the previous blog post and paste it here. But I won't.
Movies affect us alot. They can tell us what to think. But we shouldn't let them. Our thoughts should be predicated upon truths as found through true religion, and on the righteous examples of others. Too idealistic? Maybe. But maybe it's crazy enough to work.
I don't think movies necessarily tell people how to think, but they do have a powerful influence. I believe that all art forms are created with some purpose in mind. Because movies incorporate several of human senses, they have the ability to make a strong impact on the viewer. That's why it's important to selectively choose the media you view.
Movies do both. Obviously they draw on our previous experiences, things we can all relate to, so that we have an emotional connection. But many also carry subliminal messages that are masked by the emotions that carry them. I think it's dangerous to get so wrapped up in the emotion of the movie that we don't see the reality or the agenda behind it. I know for me, I can't watch the Notebook anymore! It presents the message that first love never dies, that emotion always wins over reason and it just hits a nerve that I have tried to suppress. It is amazing how powerful the visual element of films is in triggering emotional responses that carry messages. We definitely need to have our guard up while watching movies these days.
Movies are not just mirrors of society. They have persuasive power in them to reshape and redefine the way we look at ourselves, others, and society as a whole. There has been TONS of research done that supports that.
I think in some situations television tells us what to think. For example, I probably would not have been scared to babysit had it not been for "When a Strange Calls." However in other instances I feel that movies just exaggerate the feelings we experience everyday. Another example, the normal feeling of jealosy is extremely played up among high school girls in the film "Mean Girls."
Not all films are actually made because of what I am thinking, infact, 99% are NOT, Jeez, you'd have to be in a mental institution if that were the case for some of the films. some however do portray elements of truth in carefully and tactful ways.
I think that movies can be a big influence in what we think. I agree with Erica though, if we really take a step back and look and the characters in a "real life" perspective, they may not be the fantasy we have always wanted (like in the Notebook, etc.)
I think movies can definitely influence the way that you think about certain things. After every scary movie I watch I can barely sleep because I am too afraid. After every inspirational movie I see I always want to go out and change the world for the better. Just like with music you feel that you can really connect with people that share your favorite movie selection. I think this is because our favorite movies tell us a little bit about who we are or who wish we could be.
I definitely think that movies have distorted my view on love. Not really distorted, but have made a huge impact on the way i think love is/should be. I grew up a sucker for romantic films, and I still can't get enough of a good love story.
Movies usually succeed because they portray a story that is close to real life but out of the ordinary enough to make us think, "what if?" What if I were him, or what if that happened to me... I feel like movies tell us what to think about and give us a sense of fantasy that we cannot obtain in real life. Sometimes there are movies that display what we are already thinking like documentaries but do not usually have the appeal factor that other movies have.
Complex question... I do see heavy media framing in today's entertainment. It's there, and it's too prominent to ignore. That being said, the media wouldn't fascinate us as it does without some connection to what we already believe. And perhaps those beliefs have been infused into our culture by the media in the first place. But regardless of how wanting the good guy to win, wanting forbidden love to survive, and wanting good and bad to be identifiable—both to punish and reward—became such powerful motifs, they do seem to ring true with just about everyone.
I'm sure it's a combination of both. Napoleon Dynamite told made everyone believe that it was funny to speak in a slow, whiny voice. On the other hand, it was based off of a real person that the film-makers knew. Films influence us and they are based off of us.
I think movies can have an agenda to try and tell us what to think but I don't know how successful they are once you realize you are back in the real world after the movie is over.
I think they are mostly what we are already thinking, hoping. But I do like how they come and show us what we are thinking...it's a way for us to learn more about ourselves and the society we live in.
The truth is movies do have a great influence on us... After I watched Disturbia for the first time, for the longest time I saw my neighbor differently. So they do show us how to think, but I also believe that illustrate some of the things we already think about...
Movies had more effect on me as a kid. I hated the movie Harry and the Hendersons for the longest time. I saw the movie Congo as a kid and it scared me for the longest time. The older I got the less movies have had an effect on me.
In my opinion, they illustrate what we already think. Most people have conceived notions of life, movies just bring them to life.
I think that movies can shape the way we think and how we see the world and that they can also be a reflection of our perceptions. People support movies they like, that they can relate to, that make them think or entertain them to a substantial degree. The movies we like can speak volumes on our personalities.
Movies seem to offer the viewer the best possible aspects of life and the worst. Add drama, science fiction, comedy, action, horror, and you have the personality of the movie. Then compress the event to two hours, and you remove all elements of reality. If life is a movie, then movies act as a type of cliff notes. You just have to decide weather Shakespeare can truly be understood when you only read the cliff notes, or watch Romeo & Juliet. I am just grateful that life is not a movie!
I really think it is a combination of both, but I personally believe that movies tell us more what to think about, which usually are things that I don't think are very important such as the end of the world, space aliens, or how to lose a guy in 10 days. I find these things more distracting then anything else from what reality really gives us in our actual lives. That is perhaps why so many people love movies to begin with.
I think that in some cases movies are influenced by popular opinion, and in many cases they create popular opinion. One of the problems with movies (and many other forms of media) is that they portray the world through the eyes of just a handful of people. So, in some cases, movies portray a world that is not completely unbiased, and this can create a skewed view of the world at large.
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