Movies Are Real

There are different reasons I like a movie. I like some movies because it feels like it's complete. Everything from cinematography to the script to the costumes is in its entirety. Chocolat is my favorite movie EVER. Everything was so well done. I LOVE that movie.

Now, there are other movies that I love not because of its artfulness necessarily. I think it may be more of a sentimental attachment.

I've been realizing that whenever I watch the movie, I place myself in it's world. I really start to feel what the person is feeling and react to what they are saying or doing. My roommates make fun of me cause I talk to the characters. I don't mean to. It just sort of happens. I yell at them and clap and laugh with them and I start observing every detail. It's probably why I can't watch a good movie only once. I have to watch it twice or more.

A movie that has a sentimental attachment to me is a movie that I can relate to. Even if I have never felt it, I feel like I can relate. Empathize. Sometimes, I want to be more like a character. It's the beauty of acting isn't it? Being someone who you wish you could be. Even if that person is evil. When else can you be evil and hateful? I'm not a hater in reality.

I love the movie Mona Lisa Smile. Julia Roberts had her Romantic Comedy reign and then she started portraying real women who once existed (Erin Brockavich, Mona Lisa Smile, Charlie Wilson's War). Autobiographies. The movie isn't really anything spectacular. It's simple. Historical. A period piece but slightly more modern than most. But Katherine Watson made a big difference. Katherine Watson is someone who everyone should model their lives after. Or at least a little bit.

"To Change for others is to lie to yourself."

"Not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image."

"Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea."

The person who was Katherine Watson, who Julia Roberts only imagined and tried to portray, is the only reason I love Mona Lisa Smile.

I once heard a woman in a video rental store say, "I don't want to watch real life in movies. I watch movies to escape real life."

I love her enthusiasm about movies but I realize now that I disagree. Everything that I see in movies has never EVER happened to me personally. Maybe I can relate to feeling like happiness, betrayal, sadness, anger, love--but I think movies always take us into some other realm of our lives that we will or never will experience. If you don't like real life endings, which are usually sad... than well, that's understandable. It's just a choice of preference.

I think it's a choice to let go and escape into the movie. To open your mind and wander. It's fun to escape once in a while. Or in my case... EVERY DAY.