Friday, October 2, 2009

Movies imitate life

Life imitates movies as well as movies imitating life. People that go to movies can have discussions about topics of the film or even saying lines of dialog in pop culture references in everyday life.

Movies like Clueless and Juno changed the way people talked, right? Not necessarily. These movies were careful observations of people of that time and thus used in the screenplay as guides of youthful mannerisms. What happens next is young and hip kids that hadn't heard of the lingo or actions will use them as their own original thoughts in public such as parties or get-together with friends. These friends will also mimic the lingo or action until a fad is created and eventually everyone believes the mannerisms came from the movie first. Pretty scientific stuff here.

As an example, real life gang members knew to point a gun sideways before movies like New Jack City, Menace II Society, Boyz n the Hood among others glorified that action. Of course now its been spoofed in comedy films that its lost its momentum but you get the point.

There was as a kid saying this to his parents after he had done something wrong and they said he was a bad kid and should be spanked for some discipline. He retorted "If you spank me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize." This line was a stolen quote from Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino. He was eleven or twelve years old at the time. That attitude of the movie stuck with him throughout the teenage years because it was powerful and exciting. As a grown-up now, he does think it was immature, but no one can go back into the past and reinvent themselves as they would have liked, but also that attitude makes that person who they are today. This is an example of how movies imitate life and life bringing it back full circle.

So what good are movies if they do this? Good question. There needs to be moviemakers out there that bring positive thinking into the ending so that when the movie ends, the audience goes out wanting to bring about positive change in their own lives. That is the power of film. Yes its entertaining but its also a tool. With this tool is a chance to enrich lives of everyone and anyone willing to give it a chance.