so much for my happy ending...

[blueirisb]

It's been my belief that we go to movies to escape reality and to procrastinate from life. I tend to feel renewed if I watch a movie that not only makes me think (and not guess the ending, which is a hobby of mine), but also makes me feel optimistic about whatever stresses I'd been dealing with prior to the screening. I don't see the point

Comments

[notelliot]

"do we really need happy endings or an uplifting message from films?"
Movies affect our emotions. I guess you could just as well be asking the question 'Do I want to hate life and being alive after I come out of the movie theater?' I mean, how do you think ticket sales would be for a movie like that?
"Think about your favorite movie and see if the main character has similar personality traits to you or if you're generally curious about a certain type of person"
Yes, I think that movies can be more impactful if the viewer can really identify with main characters and their situations.
"I could just give my opinions on films"
You should do it from some sort of analytical or philosophical perspective. Kind of like metaphilm, I guess.

[blueirisb]

You'd be surprised at how many depressing films do well. People think they're deeper somehow. Look at American Beauty, Titanic, The English Patient- all Academy Award winners. And, yes, I'd put an analytical spin on the reviews (not just thumbs up/down). :p Ebert & Belinda here we come.

[merlik]

Why would it be patronizing to give someone a book? I mean, I suppose I'd have to know more about the situation, and I'm sure there are certain situations where it can be viewed as patronizing, but on the whole, it would seem like a book is just a good gift.

[notelliot]

I guess it really depends on the book's content.

[blueirisb]

Okay so here's the context...

My friend is running a camp for people dealing with sickle cell anemia, and some pre-teens are there helping out their mom with the stuffing of envelopes and other mundane tasks. He felt that they were wasting their summer and not doing enough for their brains, so he decided to help them out (improving their reading comp skills and instilling in them a love for reading as he puts it) by offering them a book he found interesting. The book actually is pretty offensive to minorities. Granted they are spending their summer assisting a good cause instead of sitting in front of their tv's. It's just that he assumed that they were wasting their time, and he felt like they required his book to make their lives more fulfilling. I just think it was a little presumptuous. What do you think?

[merlik]

No, not really. Whether or not it's offensive to minorities shouldn't matter, unless he's specificaly giving it to offend them. But it sounds like this guy really enjoyed the book and wants to share it with other people. I don't know if he phrased it the right way, but it sounds like that's what he's trying to do. As for wasting their brains, they're pre-teens -- they have plenty of time to do summer programs later.

[anonymous]

As a frequent giver of books as gifts I would have to disagree with the idea that a gift of a book is in any way patronizing. It just says I enjoyed this book and I want you to enjoy it as well. I mean, if people overanalyze a simple gift, wouldn't a CD be patronizing b/c it's saying that the person can't read??

[blueirisb]

Sure, you could look at it as a simple gift, but his stated intent was not merely to have another person enjoy his favorite book. He (and I'm not making this up) wanted to educate the minorities in his office. He's Indian, btw, if that matters. Another friend thought it was the "imperialist caucasian value system" that he was trying to impose on the kids. I don't know. Boys can be pretty melodramatic. I just wanted to hear other people's opinions on it, since he was really concerned as to how it might've looked to the kids. Who wrote this? Nikki?