I
finally watched the movie I’ve been meaning to watch for five years…
Before
I reveal the name of this movie, I’d like to preemptively offer in my defense the
excuse to why I had not watched this movie till now: I have singularly dedicated
the last four years of my life to my education with a kind of fervor and fever
that burns you hollow of any further desire to be productive for an
unreasonable amount of time. So here I am, unemployed by choice after biting
off more than I can ever chew again in my life, taking a long holiday, and
generally contemplating life.
And
now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… (Yes, I’m trying to come off as a
show-off-y idiot). The movie that I watched after nearly five years of
unrealized intention was Shawshank Redemption.
Laugh if you want, because this is a twenty one year old movie, but what the
hell? It was new to me. And it seems only fitting to watch it after college, an
experience that is not only responsible for my current level of maturity, but
one that was quite similar to prison in the sense that after nearly 20 years of
education, I’m finally free.
And
with this influx of free time on my empty schedule, I find that I haven’t
desired to pick up a book this summer for the first time since I picked up
Harry Potter when I was just child. In fact, I’m not even inclined to review
this movie in an analytical sense. That being said however, I would like to
offer some of what may be unoriginal insight into the movie industry of today and
that of the 1990’s. In other words, I’m
going to begin complaining about movies these days…
From
what I see of the movies listed today in theaters, it’s Marvel(-like) galore. One
superhero movie after another, one series after another. Frankly, it’s
exhausting even to someone who worships escapist fiction like me. Escapist
fiction is the stuff of dreams and paradise because “in dreams we enter a world
that’s entirely our own” [1]. I’ve spent countless hours reading and
re-reading, watching and re-watching Harry Potter (clearly, I needed to mention
this one), the Shadowhunter Chronicles, Twilight (sadly, I fell prey to this
phenomenon), The Lord of the Rings, Divergent, Hunger Games, Wolves of Mercy
Falls, Merlin, Robin Hood, Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other
nonsensical books, movies, and TV shows. As excited as I become to see all my
favorite characters on the big screen again and again, I find that I am
repeatedly disappointed by some aspect of the film.
Why?
I’ve got several reasons: (This the part where I’m going to complain – so if
you’ve got problems with complainers: SHOO! And away with you!)
- Because of all the hype with which the media bombards us, causing insatiable thirst that even the object of the hype cannot quench.
- Because the characters in movies are reprising their roles for six or more movies and you’re actually watching a short soap or modern day opera in theaters spread out over several years.
- Because almost all blockbuster movies these days are trilogies.
- Because it gets unbearably repetitive. (Newsflash! We enjoy escapist fiction because it’s scintillating to our otherwise mundane brains that lead mundane lives. This kind of fiction has become mundane these days!)
Shawshank Redemption was quite a refreshing story after the endless barrage of superhero movies that sell us unrealistic lives and expectations. It’s really unfortunate that we have to look back into the 90’s to find such realistic meaningful films without a boatload of bullshit. The top box office movies of this decade include movies like Avatar, the Harry Potter Series, The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Divergent, Hunger Games, Twilight, the Lord of the Rings, Interstellar, Inception, and so on. What do all of these stories have in common? Fantasy. It’s disappointing that even after the Great Recession of 2008 we continue to require these escapist fiction movies and books. The reason I bring this up is because escapist entertainment was what sustained the Roman morale for a while during the fall of Rome. I don’t understand what good these fantasy fiction movies are doing anymore. They have served their purpose, they have run their course.
It’s
time to begin another era of good, meaningful films that really make you think
about your life like the productions of the past. Productions that include
Catch Me If You Can, The Fugitive, Shawshank Redemption, The Breakfast Club, and
many other coming of age films. We already have our modern Hitchcock in Martin
Scorsese and the Nolan Brothers but I suppose this isn’t enough. Even for those
of us who love fantasy.
References
[1]
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban (Screenwriter: Steve Kloves)
