I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been discussing a movie with someone and they have said something like “relax; after all, it’s just a movie”. Now, the reason that I get to hear this often is that I have a quite specific opinion about what a movie should or should not be. For me, a movie is not just a way to spend your time, an opportunity to forget the rest of the world for a while. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with entertainment, but I think that a movie should have a message as well. Ideally, it should tell you something that will hopefully make you a slightly more reflected person when you are done watching it. I know that this may not be a commonly accepted view, but take a moment and think about what movies really are.

Movies are, in a very basic way, just filmed theatre. Of course, there are other art forms involved as well, such as photography, scenography and music, but this does not change anything. The main point here is that if you go back to the origins of theatre, the ancient greeks, you will find that theatre was invented to enlighten the people. There were even rules for how to do it, one was supposed to have a hero, which was perfect but for one mistake, and this mistake would eventually become fatal. The audience were supposed to identify with the hero at first, then realize that he was flawed, and, most importantly; they would see the same mistake in themselves and hopefully improve. This was called Catharsis.

Even though theatre has evolved since the ancient greeks, this basic principle is usually still taken to be valid. The greatest plays, the ones that you remember for years, are those which tell you something, those which move you in some way. Theatre has such a great potential to move people, and I don’t think that this should be wasted. Take for example Ibsens play “A Doll’s House”, which was originally banned in Germany because of it’s controversial message about women and marriage, and has had enormous influence throughout the world.

Now, I know that today, our view of what we expect of a production, be it theatre or a movie, has changed. I know many people who think that movies with a meaning sounds fine, but it’s too heavy for them, they just need something to relax. This may sound like a good idea, but the problem is that the impact of movies works both ways, they can have a great deal of influence, be it positive or negative. Movies have a nature that make them wery powerful, they move us more than many other things, a fact which has been long known and used by many; Stalin was for example a great fan of movies as a medium.

These days many people are very concerned with how they treat their bodies, how they eat, exercise, even the clothes should be organic and healthy. So how about thinking a bit about how how treat your mind, which is after all a very important part of you that, unlike your body, can stay beautiful your entire life. Just like with the body, everything you put into your mind has an impact, whether you realize it or not. And for the record, this does not just apply to movies, I used them as an example because they are a good example of something that influences many people today. I really want to recommend everyone to take some time out to consider what goes into your mind, and what it really does to you. How about trying something different; instead of just focusing on your appearance, you could try diet for the mind.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.