I know that I have not posted in a long while, but it is time for me to speak again. Usually I work towards sparking thought and informing my few readers into what is the going-ons and trends in film, reviews, personal quips and rants. Am I particularly notable? No, but I feel I have enough of an educated foundation in this field to share why I am as passionate about my hobby as I am. Today I am going to be stiff, wooden, and verbose; but this is something I feel needs to be taken into account if you want to find credibility. So before I continue to barrage my readers with more concrete input on film culture, I want to talk about myself, and how this industry has been a psycho-reactive tool in the foundation of the American psychology. And to be able to explain that, I need to be the guinea pig for you guys. So let us talk about fear.
American Humorist, Evan Esar once stated "Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind." Every bit of that statement is true, but anger is not an element, it is not the carbon which physically creates the beings that we are, it is not the air that we breath. Anger is a state of mind, a psychological reaction to our fears. The fear of loss leads to frustration and depression. Culmination of different stresses lead to fear, and because of this, panic leads to fear, and in turn creates anger. Anger towards the human mind, the sense of self, towards other people. Those two closely related emotions allow us to fabricate a sense of morality which tells us that we, as people who are in a vulnerable state, need to take control. But that control is self destructive. A panic attack for instance, sets in because of anger, frustration, and fear, but those are just the excuses for the attack. The real reason the human mind triggers a state of panic, is because the control that one's self presumes they have, is stripped away from them, or it never existed to begin with. In a state of panic, every one feels alone, and the reality is that they are not. Every one has fears, every one has panicked.
Film is a reflection of who we are as people, both the good and bad parts. They allow us to invest a part of our committed attention into relating to the characters, yet at the same time, withdraw ourselves from our own issues. At times they remind us we need darkness to differentiate from light, so that we may remember that personal psychological balance is a key part to being a normal, healthy human being. But what happens when the projector is finished, what happens when the theater lights slowly saturate your surroundings after the credits? That is a not a question as much as it is a fact of life for any film-goer. A healthy person carries away from the film nothing but pennies for thought, adjusted to the targeted mood the movie was trying to portray. But some people (myself on occasion, admittedly) leave with the ideology that the themes in the film may easily be applied to their lives, no matter how sensationalized or unrealistic the subject matter is. Now don't get me wrong, I never stepped out of "Transformers" or "Scott Pilgrim vs The World", thinking I could become a robot or fight some chick's evil ex's. But like any matter or substance we enjoy, these pieces of work are meant to be enjoyed, on a positive or negative level. When Scorsese made "The Taxi Driver", he did not want to formulate or design Travis Bickle to be a hero or a villain, nor a role model for that matter. He understood that the environmental factors in a person's life may slowly destroy them, and it was something he wanted to share because it held no direct consequence.
Now I may be flying off in all directions here, but the bottom line of what I am saying is, if you love films, remember, that is all they are. You are not paying them 10 dollars to be a 2 hour therapist, nor are they trying to reformulate or modify what is going on in your life. Just sit back, enjoy the experience, and if you carry something realistically positive away from the story, do so, just tread lightly over the ice you just have created. Good day to all, Marxer out.
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