Why I watch, part 2
movies Perhaps there is something cathartic about virtually conquering our fears. In one respect, this is something film can do quite easily for the timid. Afraid of heights? Sit comfortably on the couch and watch Vertigo. Then again, I doubt watching Jaws will help someone with a fear of water. The healing process for everyone is different.
I long resisted watching Requiem for a Dream because of its subject matter. I don't like movies about drugs. I no longer have a good, close friend because of the self-absorbed nature of addiction. Couple this topic with sex and I'll freak out. So, much to my surprise, finally sitting down to watch the film wasn't that much of an ordeal. Had enough time passed to allow me to watch the film and not be worried? Regardless, the film is a triumph in paranoia and self-destruction. The immediate gratification from the fix is achieved through the fast cutting and subjective camera work. The only thing that troubles as well as befuddles me is the adoration drug addicts and misfits worship this film rather than fear it. It's like a fat man scolding a smoker. It makes no sense. Drugstore Cowboy broke me into these types of movies, and with Requiem under my belt, perhaps I'm ready for Kids? Ha!
"There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I want to earn enough money that I can get away from everyone." I still can't write much about this movie because of how personally it hit me. When a few days before you're drunk on a balcony chewing on a steak with your hands, and then see it on a giant screen with an audience laughing inappropriately, the gut hurts. The heart hurts. People use the word "everyone" and exclude some people, such as a wife or friends or family. When Plainview says it, when I hear it and feel it, I mean everyone - and that's hard for some people to understand, some close to you.
If you think too much you can't be happy. This seems to be the dilemna of Woody Allen and Bergman. To ponder our mortality and place in the universe is a form of mental masturbation. It is impossible to conclude with certainty and is a waste of time. Yet, we as a people do this. There is gratifaction in the search for something more than us, but when we reach the end of that thought, we are still alone in the world with no higher power. And man can be content with being evil. Crimes and Misdemeanors ponders morality, ends in bleakness, and is sprinkled with humor. Man is alone, or God does not care about evil - and thus cannot exist. Sometimes, evil goes unpunished, the blameless become blind, and life goes on when it wants to.