I think way too much. My mind is always going, planning out my day, making lists of things I need to remember today, tomorrow, next week, thinking about this week's sermon, next week's sermon. Planning for the next month, what to do with my family on our day off, what's for dinner, what meals would be good for the next week. My mind is always going.
I actually annoy my wife because she thinks I think too much. I guess I've always been afraid of being like the scarecrow, not thinking about things singing to myself "Oh I wish I had a brain." So I make sure that I use it for fear that whatever isn't used can in fact be lost. My wife is always saying, "You're over thinking it, making it too complicated." She's very right, I think too much, and need to take time to stop, slow down, and enjoy what's going on right now and enjoy simplicity more than complex plans and theories and ideas.
In fact, sometimes my over-thinking can even drive me nuts. I can't get it to stop. Most of the time. But there is one way, movies. T.V. shows I can ignore, and reality shows I do ignore. To me there's nothing worse than staged drama pretending to be real, I prefer stuff that admits its fake-it seems more honest to me. Again, I DO NOT like reality shows. Not even the one about the little people, even though I've always liked little people since I saw Willow.
But movies take me away, draw me into the story and take me on a journey for 90-180 minutes depending on the movie. Movies shut off my brain, which is nice and I like it. When I watch them, I don't think anymore, I'm just a spectator enjoying a story. I don't predict endings or mysteries or twists. I don't focus on themes or plot lines. Most of the time I don't even notice bad acting (except for Thomas Jane who's only good role was in Dreamcatcher and that was even debatable). I just watch.
So, it drives me nuts listening to people talk about the lesson to be learned from a movie, the many themes, hidden themes (there aren't any in Transformers by the way), messages, politics, tricks in cinematography, and clues along the way (how the heck would I notice a red doorknob or the fact that Bruce Willis doesn't change his clothes during the Sixth Sense?). Sure some movies want to share a lesson, and independent ones are all about themes and lessons, but they're boring and just not interesting at all to me.I really don't believe movies are meant to teach you something, so many other things do that. Movies are meant to entertain, take you away, help you escape, make you laugh, make you cry, give you hope in love and happy endings-not to think about the sanctity of marriage and whether its a misogynistic ritual or not. That's why I love Spielberg, Lucas, Burton, Favreau, Verbinski, Stevenson, Zemeckis, Abrams-they are storytellers, entertainers. They present to you a story and say, "Here, I love it and I hope you enjoy it, have fun with it."
So I ask you, if you like to analyze movies, or over think them or figure them out, decipher the hidden meaning, you may be missing the point. Take a mental step back and say, "Am I enjoying this? Does this interest me, is it fun?" If yes, just watch and enjoy. If no, turn it off and move on. Not everything has a lesson, not everything can be used to show you a truth about life, let's stop stretching the point and embrace the fact that movies are entertainment. Let the papers and editorials teach you truths and opinions.
BLT says............when watching a movie, stop thinking and enjoy it. Have fun or do something else.
No comments:
Post a Comment