Where is the heart? Seriously.
No. This isn't a post demanding that you tell me where your heart is. I'm not that bold in general, but maybe I should run a poll sometime. Eh. Another idea for another time.
What I'm thinking about tonight is something I've noticed about the way I view movies or any other kind of story. As I've probably pointed out here before, or you've figured out on your own, I'm an emotional kind of guy.
Note to self: Rant about emotionalism used in persuasion some time in the future.
Forgive me, I digress.
As I was saying, I have a heart. I feel things.
When it comes to movies and whatnot, I need to feel things.
I just wrapped up Gangs of New York tonight. The night before, it was Watchmen. For the last day or two, I've also been reading the Japanese comic series Death Note. All of these works have one common thing that keeps me from completely raving about them.
They all lacked the ability to create an emotional connection between me and the on-screen characters. With the partial exception of Watchmen (still the overall weakest of these three examples), I find the stories, settings, execution of ideas, and (oddly enough) even the characters to be interesting and compelling.
But I don't find myself attached to them, and that really hurts the end result. Without a sense of feeling, I find these things ultimately unfulfilling. That really sucks in my eyes, too.
To clarify, I'm not saying I want happy endings or anything like that. I'm not saying I wanna walk away feeling good. But if I don't feel for the characters, then I don't feel like I experience with the characters the good and bad things happening.
I know it's not fair to expect everything to be on par with the Japanese series Fullmetal Alchemist (which, believe it or not, is still the greatest example of the ability to create emotion in me), but it seems fair to request at least some emotional connection.
I think I felt more emotionally connected to Confessions of a Shopaholic than I did to Watchmen. That's kind of sad, but it's true.
If only "fantastic" movies still presented that emotional connection. Without it, ultimately, the number of these movies that I end up caring about is a lot smaller than it could be.
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Hmm. This actually explains quite a lot about your taste in film and why certain films that blow me away leave you going, "Meh." Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI explained this to Riley before, so I thought I'd post it here. Take No Country for Old Men for example, I can see why it's loved, and I really do appreciate its message and portrayal, but I don't remember an emotional bond with it, so the end and lasting impression is fairly "meh."
ReplyDeleteWeird? Maybe. But there's a reason I highly admire Edgar Allen Poe's view on writing.
I don't think it's weird. There's plenty of people that view stories in this same way.
ReplyDeleteIs this way frustrating to people like me? Hellz to the yes. XD
*comes across as snobbish*
I don't really get why it's frustrating to think that a movie needs to be both intellectually and emotionally stimulating to truly be great.
ReplyDeleteThey're two sides of the coin, of humanity itself. You can have just one side, but as mewithoutYou once said "I'll get along without you, love, but what good is one glove without the other?"
Gimme one side? Sure. It can be good on its own terms.
Gimme both sides? I will rave about the movie until the world comes to an end.