Foot steps and voices echo through the large building, as I walk next to my mom and twin, on the way out of the Cherry Creek movie theatre in the mall. We walk past the blinking, beeping arcade games, the bright chandelier, and a smiling cashier.
"That was an okay movie I guess. I mean, the characters were bad and it was unrealistic, but it kept me guessing, actually." I say, looking over towards my family. My mom looks over to me and says:
"I agree, the whole plot was completely impossible, but I did like Julianna Moore as the free-spirited kind of person. That one bald guy was really good at making faces, you know?"
As she said this, my mind quickly went over the film we had just seen, and I quickly added up the small plot holes that had never been cleared up. Quite a few, to my count. I as myself, why did such quality actors sign up to do a movie that was completely unrealistic? Did the producer even read the script? How hard is it to find a descent script if you're going to spend so much money making it into a movie?
"Juliane Moore, mom, and I thought you didn't like her? also, you're right - the bald guy looked really shady at the beginning, but then, he looked like a good guy."
"Yeah. I don't quite understand how they got that bomb in the cocaine though."
"Huh. Yeah. The acting was good, but the plot was really pretty bad. It just didn't really make any sense in the end. At least the movie was entertaining."
As we approach the exit, my mom looks at me funny for saying the movie was entertaining. She then says:
"That's humanity. A movie is entertaining when there is violence and people die, and there are bombs and plane crashes."
Her statement struck me - it was something that I hadn't thought of before, and also seemed so clearly weird. We enjoy watching bad things happen to other people. What's up with that? I look to my right as we walk out at the movie posters. One was a picture of a huge, flaming volcano that said: "No escape. No hope." Some person had probably come in to the theatre, read the poster, and thought: That looks interesting, I'll go see that. What's weird is that so many people read that poster, and willingly went to see a movie about no escape or hope. In retrospect, that is really, pretty weird. We continue to walk through the mall, past the bustling shops as we head towards the garage. My questions and thoughts buzz around my head.
What is up with that? Why do we eat up violent movies? What is it about us that draws us in? I don't know, really. I'm not sure if it is sad or what to call it. It's like trying to describe my feelings about war and the military. Conflicted. Thought-provoking post, Aaron.
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