Movies

What makes movies so good? What makes them be able to accrue millions or billions of dollars in ticket, DVD, and merchandising sales? I ponder this question a lot because so often I find myself hooked to the characters, setting, and to the plots of most movies that I watch.

My idea is that it is an escape from the real world. So many complain that their lives are boring and dull, yet, rarely are movies mundane. Even if the production is about a simple guy in a simple world, somehow, Hollywood manages to spice up the story. For an hour and a half or so, we are able to indulge ourselves into the lives of fake people and fake situations. We are able to look through the glass as a situation that we would normally have no chance of seeing unfolds before our eyes. We are able to forget about our routine lives and witness other, more exciting peoples' for a change. Sounds sort of pathetic, doesn't it? Almost...ironic. I think it is. It's ironic how something so unreal can be so real. How something completely unreal can be found to be so well related to. And how something so unreal can have such an emotional impact and connection on and with people. Incredible. Simply incredible.

Austin Beckman