Why we go to the movies
I’m reading a book called ‘Story - Substance, Structure, Style, and the Substance of Screenwriting’ at the moment. It’s by a guy called Robert McKee. I’m only a few pages in, but this quote absoultely leapt out at me. Really powerful.
We go to the movies to enter a new, fascinating world, to inhabit vicariously another human being who at first seems so unlike us and yet at heart is like us, to live in a fictional reality that illuminates our daily reality. We do not wish to escape life but to find life, to use our minds in fresh, experimental ways, to flex our emotions, to enjoy, to learn, to add depth to our days.
This definitely resonates with me deeply.
August 30th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Exactly! Look to open up a part of us that is hiding! Last night I felt especially cultural and wanted to watch one of our Bollywood films to touch that spot.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
“Look to open up a part of us that is hiding” - I love that!
September 1st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
[...] As I mentioned on Friday, I’m thoroughly enjoying a book called ‘Story’ by Robert McKee. It is filled with some outstanding comments, insights, and observations. Here’s a few more I thought I’d share with you. “Story isn’t a flight from reality but a vehicle that carries us on in our search for reality, our best effort to make sense out of the anarchy of existence.” [...]
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I really like the bit “to add depth to our days”. I think watching movies gives me a chance to get inside the imagination of another human being and widens my experience, sparks my imagination - and makes me laugh or cry or be scared! I like ‘flexing’ my emotions!
Deana - you should come and see us again and we can go to Leicester to one of many Bollywood cinemas - I’ve always wanted to go!