Thursday, April 2, 2009

Everyone Wants To Be In A Movie (Unfortunately)

Throughout my whole life, I've noticed something strange. People often tend to be overly dramatic, over-zealous, and downright stubborn with certain things in their lives. I've known many people who thrive on drama, they constantly hate it publicly while loving it secretly, who can't go on living unless a million different things are going wrong. You can blame the parents, or society, the country, global warming, the Free Masons, Marilyn Manson, the weird spot on your body, or even the scary guy at the park that one time, and you'd be wrong on all accounts. It is none of these things, as treacherous as some may be. The real reason that people are like this is that everyone wants to be in a movie.
This seems like a simplified answer to a complex problem but think about it to yourself; has anyone ever said anything that was a bit strange? I'm not talking about something random or something out of the ordinary but something that you would only expect to hear in....well, a movie!
To exemplify what I'm talking about, I will relate a story. I have a friend who's girlfriend left him. It was not the first time she had done so. In fact, she had left him four or five times previously. In a dramatic flair, she packed up her things and left. My friend was heartbroken. I told him that I was sorry but not to worry because she would probably be back, just like she had all of those other times. In a dramatic flair, he told me, "Not this time." My eyes then proceeded to roll out of my skull in sarcasm. I left him to his pity party only to hear that the following morning, his girlfriend came back.
So, let's analyze this. If I was smart enough to know that his girlfriend would come back, then that means that my friend would too, since he has spent far more time with her and obviously knows how to push her buttons since she left, and how not to cross the line. So, if he knew all of this, why did he act dramatically and tell me, "Not this time" when he could have just agreed with me? It's because he wants to be in a movie. However, since he will never be in a movie, he has to act out his dramatic moments in real life.
In a way, I understand this. There are many moments in my own life, where having that musical soundtrack swell at the right time would make a good moment so much better. I've also always wished for that a-ha moment to come, where the main character of the film is in the dumps, and then is told something wise by a wise and unexpected person and then begins to turn his life around because of it. We also all play our own favorite parts. I'm the good-friend-you-can-count-on-who-tells-it-like-it-is-and-tragically-dies- to-the- detriment-of-all-like-Mercutio-in-Romeo-and-Juliet-except-that-I-don't- dress-up-like- a-woman-at-the-beginning-of-the-movie-because-thats-kind-of-weird. That's my favorite part to play.
The part that most people like to play though is not so much an actual part but more so a scene. And the scene they like to play most is the one-liner-that-sums-it-up. Hence, why my aforementioned friend opted to say, "Not this time". If we had been in a movie, he would have said it with a close-up on his face, staring off into the distance before cutting back to me for a reaction shot where I have nothing to say. The scene then would have ended.
Since we were not in a movie, I ended up wanting to puke at the over-the-top dramatics of the whole thing.
Everyone just wants to say something profound, something that people will remember. They seek to have those moments (or scenes) because they want their lives to mean more, whether to themselves or to others. But in all honesty, I prefer honesty. Why do we need to say something profound? Why do we need to give more meaning to moments that have no meaning? Let's live life in the here and now, and say profound things if we think of them rather than thinking of something clever so we can act in the secret movie that no ones watching or cares to watch. Just live with all of our inadequacies and our troubles. It's better than a movie.

5 comments:

Nene said...

This is really funny! I never thought about it like that before, but I think you're right. Now I'm going to be more aware of those "movie moments" in my life and when someone makes a one-liner comment, I'll listen hard and maybe hear the soundtrack swell.
:0)

Delirious said...

I think it goes a little deeper than just wanting to be in a movie. I think that we have watched so many movies in our life time that we have become desensitized to real life. We think that our lives HAVE to be as dramatic as in a movie because that is what we have been conditioned to believe real life is like. We think that if we aren't pining away for our spouse while they are at work, then we lack romance in our marriage. If we don't desparately need each other, then we must not be in love because that's how movie characters are. Many women feel that if their husband isn't writing them love notes and bringing flowers constantly and phoning them many times during the day, then something must be wrong in their marriage, because, afterall, that is how it is done in the movies.

In these days of the breakdown of the family, people actually spend less time together as a couple. They don't have role models for how a couple's relationship should be. The only role models they have are on the big screen. Unfortunately, life is compacted in to 1 1/2 hours during a movie, but people expect that their entire life should mirror what they have just experienced in 1 1/2 hours. Movies have become the role model for people's relationships.

Amber said...

I thought this was a good and funny blog :)

Inklings said...

Well, I have to tell you that when I was a kid I felt quite deprived in life because life didn't come with a soundtrack like the movies have. I used to wish all the time I could hear that music in the background. And hey, it could warn you of things like scary moments. :0)

Stacy said...

lol oh I love you :)