Now that summer's returned, I'm able to
spend my days making money, spending money, reading, writing, and not
doing homework (okay, well I guess that's the same). And, when I have
a few free hours, I'll check my DVR, Netflix, or my own collection
for a movie to watch.
Last
summer I tried to watch as many new movies as I could, with the
belief that most movies are indeed educational in some, sometimes
less obvious, way. For instance, The Last Song
taught me how many different ways stereotypes can be used,
Adventureland taught
me that working in an amusement park isn't as charming as it
sounds, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London
taught me that Frankie Muniz is awesome and no shitty movie could
convince me otherwise, Outsourced
taught me how many other
ways stereotypes can be used, and Spy Kids 4: All the Time
in the World taught me that Joel
McHale might not actually be perfect.
Education!
Okay,
so obviously watching movies like The Tooth Fairy
and Barbie: Princess Charm School
and Fantastic 4 isn't
going to make you any smarter. Not book-wise, anyway. (I like to
think that movies make you more street-smart in a sense. And you get
all these little snip-its of trivia or situations that you can relate
to in your own life. Like, “Your parents aren't letting you go to
the party tonight? Wow, this reminds me of the time when the
headmistress at Princess Charm School tried to kill Barbie and her
friends. Haha.”)
But movies are a
doorway into other worlds and lives and situations and OHMYGOD
suddenly you're in a room with Hemingway and Picasso and wow
Picasso's kind of a dick and then WOAH now you're standing five feet
from where Batman and Bane are fighting and jeez you better back up
or something they're really going at it.
I
don't know, man. I started out saying that I think movies are
educational, then I said they aren't, but I'm still thinking they
are. They are. Maybe
you don't learn geography or math or science (or maybe you do), but
maybe you learn to love or to hate, what you like or don't like,
things or people you want to do. Or maybe you're watching the
crappiest movie on the lowest budget with the worst acting, but you
still get a chuckle out of it.
And then it doesn't
matter if you're learning anything or not.
