OK, I'm Just A Bit Tired

In the past several weeks I have seen numerous comments about film and specific films, and the way some people think and react to these topics, and I can't help but think that these people are pompous, know-it-all bitches.

My first little stir with this, believe it or not, was with Oldboy. I loved this movie. Go to the IMDB's page on this film, and there's someone who dislikes it--to the point that he believes that he speaks for the intellectual minority in denouncing it, or that he is so in tune with life and film that he's the one that wasn't brainwashed into liking it.

The same sort of thing happens with this review of Crash. I'm not so opposed to the review itself as I am a comment that occurs later, where someone who agrees believes, once again, he speaks for the intelligentsia when he remarks, "Everyone was crying a good 20 minutes before the film ended. I just wanted to stand up and shout, 'You're being set up and used!'" Thank you, Uq Lee. I stand corrected. I felt like I was in Brave New World there for a second, and it took someone from the outside to cleanse me from my brainwashed state.

The point is, that movies will cause people to react in different ways, because we are all different people. Your observation of an operating table may be different from mine. Mine is, "Gross, but fascinating!" Some will look at it and go, "Geez...do we have to see that?" some will be so fine with it that they want to do it themselves, some will be so fine with it that they are psychotic, bloodletting freaks. There are several other levels of reaction. Some people may not like Oldboy because of the whammy at the end--I loved it. Some people won't like Oldboy because there are Korean people in it. It doesn't seem a good reason, but it's a good reason to them.

Personally, I think the people who feel they stand for the elite believe that all people should be the same and have the same reactions and in general, be the one who protests when everyone goes one way or another. I believe if this movie were some fly-by-night flick that didn't get an audience, these same people would be saying, "Oh my gosh, people! Look at what you're missing! This movie is incredible!" instead of "walking out on a limb" and denouncing it to the point that they insult the people that actually like it for their various reasons--which by the way, are completely different from one person to another.

And, sure, I've dabbled into this realm before, but not to the point of feeling like I am the more intelligent one. People at work, sometimes, you run into people who love movies like Monster-in-Law or Baby Geniuses 2, and you become an incredulous bastard--but at the same time, I realize people enjoy these films for whatever reason--sometimes it's the mood you're in, and we certainly can recall many films in our lifetime where we either hated it or loved it the first time, but then changed our mind later. Any time someone asks me if I liked something, I give them my opinion, but I always end with, "But what do I know?"

So, to all of you who want to deride people for liking or disliking certain things, my ass isn't far from your lips. If you'd like, and here's the all-time challenge, not a very original one but it will do--you highly intelligent creatures out there can make your own film, and then we can see if we like it--and you can go on raving about your own work, that people "don't get it," and so forth. At least the playing field will be fair. In fact, I'd like to see the film that proves your greatness over everyone else--that would be quite a feat, but since you guys are so superior, it shouldn't be too hard.