What is wrong with people? Last Friday I went to see a what I consider to be a really good movie and I come home and everyone is hating on it with the heat of a thousand suns. What for? It's a freakin' movie. If you don't like it, just don't like it. Why the need to go off on it and jump on some moron bandwagon? The same thing happened with Lady in the Water, but I figured all the hate was because people were saying that M. Night Shyamalan was arrogant and that they were attacking him personally through the movie. But in this case I've never heard of anyone hating Brian De Palma. What gives?
In both cases, I loved the movies' originality. I tend to think that the average human out there hates originality. Now I'm sure you're going to say those movies aren't original. That there are plenty of movie just like them. Well no, not really, no. There are movies with the same style and similar events in them but these movies take these things put them in a blender and come up with the most wonderful concoctions that it's a joy to behold. I mean when Tarantino completely lifts things from Hong Kong movies he's a genius. So that can't be the real issue. It has to be that people hate not knowing exactly what it going to happen every step of the way. They don't want to be taken on a ride in the theater. They want what they think they're paying for. So if the trailers or TV spots are slightly misleading they hate the director for it and say that the movie is the worst thing they've ever seen. Idiots.
There is no way people can go into The Black Dahlia and go off on it the way they do without being complete tools. Even if you don't like the story you have to see all the work that went into it and at least appreciate that. The actors were great in their roles and people have been lambasting them. I'm surprised people haven't accused the hats of being pedophiles or something. With all the ridiculous comments I've heard, it wouldn't surprise me at this point.
The reason this is aggravating me is that I just feel like it's more evidence of people being brainwashed on a daily basis. The way people are forming their opinions about movies en mass may seem trite. But right now movies are the only thing most people can talk about on equal footing. You don't need a degree or years of study to watch a film and comment on it. However people seem to be treating it as though it's some sort of barometer about their intelligence. The reason I say that is in recent years when I read a normal person's review of a film, let's say on the IMDb or Yahoo, it sounds just like what the majority of critics have said. I believe there is a trend of people reading critics reviews of movie and taking it as their own opinion. I think people are so afraid of having their own opinion and some how being viewed as wrong or stupid that they just don't have an opinion any more. They just say what the person who appears to be the smartest is saying, so that no one can accuse them of being unintelligent.
Again I know it's just movies but this should scare the crap out of anyone who enjoys freedom. Because it seems as though people are almost begging to be controlled. They don't want to have their own minds. They need Big Brother. They need someone to tell them what to think, what to wear, what music to listen to, what actor is the best. Yeah Johnny Depp is cute and a good actor, but why after nearly 20 years in the industry is he suddenly the object of everyone obsession? Why are albums constantly debuting at number one? Back in my day it was such a rarity, today it's the norm. That means that people are buying something with the assumption that they will like it. Millions of people are buying these things blind. Why? Because they're supposed to. Why? Because their friends are, or everyone is.
This is totally freaking scary. The number of people willing to use their brain and disagree with what they're being told is shrinking. Think of how many people changed their minds on the War in Iraq. You think they all just had a revelation? Or that the casualty count hit the same magic number for everyone at the same time that would turn the War from being good to being bad. No. At first, after 9/11, the War was the popular idea. All the cool kids were supporting the troops. Then some polls came out and now suddenly all the cool kids hate the war. How can that many people change their minds on something that important? Were they not thinking in the beginning or are they not thinking now? I'd say it's both.
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