Sim1The China had never been used, the sheets had never been slept in
January 30th 2011 18:41
aka The Psychology of film, part 2
In my last ‘Psychology of Film’ posting, I interviewed myself. And that’s great, because I am my own favourite chat show guest.
So today, I am in the throes of my Film History module and over the last few days have done nothing but watch films.
‘Cape Fear’, ‘Rear Window’, ‘Cape Fear’, ‘Jaws’, ‘Citizen Kane’, ‘Titanic’.....
Robert Mitchum gave me the creeps, as did Robert deNiro. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly were a bit naff, as was 'Jaws'. But I love 'Titanic'. Always have done, always will. And why is that? Why do people who love 'Titanic' love 'Titanic'?
It’s a fact that more people saw 'Titanic' at the cinema twice than is the norm for any other film. I added to that statistic.
Is it girlies and gay boys who fancy Leo? Is it people who fancy Kate?
Is it escapism in the sense of ‘I would love to go on a fancy cruise’ or
escapism as in ‘Thank God that wasn’t me on that ship.’
Or maybe it’s the sordid ‘car crash syndrome’ that makes people feeling compelled to watch others die on screen. We have become surprisingly immune to this, haven’t we?
Here’s a test: watch the BBC/ ABC/ Channel7/9/10/ ZDF/ ARD/ ITV etc News tonight. How many people died in your national evening news tonight and did you give a shit? It’s just like last night’s news, isn’t it? It’s not just death though, we have become immune to violence on screen, too. At least that’s my conclusion after watching both versions of ‘Cape Fear’.
Anyhoo, back on board....
Maybe people like to escape into the romance, the love story that only exists in film? Let’s face it, the first class passengers wouldn’t have mixed with the third class passengers, let alone fall in love with each other. But we can dream....and if we’re called Jim Cameron, we can ban the dream onto celluloid.
So the next question then: what is this movie all about? Hmm?
Is this an old lady’s fantasy and if so, what drugs is she on?
Do people watch this for historic reasons? Are there (young) people out there (in the Western world) who have no idea what the Titanic is? Ask a 12 year old about the Berlin Wall, what do you get?
And if that is the reason, will there be a point in the future when will we teach history through Hollywood motion pictures? I can just imagine the curriculum: ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Titanic’, ‘The Terminator’, ‘The Great Escape’, ‘The Lives of Others’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ and ‘Forrest Gump’.
Maybe 'Titanic' is a sociology study? The study of greed? ‘What could possibly be funny?’ Spicer Lovejoy hisses at Cal Hockley during one scene. Cal is laughing at the cruel irony of having placed the Heart of the Ocean into the pocket of the jacket he later gave to Rose. I’m glad that this is his main concern, when he’s chest-deep in water on a doomed cruise liner that is about to kill him and his fiancee.
I recently read an article about a woman who sat on a flight that looked like it was going to crash and kill every single passenger on board. She described how everyone was silent because ‘you only panic if you think you’ll survive’.
And ain’t that the truth! That explains our violin trio on the (film) 'Titanic' and the captain and Mr. Guggenheim and the ship’s architect, Thomas Andrews.
I also recently read a ‘critical acclaim’ of the film 'Titanic'. It was written by a woman, I believe, although I forgot who it was and where I read it. Anyway, she said (rather cynically): ‘Perfect! You fall in love with the perfect man and then he dies before he can disappoint you’.
Fodder for a successful movie, perhaps? But let’s think for a moment: Could the film 'Titanic' ever have had a happy ending and done the actual disaster justice?
‘Oooh look, hundreds of people died, but the couple lived happily ever after!’ No, I don’t think so. That would just have been crude and ridiculous.
I think the reason why I love it so much is a bit of all my above points. And it draws me in, for a while, I’m on a cruise ship, sailing towards hope. I watch it because I can get rid of steam in the form of crying incontrollably at every 2nd scene or so. Oh and the soundtrack is perfection! Go to the iTunes store and just preview all the songs in the ‘Titanic’ soundrack. Doesn’t that take you right back onboard of a ship you’re glad you’ve never set foot on?
At this stage, I would also like to say RIP to Gloria Stuart. Our very own granny version of Rose DeWitt Bukater/ Lawson/ Calvert. Gloria died last year aged a grand 100 years old.
I wonder...that last scene....did Rose dream that in the last moments of her life or is it her version of Heaven? I’ll leave that open to you, dear readers, because I doubt Jim Cameron himself knows and also, I am crying again.....
In my last ‘Psychology of Film’ posting, I interviewed myself. And that’s great, because I am my own favourite chat show guest.
So today, I am in the throes of my Film History module and over the last few days have done nothing but watch films.
‘Cape Fear’, ‘Rear Window’, ‘Cape Fear’, ‘Jaws’, ‘Citizen Kane’, ‘Titanic’.....
Robert Mitchum gave me the creeps, as did Robert deNiro. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly were a bit naff, as was 'Jaws'. But I love 'Titanic'. Always have done, always will. And why is that? Why do people who love 'Titanic' love 'Titanic'?
Is it girlies and gay boys who fancy Leo? Is it people who fancy Kate?
Is it escapism in the sense of ‘I would love to go on a fancy cruise’ or
escapism as in ‘Thank God that wasn’t me on that ship.’
Or maybe it’s the sordid ‘car crash syndrome’ that makes people feeling compelled to watch others die on screen. We have become surprisingly immune to this, haven’t we?
Here’s a test: watch the BBC/ ABC/ Channel7/9/10/ ZDF/ ARD/ ITV etc News tonight. How many people died in your national evening news tonight and did you give a shit? It’s just like last night’s news, isn’t it? It’s not just death though, we have become immune to violence on screen, too. At least that’s my conclusion after watching both versions of ‘Cape Fear’.
Anyhoo, back on board....
Maybe people like to escape into the romance, the love story that only exists in film? Let’s face it, the first class passengers wouldn’t have mixed with the third class passengers, let alone fall in love with each other. But we can dream....and if we’re called Jim Cameron, we can ban the dream onto celluloid.
Is this an old lady’s fantasy and if so, what drugs is she on?
Do people watch this for historic reasons? Are there (young) people out there (in the Western world) who have no idea what the Titanic is? Ask a 12 year old about the Berlin Wall, what do you get?
And if that is the reason, will there be a point in the future when will we teach history through Hollywood motion pictures? I can just imagine the curriculum: ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Titanic’, ‘The Terminator’, ‘The Great Escape’, ‘The Lives of Others’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ and ‘Forrest Gump’.
Maybe 'Titanic' is a sociology study? The study of greed? ‘What could possibly be funny?’ Spicer Lovejoy hisses at Cal Hockley during one scene. Cal is laughing at the cruel irony of having placed the Heart of the Ocean into the pocket of the jacket he later gave to Rose. I’m glad that this is his main concern, when he’s chest-deep in water on a doomed cruise liner that is about to kill him and his fiancee.
I recently read an article about a woman who sat on a flight that looked like it was going to crash and kill every single passenger on board. She described how everyone was silent because ‘you only panic if you think you’ll survive’.
And ain’t that the truth! That explains our violin trio on the (film) 'Titanic' and the captain and Mr. Guggenheim and the ship’s architect, Thomas Andrews.
I also recently read a ‘critical acclaim’ of the film 'Titanic'. It was written by a woman, I believe, although I forgot who it was and where I read it. Anyway, she said (rather cynically): ‘Perfect! You fall in love with the perfect man and then he dies before he can disappoint you’.
Fodder for a successful movie, perhaps? But let’s think for a moment: Could the film 'Titanic' ever have had a happy ending and done the actual disaster justice?
‘Oooh look, hundreds of people died, but the couple lived happily ever after!’ No, I don’t think so. That would just have been crude and ridiculous.
I think the reason why I love it so much is a bit of all my above points. And it draws me in, for a while, I’m on a cruise ship, sailing towards hope. I watch it because I can get rid of steam in the form of crying incontrollably at every 2nd scene or so. Oh and the soundtrack is perfection! Go to the iTunes store and just preview all the songs in the ‘Titanic’ soundrack. Doesn’t that take you right back onboard of a ship you’re glad you’ve never set foot on?
At this stage, I would also like to say RIP to Gloria Stuart. Our very own granny version of Rose DeWitt Bukater/ Lawson/ Calvert. Gloria died last year aged a grand 100 years old.
I wonder...that last scene....did Rose dream that in the last moments of her life or is it her version of Heaven? I’ll leave that open to you, dear readers, because I doubt Jim Cameron himself knows and also, I am crying again.....
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