A Debate of Movies

I watched Front of the Class yesterday afternoon. It was about a recent college graduate whose lifelong dream was to become a teacher, but because of his tourettes syndrome his options were limited because potential employers couldn't look past it. He finally got a job and he excelled in it, but not without his own trials. It was a heartwarming story about overcoming great personal struggles in order to pursue a dream.

The movie immediately following that movie, was Riding the Bus with My Sister. This movie was about a mentally challenged woman who had struggles her whole life, but somehow still had the ability to enjoy it. Within the first few minutes, I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to watch a movie about this woman. But then I started thinking about how I had just finished watching a movie about a person with personal struggles, so why was this so different? It's the same basic plot: A person struggles through life, but somehow still finds joy and does what they love. The specific circumstances change from film to film, but it's basically the same. So why is it that certain movies, such as this one for me, make us uncomfortable? Is it because the specifics of a movie strike a cord in us that we don't want to think about or explore? I continued watching the movie because I didn't want to be shallow by not watching it simply because I wasn't completely comfortable. But doesn't living in comfort limit your knowledge and ability to learn? People learn most when their level of knowledge is drastically different than the situation they're in. So why don't we put ourselves in situations where we don't know much? Are we afraid of failure or is it something else?

Movies are made to ask questions, sometimes answer a couple, show a situation audiences would never have experienced otherwise, provide an escape from life, and yes, they also offer a level of entertainment. But movies are much more than that. They ask questions which we can't ask ourselves. Too many times we watch a movie purely for entertainment, which is something I am guilty of myself, but if we aren't asking questions afterwards, then we aren't getting everything we can out of the movie and then we have wasted our time and money. Why not take the time to reflect on what we spent an hour and a half to two hours (or in Lord of the Rings case 3-4 hours) watching? Granted, there are some movies where the only question you can ask is, 'why did I waste my time with it?' But more often than not, you can always ask a question applicable to life.