Anti-Escapism

the term was given to me by a friend. Movies in which they attempt to show the true and real nitty-gritty of how horrible life can be.

I absolutely positively cannot fracking stand it. I know how bad life is. I watch movies to escape. Give me fantasy. Give me melodrama. Give me a cool soundtrack. SOMETHING

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You may well have come to the wrong place then, but at least I hear ya.

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Sometimes the last thing you need is an escape. Who says so called escapism is actually escape but moreso subconscious mirrors?

I'm not picking a fight, but WHO does actually say that? Did somebody you read or take a class from say that or was it you? Are there any "escapist" movies you enjoy?

I enjoy all escapist movies. I feel like maybe you misunderstood.

Oh maybe you were talking to winter.

I just made it up, half serious. You take things wayyyyy too severely, god forbid you actually consider something

And Good Burger

OK, but I'm not the only one who sometimes takes you too seriously. I'll just consider everything you post to just be completely made up since it would be much easier then for someone as severe as Carl Th. Dreyer and me to swallow. Still waiting on your fave escapist movies though.

Honestly, who wants to see films that "Show the true and real nitty-gritty of how horrible life can be?" Sounds dreadful. Me, I'm going to take my girl to see The Avengers on Saturday and have Chinese food at the mall. It is an awesome plan.

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"You, me, everyone...we are all made of star stuff." - Neil Degrasse Tyson

https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/

I get what the OP is saying, but I think it really just comes down to the individual and their needs in regards to what they want from cinema. Some people simply like to view films as nothing more than entertainment, some like to view it as art, others like to view it as social commentary or whatever. Me personally, I think film can be all of these things and more, and that's just one of the many beauty of films, particularly contemporary american cinema.

It's one of the reasons why the studio system works, it's a cinema of consensus. Ok, so it's fair to say that a large portion of studio flicks can dumb down material, but at the end of the day, a lot of their films aren't snobbish or self-righteous towards their spectators in the way that a lot of European films are. I think that the so-called 'average viewer' (whether consciously or subconsciously) recognises this to some extent.

Me personally? I've got a love for the gritty kitchen sink dramas. It's not just about observing a terrible lifestyle for me, it's about the tone and exploring the human interactions in that world. I've got love for 40's-50's film noir era. I've adore neo noir and I can't get enough of escapist action adventure films. Point is, if you genuinely love cinema, chances are you will at some point get as much out of the serious arty farty stuff as you get out of the pure entertainment packages. Same for the inbetweeners. It's just a matter of exploring.

I liked the super realistic movies a lot more before I started working. lol

I liked realistic movies a lot more before I started working.

That isn't to insinuate in anyway that people who like realistic movies don't have hard lives, I'm just saying that's what happened to me.

What is it about working that makes it difficult for you to watch grittier films?

can you throw out a few examples of films too gritty for you? There's so many films like that where the characters and situations would be so out of our reality anyway.

I don't think of it as watching films to escape, but to feel something. Sometimes I feel like cackling a lot so I'll watch something like Airplane! FOR EXAMPLE. other times I'm all about just sitting back and watching a series of twists and turns cleverly unfold in a way that inspires awe, so I'll watch Rope or Les Diaboliques. other times, when I want to watch something that will charm the pants off me (not literally), I'll watch something cute and sappy like Finding Nemo or My Neighbor Totoru.

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letterboxd

lol posted that comment in the wrong thread didn't i! ADMIN EDIT: all fixed!

Half Nelson is a fine example. I have found myself completely unable to think of more examples, though i know I have seen a ton. It is entirely possible that movies about addiction just hit too close to home for me.

I just watched Ferrell's Everything Must Go and positively hated it because of it's purposeful lack of a resolution. I NEED CLOSURE!!! ARGH

So you're saying it's impossible to think that in some cases escapism is merely anti-cognition? It's absurd to hate realistic films for the sole purpose of them being honest representations of something one doesn't want to face in themselves. That's all I meant, or "made up"

I don't understand the logical jump. I would think you'd appreciate them more, this neglecting how often or not you watch them.

Like Ash was saying, there's a difference between feeling and escaping, if escaping is anti-feeling. Airplane and My Neighbor Totoru have complete differences in depth but engender emotional reaction regardless, which is why the comic book movies have failed for the most part because they don't pay attention to what Stan Lee called the skin behind the suit.

The average viewer chooses the quality, and their consistent "quality" is the reason one would think European films are snobbish in general. Society is of a consensus, and therein is the root of any issues with art, foreign or domestic.

There's no logical jump. Sheathe your gavel, sir. It is merely taste and emotion.

Life is hard. I don't want to watch intensified versions of how hard it is, especially when said versions don't come with a resolution. Just like life. I want to feel that everything can get solved. Everything can get better.

Life can get better too! Perception mate; I'm not gaveling the wood or asking you to watch Bicycle Thief every week, I'm a devil's advocate. Someone's got to blow up the dust.

Yes indeed life can. But it takes a long time as is super hard. So I prefer not to spend my few hours of entertainment feeling similarly stressed and miserable.

Unless it is an autobiography or a documentary about your life, then it is by definition is escapism or at the very least deflection. I do not care about the similarities that may occur. I for one love movies like "Running with Scissors" for example, makes me feel a little Schadenfreudistic if you ask me.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

7thson there is no need to be splitting hairs so finely. It is quite clear what I mean by escapism here.