Films and Featherless bipeds

Till a few years ago, I used to think of films as just a mode of entertainment. They were nothing more to me than a little time away from academics but little did I realise how wrong I was until very recently.

We usually see people talk about films and cinema in respect to certain pieces which can be classified into a so called type of “actual” cinema but even mediocre films with somewhat cheesy dialogues and stereotypical characters also tend to influence us a lot. And I love the idea that films can change your lives, but it’s worth asking ; what impact do they have?

“You can't just stare at a rectangle for 2 hours and expect your entire view on life to be changed.” Yes, we can. We are wired for stories, we are wired for meaning. We've evolved staring at a fire and hearing stories, watching people impersonate stories, tragedies, etc. It does start with little things like this. The change in thinking will persist when that person watches the movie. Sometimes people can do this with ease because they just love movies, and other times people just want to watch it for pure entertainment. The change will persist once there is a lingering thought in your mind that "hmm, maybe this movie was on to something" and you have an urge to pursue this thought even more.

A film is a manifestation of that need we have to make sense of the world and see it through new but relatable eyes. If you watch a film and because of it you do something small that you wouldn't have otherwise done, you can already say it has changed your life.

Films have always been a place of comfort when times get tough. Sometimes it’s a new movie coming out soon. Sometimes it's just the joy of discovering a random old movie. Sometimes it’s just the comfort of an old favourite.

Films build empathy. Films are something that can be simply made with a few people and your phone where you create a world using your imagination and people get to see it through your eyes. And when you finally return your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed. Another reason why I love films is because it is an art form. The rules on what is possible and impossible in the arts are made by people who have tested the bounds of the possible by going beyond them and so can you. You have no obligation to stick to a page of regulations. You have the freedom to be able to create anything at all, to vomit out your mind and heart into visuals and stories. I would bet that most people who love film also love just watching people. At the park, on the street, in a movie, I love to watch other people live their lives. There’s a satisfaction I gain from seeing someone trip on a crack in the sidewalk, or smiling with a loved one, or just meandering neutrally- be it in a movie or real life.

Films are also something that will always be there for you and there will be one for every possible situation. Husband runs off with a politician? Watch a film. Eaten up by a hippo? Watch a film(inside his stomach obviously). People on the internet call you stupid because you actually have no talent ? Watch a film. IRS on your trail because you committed tax fraud ? Watch a film. And watch one on the good days too.

Now coming to a personal little story (because without that my writings are incomplete), I will tell you about the time, I discovered my passion for films. As a kid, I always watched films with a face of awe. I laughed at the jokes, cried at the sad parts and left with my heart full; but I always used it as escapism from my life and academics.

When I was 10 years old, I saw the movie that would change my life forever. Just an ordinary afternoon. I was bored. My cousin took notice and suggested that we watch a movie. We doom scrolled through the endless content of Netflix and settled on Bridge to Terabithia. What unfolded in front of my eyes for the next few hours was BRILLIANT. Everything about the it. It made me feel things I never knew I could and it was the first ever movie where I cried my eyes out. I guess it was little easy, I was only 10 and I didn’t know anything about anything. It was a decent film but somehow I immediately became obsessed and still remain to this day. That movie also inspired me to draw and paint more; create art just because. It inspired me to seek out more films and follow art everywhere I go. It made me into a cultured human being that I am today.

I think unconscious epiphanies are a beautiful thing, and one of the most perfectly human things about life; and films certainly help us get there.