Movie genres

I took this picture in Texas on a (surprisingly hot) October afternoon 2008. It turned out quite nicely... Texas is actually a lot greener than I imagined it to be. In my mind there was a lot of sand and oil wells and stuff. I guess you never stop learning.

Today, I wanted to talk to you about movie genres and their relation to real life. I thought about that while reading Maureen Johnson's "The key to the golden firebird" where May says "Sorry for the drama". There are many genres. Some of them are Drama, Comedy, Romantic Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Slasher, SciFi, Fantasy (those last two in combination with some others)... but let's be honest. Which ones relate to life?

Where does life happen? Is it Comedy? Come on. Imagine Wedding Crashers. Does that relate to your life? RomCom? Does Notting Hill happen in real life? Sadly not. We can hope though... but it mostly doesn't. SciFi and Fantasy? Ehm... nope. Slasher/Horror? Oh God, I hope not.

Thriller? Please... have you seen The Departed? We can just pray that stuff like that doesn't happen. What's left? That's right: Drama. Drama is where life happens. If you watch a drama, those are real stories, stories that could happen somewhere, could happen to you. Horrifying, isn't it. The genre that relates to us the most is the one that makes us cry. What does that say about our lives?

It means that the things that matter in life are the ones that make you reach out to the person sitting next to you, the ones that make you cry, the ones that open your eyes wide in the understanding what's happening beneath the surface of the actors. That make you feel for them, for their stories and their emotions.

All genres have their place in our lives (except Slasher/Gore movies. I mean... come on. Someone who enjoys watching "Hostel" need psychological help.), but the ones that push us forward and make us understand our own lives better... those are dramas.

You would think that the webpage iheartmovies.com would be ideal for me, but I came to the conclusion that it's totally self-absorbed to put your movie library on the internet.

Take care and enjoy the sunshine :)

Lyrics of the day: Storytelling by Belle & Sebastian

Picture a scene in your mind

Looks at all the people and take note of the setting behind

Listen, watch, and wait

A plot begins to take shape

There's a story

And then characters will come to you

Relating events as they choose to

But all their words and actions come entirely from you

If you're a storyteller you might think you're without responsibility

And you can lead your characters anywhere you want

You have immunity

Have you considered the way

People might react to all the things that your characters say?

And are their actions hand in hand with what you want to portray?

Are you sick?

Are you crippled? Insane?

Expressing the desires that daren't speak their name?

Are you the one to be blamed?

Now you're a storyteller you might think you are without responsibility

But in directions, actions and words

Cause and effect

You need consistency

How can you finish the tale?

Lives which have played a part

Are summarized from the very start

And episodes left out to make it all go our way

"It's a might big world

Some of it I've seen

But mostly I've only heard

And stories are all fiction from their moment of birth"

You're just a storyteller

You're not trying to escape responsibility

If we believe you then you're successful

But you don't make claims of verity