It's award season time again and that, of course, means it's time for everyone to focus on movies.
A long time ago I learned about my own flow when it came to seeing and reviewing movies. Sound weird? Not if you consider what's really going on.
In today's society people are still comfortable being sheep, something I wholly confess to doing at times. But flow isn't about following the pack or doing what other people tell you to do. It's about you being you, and how you are unique and therefore have unique opinions, thoughts, and so on.
And movies are a classic example of this. It may seem funny to you, but a big moment in me understanding my uniqueness (my flow) was when I actually disagreed with the common held beliefs about movies. I suddenly felt empowered because I knew I was right for me. I was no longer going to feel bad or stupid or outcast simply because I didn't accept what everyone else was saying.
Here are just a few examples:
I have seen Terms of Endearment something like five times, including seeing its original theatrical release. And each time I've seen it I've hated it more. Yet I kept watching it because I thought I was truly missing something. Until I discovered my flow.
I really disliked the Debra Winger character and was hoping that she would succumb sooner so that the movie would end quicker.
Am I in the minority on this one? Most definitely! Am I wrong for thinking this way? Absolutely not, because for me this movie was an atrocity, and that is my unique view on it.
Many other movies fit in this category for me. I was appalled when Gladiator won best picture since I thought it was one step above a TV movie, and not a very good TV movie at that. I still don't see how Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is a groundbreaking classic, other than its beautiful shots of 1950's San Francisco. The latest movie I don't get is No Country For Old Men. This movie was such a let down I actually thought about asking for my money back. Luckily for this one I wasn't a minority of one. My friend who saw it with me couldn't stop talking about all the reasons the movie was a failure.
Of course, the reverse is true. My flow with movies is definitely not in sync with current societal trends. Troop Beverly Hills, a silly comedy made in 1989, is one of my favorite movies even though most people dismissed it. I thought Dolores Clairborne with Kathy Bates was absolutely brilliant on so many levels, equal if not better than her acclaimed movie Misery, yet many television guides give it two stars out of four. Reign of Fire with Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey has one of the most ridiculous plots imaginable (humans accidentally unleash ancient dragons who wreak havoc) yet the movie was fantastic, had great (and believable!) special effects, and featured surprisingly good acting. I couldn't understand why critics panned it so. I guess they couldn't get past the premise (or they simply never saw the movie and listened to what their peers said).
I'm sure you disagree with many, if not all, of my critiques here. And that is fine, since it's your flow. It doesn't mean I'm right and you're wrong or vice versa, it just means that you and I are unique unto ourselves.
The lesson here is to make sure that you are always following your flow, even when it comes to movies. Don't simply follow the prevailing trend simply because you want to fit in. You see, if you are suppressing your flow when it comes to movies it can also mean you are doing so in other aspects of your life. And that is a no-win situation.
David Weber & The Rishis
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