I am often amazed at the genre movies and programs people apparently watch: The Walking Dead, Jurassic Park, Jaws, The Hunger Games, The God Father, The Titanic…that kind of entertainment.
I don’t get it. To me, watching the Titanic sink…time after time…is like watching the clothes dryer spin around and around. And Jaws is just plain silly. Come on now. We can sink war ships, but we can’t kill a fish, even if it is big and smart? Get real.
I’ll also confess I haven’t watched Jurassic Park for more than a few minutes. Again, we can kill tanks, but apparently we can’t kill big scaly flesh and blood critters.
Years ago I did watch the original black and white version of The Titanic, but that was before I knew the boat was going to sink. I haven’t watched the new versions. I mean, the boat sinks every time. Where’s the suspense in that?
And I once watched “some” of the old Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Birds. That one was just dumb. I thought, before turning it off, “Get a shotgun or a baseball bat and kill those things.” I didn’t get it then, and I don’t get it now.
As for The Walking Dead, the whole premise is flawed. This is another one of those “get real” gems. (Could it be people watch it because it’s okay to “kill” all those walking dead?)
And I suppose I should mention all the “reality” programs like Survivor or Naked and Alone. It’s sort of like those “death defying” films about climbers scaling sheer rock faces. How dangerous can it be if the photographer is shooting pictures from above the climbers? And how “naked and alone” are you really if the camera crew is filming the whole thing? (I think that program survives because it is mildly titillating for some of us.)
As for the Godfather, it just seems wrong to celebrate criminal organizations. Besides, the clips from the film make the story look ugly, and who likes ugly? I sure don’t.
Maybe I’m just out of touch, but I like a little suspense and a touch of “believable reality” in in my fantasies. I keep thinking about the old Sherlock Holmes mysteries: a little danger, a little intrigue, a mystery unraveled by Sherlock’s intelligence, a little murder, but no gore. Just great stories.
I have no plans to ever watch Jaws, The Walking Dead, The Hunger Games, The God Father, Jurassic Park, or the Titanic (again.) I reckon I’ll just have to live a culturally deprived life.
Rod
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