Friday, June 27, 2008

A really wonderful essay on what makes for a truly good story and why I hated the movie 'Crash':

"And that’s the secret, isn’t it? Bad writers and directors of the kind I’ve alluded to always want to offer us the easy way out—the lie that we’re superior to the characters on the stage or the screen; put another way, they create false, two-dimensional characters we can only feel superior to. It’s the genuine artists who bind us to great sinners ..."
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3 comments:

Ben said...

Well, I sort of felt that way about Ryan Phillipe's character in "Crash". He's supposed to be a "good guy" that we identify with, and then he does the worst thing in the movie.

But certainly there are movies with better character development.

1:29 PM
Anonymous said...

I always enjoy hearing someone give their insight to a craft or art. (Anyone see the documentary on samurai sword making?) I just came back to say what Ben said. But I see he said it already, so now I got nothing.

Also, I like surprise(!) endings (e.g. Sixth Sense). Yeah, they're like candy with a thrill akin to Pop Rocks. But it's fizzing, man. In your mouth!

10:00 AM
Anonymous said...

It was a good essay. I hated both Crash and American Beauty. I was seriously angry at both movies. I couldn't even get through Crash and everyone kept saying, oh you need to watch it to the end. It all works out. As if saving the woman from a burning car is enough to cleanse the character, or the movie as a whole.

7:39 PM

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