Lobotomy Movies

I was thinking about our discussion a couple of weeks ago in class about the appeal of fantasy genre fiction, and how some class members seem to find the extra stuff around the actual story distracting. I have had a similar discussion with my husband regarding movies.
My husband says that I like "lobotomy movies." He says they are: "The movies you can watch without ever having to think about anything." Well, I usually tell him that he likes overly dramatic "art films," designed to make people feel like going to their doctor for a prescription of psychotropics.
He also hates fantasy movies because they are unrealistic, and have a bunch of unnecessary parts and graphics to them. We were watching "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." He saw Davy Jones and said, "Bill Nighy is such a good actor. I don't understand why they have to put all the graphics on him." I don't really care if the guy has a squid on his face. It's entertaining, colorful, creative, and visually stimulating.

Luckily we don't really ever argue, but the closest we've gotten to an argument in a long time, was whether or not "The Transformers" movie could be art.

He says no.

I say yes.

The dialogue isn't advanced, and there is some juvenile humor in there, but the story is well thought out and the acting is decent. Besides that, visually-- it was art. The scene where the marines are in the desert being attacked by the scorpion Deceptacon had a beautiful use of monochromatic color, balance, and movement. The marines run down a sand dune at an angle that balances the scorpion's twisting of its body and weapons, which mimics the way the sand flies through the air. Yep...art. (photo from IMDb.com)

For me, regarding movies or literature, I like the creativity of the settings and characters in fantasy. I also like being in another world for a while. After a full day of advising and schedule building, arguing with students' parents, and typing on the SIS system-- I can't wait to see some elves romping through a beautiful forest. Today, I fought apathy,irresponsibility, and saved a schedule from disaster in Beaumont. I wish I were fighting the Orcs in Gondor, saving Middle Earth.

I guess my point is, good stories deserve visual icing. I don't see it as not using my imagination. I see it as appreciating someone else's vision. That's why I have enjoyed all of our assignments and the sites we've discovered on the web. Writing and images... I still say yin and yang.


All things Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf, Wizard, etc...
http://www.tolkientown.com/about_us.php