Violence and Sappy Movies

I don't watch much tv. I quit watching the news years ago, because it's all so bad and I just felt terrible after watching it. I still follow US politics (yay, an election year) but I get my fix on ccn.com. I fell out of watching most tv due to my studies, and was finding that I just didn't have the attention span to watch anything where I'd either figure out who-dunnit or the punchline a good half an hour before it was revealed via the plot.

Of course non-of the Masters recommend watching tv because you should be off your ass doing something productive; mainly because it doesn't get one "vibrating" at the right frequency. It's full of negativity, violence, bad news...and here's the thing...it's all external and has nothing to do with you. Why watch any of that and feel bad??

Tonight my family was over for a visit, and Dad of course has to watch the news for the 3rd time today. Brother had to watch the news. The headlines? "Expectant Moms Who Drink Coffee Increase Risk for Miscarriage", "Instead of Planning a Wedding, She's Planning a Funeral", "Stock Market Crashes (OMG THE SKY IS FALLING)". I was so indifferent to it all. I know that sounds callous, but I am. It has nothing to do with me. The family was shocked when I announced the "No more news in my house" rule. I'm the Social Studies major in the house, but those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it. Nothing has ever been solved by anyone staring at the tv and shaking in their boots from the horror of it all.

Anyway, it all got me thinking. My aversion to violence started 10 years ago when I was pregnant with A. I used to love going to see action movies or thrillers. I loved the shooting, the plots, the angst. I went to see "Face/Off" and was absolutely horrified. Maybe it was the baby inside my body and not being able to handle the scene where a 4 year-old was shot, but I walked out of it and had nightmares for days afterwards. I thought then, and I think now "Is it necessary to be witness to horror, pain, sadness, violence? What good does it serve?"

So yeah, anyway...fast forward to about 9 years later. I find that I just don't watch that stuff anymore, and if I do, I don't enjoy it at all. I remember early on in my relationship with the tall guy I was at his place and we were going to watch a movie. He chose this French film called "Manon of the Spring". It's actually two movies, and the basic premise is that this city family moves to the country to take over a flourishing vineyard from a family member that had passed on. The thing is that there was this spring that flowed through the property that was coveted by a neighbour--a greedy neighbour. So he damned up the spring so he could get all the water. The city man tried to bring this vineyard back to it's glory, but alas he could not. He ends up killing himself. In the second movie, the greedy neighbour falls in love with is daughter, but she finds out that he was the one who "killed" her father. There's this scene where the lovesick neighbour is chasing her up a hill shouting "Manon! Manon! J'Taime! J'Taime!". He of course regretted what he had done because he loved her so, but she was too heartbroken and betrayed to hear him out.

I remember thinking that because the tall guy is such a GUY he would want to watch something like, I dunno, Armegeddon. Sure he watches that stuff once in awhile, but he LOVED that movie. I remember during that hill scene, I was saying "He got what he deserved" and the tall guy was saying "I feel sorry for him, he loves her so much and there is nothing he would be able to do make it right and his heartsickness is his penance" or something to that effect.

So what did that teach me? Well, not to make assumptions about anyone (tall guy loves sappy well-acted and well-written movies), and that although the greedy neighbour created his world, there is always room in this world for love and forgiveness.

You don't need to watch violence and suffering to be entertained. I learned that that day too.