Jackie Lentz: Blog #2 (Student Topic) Movie Themes

I remember the first time I watched the movie Signs, I was so surprised by the message of faith that I was confused why anyone would think that movie was about aliens. I mean there are aliens in it but they are obviously just a small part of the larger plot in that film. I love being able to recognize themes in films and enjoying them on different levels, especially when movies are multidimensional. Unfortunately I love finding themes so much sometimes I fall into the trap of making them up, but otherwise I think of themes in movies sometimes related to the genre. I have been waiting for a new idea in a movie for a long time. It seems that all the movies now-a-days are books turned into films or remakes. The idea of the original script seems hopeless, until great movies like Inception bring me back to liking movies again. One thing I used to love to do when watching a movie, is to over simplify the themes of the film. I used to make a game of how many movies could be over simplified into love stories. Braveheart, was one of the first movies I claimed was a love story with the occasional battle scene, because he goes through all the trouble of fighting and never backing down because the love of his life had been taken from him. Gladiator had a similar love story, where the main characters aren’t so driven by the love interests they acquire in the film but rather are propelled by the past experience of true love that sustain them for so long that losing that love forces them to act and to fight. I was reading Entertainment Weekly, and Drew Barrymore is doing another with the producers of He’s Just Not That Into You, and she says that “love is never gonna be a tired subject.” I think that is so true, even when there are stupid movies like Disney’s Prom coming out this summer, even adults can watch that movie and remember the moments of young love in their lives that live in us. Love can always find a way to make us remember or imagine a feeling that cannot be taken away.