Learning to People

Film is a form of entertainment, unlike any other for the way it has changed, molded, and evolved to survive the ever-changing culture movements and time periods of the humankind. Movies are windows into the past, present, and often idealistic or expected futures. They show the ideals and social movements as well as the growth of culture. So many people watch movies, because the media connects them to the world and to others, it helps them to recognize thoughts and feelings of those around them. Whether a movie is a historical fiction about a Native American woman who talks to trees, a documentary about cats,  or a fantasy about a far-off unfamiliar world, it is a type of learning experience. We can connect with characters, situations, and different messages that the movies convey and the same way we can interpret them in endless ways according to our own experiences and beliefs. This generation has never been without movies. Before we could read or comprehend words of a story, we were watching them. The sounds and images became what helped us gather a view of a world we had, yet to meet in full. They taught us how to talk, how to show emotions, and how to face situations that were not always satisfactory to our own wants. They gave us heroes, villains, and a sense of good and bad. Movies showed us how the world works, even if we were too young to fully grasp what it meant.

An abused or bullied child might see Harry Potter and see an escape was previously there was none and a new connection to another person in a world where they thought they were alone. It sounds silly, but in the mind of the child, Harry is someone who saved them and taught them how to act in a similar situation. Conversely, a child who has been a bully might identify with Harry’s enemies and realize that they have been the villain in the story. It may sound simple, but that is the effect that movies have had on us as a generation. They became habits. As an adult, those feelings we felt as a child are echoed and we keep craving more diversity and more experience in a world that we cannot truly understand, even with Frodo, Harry, and Batman to show us the way. Though there is other ways to learn these lessons, they are not as accessible or widely popular as movies. Reading books and comics can introduce someone to those characters and teach them about life and make those connections, but not everyone can read, some do not want to put forth an effort, and others just appreciate that they can get the messages and emotions in such varied ways.

Film has been with this generation since birth and it has change dramatically in that short time period though we may not really recognize that. These changes draw us in, but so do the constants. Movies bridge across generations, because we keep watching them over the years. The ideas about what the world was like during certain time periods can learned through the films that were made, hence this class.  In the beginning of film, the novelty of it was probably the most important draw to movies; now it is their endurance and their constant growth that keep drawing people in.  As the industry grew and more and more people were exposed to it, they were able to better understand and learn from film. That path has lead us to the society we are now–one that watches a metric crap-ton of movies.