Wednesday, August 06, 2008

What I blame movies for

People love to blame movies for stuff. All types of violent stuff. Columbine was The Matrix’s fault. VTech was Oldboy’s fault. Just last week, if I’m not mistaken, I saw a news story about a guy who went on a weekend Natural Born Killers bender to pump himself up to kill a bunch of people.

People are very impressionable, it’s just a fact. Many people just don’t have imaginations to think on their own. But I think it’s ridiculous to only blame movies for the stupid and violent things that people do, when they cause much more damage to society in other ways. These are the things I blame movies for:

• I blame movies for making people think that “Happily Ever After” occurs most of the time.

• I blame movies for making people think that all it takes is dedication and hard work to make your dreams come true.

• I blame movies for making people think that honesty is the best policy.

• I blame movies for making people think that crime doesn’t pay.

• I blame movies for making people think that the good guy always wins in the end.

• I blame movies for saying that at the end of the day, the world is basically a fair place, and if it isn’t then people are working very hard to make it so and they’re winning.

• I blame movies for making people feel that giving up, quitting or cutting loses aren’t options. It’s either win or die trying.

• I blame movies for saying that love conquers all.

• I blame movies for dictating that all you need is perseverance when going after somebody you love and making it look like romance instead of stalking.

• I blame movies for making people think that things are only good or bad, black or white, without showing the innumerable shades of gray that we all display.

• I blame movies for making people think that their significant others can be perfect.

• I blame movies for reinforcing stereotypes and sexism.

• I blame movies for legitimizing the concept of “True Love.”

• I blame movies for giving people the impression that their very typical and average problems are extremely dramatic.

• I blame movies for hyping up single-parent families so much.

• I blame movies for making people think the improbable and the unlikely are regular occurrences.

There are plenty more thing to blame movies for. I like to blame them for making me fat and bald and for making me think I can jump out of a third story window, guns blazing, and land safely in the street below.

What do you blame movies for?

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