More about the way I watch movies

[msagara]

maiac wrote:

This sounds exactly like the kind that I need these days. Too many scriptwriters think that they have to do unpleasant and unfair things to their characters to make the story "dramatic".

And I started to answer this in the comment thread and then realized that I had enough to say that it might (might!) go long.

I don't actually mind, in context, when unpleasant things happen to characters; I dislike intensely when it feels contrived, because dammit, if you're going to do something obviously contrived couldn't it at least be nice or good? (I forgive contrived happiness).

I think, for me, I have to genuinely like the characters. In the previously mentioned Letters to Juliet, I actually liked the fiancee. When he did something very unromantic, my thought was "ouch, you idiot" and not "what a jerk". I understood why he was attractive to her -- to anyone -- and also at the same time why he could never make her happy.

I liked the fact that he was entirely unselfconscious in all his reactions and interactions.

So even though it was a romantic comedy and you knew going in he wasn't going to be the guy she married, I still *liked* him.

Let me come up with an entirely different example. I started to watch the movie How to lose a guy in 10 days (I may have the movie name wrong.) I watched maybe the first 20 minutes of that movie and then turned to my friend and said: "I can't stand either of these two. This movie is really going to have to knock my socks off for me to care -- at all -- whether or not they have a happy ending." (He said: Okay, we're not finishing this one. He had to survive my intense fury at the end of Atonement, a movie about which I can rant in rage for days).

I need to like something about the characters. I realize that this is the thing that makes my tastes so entirely about *me* because obviously the above movie did well and many people enjoyed it. What *I* find compelling or likeable in a character doesn't always work for other people; what I find sympathetic can make andpuff grind her teeth and look for a clue bat to hit said character with.

But I want sympathetic characters. Or rather, characters with whom I can sympathize -- and a lot of the time, movies don't have that, for me. If it's a straight action picture, they can all be cardboard -- but not irritating cardboard (I will not rant about James Bond either. I won't. I'm strong).

So although Letters to Juliet was not, in many many objective ways, something to write home about -- I really liked it.

Comments

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Particularly in mystery book series, there is a tendency to randomly kill off the love interest (usually a husband, wife or fiance) after building the relationship over a number of books. I have a LibraryThing tag for it ADDL (Another Damn Dead Lover.)

What I dislike is when it's obvious that this is what's about to happen. If, for instance, things have finally worked out well and people are in a happy place and I know this means someone is about to Die, it annoys me -- because it seems like so much set-up.

If, while people are still trying to work things out, someone dies, it feels less contrived to me, go figure. Loss is tragic and it's painful, and I understand that.

But it's almost like it's a game of gotcha -- ha! you thought they'd be happy? Now this is really going to Shock You!

[kchew.livejournal.com]

It's why I hate Thomas Hardy so deeply.

[braider.livejournal.com]

I have the opposite problem with mysteries - might be because of the ones I've stumbled on, since I don't tend to read mysteries in general. I fall into them via authors who do multiple genres. For example, Nora Roberts, who seems to declare, "Hah! Betcha didn't see this one coming, didja?" To which the answer is "No, because there were absolutely no hints and even after the unveiling this seems implausible to the point of impossibility in terms of the characters as they were presented." That's one of my biggest pet peeves.

I liked Atonement largely for the sex scene; out of curiosity, if you can do so, can you provide a bulleted list of the 5-10 top issues you have with the story? (Note that I've only seen the movie, never read the book.)