Rational Insanity
Superman moments
This is not about Superman -- just so you know.
As a writer my mentors have trained me to be very particular with believability when it comes to writing fiction. Personally, considering my meager background in film production when I was taking up my masters at the University of the Philippines - Open University, I don't really know whether this same principle applies in movie making. On the other hand, there is the matter of audience that has to be settled when making movies. For the audience to totally enjoy the film, it should leave no loose ends or generate doubts among the watching public. This is when I thought the topic my friend Marcel suggested about certain movie scenes that don't quite jive earned my column space for this week.
Anyway, this week we are going to talk about certain scenes from certain movies that leave you dumb-stunned and sometimes with a laugh boiling up from the pit of your stomach. These are the scenes that are quite absurd if you just think of it in the sanest way possible. Of course, let's start off with Superman.
Do you remember the scene in Superman 1 where Lois Lane and Superman went flying in the air to the tune of Maureen Mcgovern's "Can you read my mind"? Well, if I were to review how the story should go, it's just Superman who has powers right? Then why doesn't the unsupported part of Lois's body hang down when they fly and Superman just holds her by the hand? Why doesn't she suffer from extreme pressure changes in the higher layers of the atmosphere? As far as I'm concerned, when we puncture the windows of an airplane while it's in the air, everything gets sucked out because of the intense pressure outside -- well, perhaps Lois's earwax got sucked out too, they probably just didn't think it would be nice to show tiny particles flying out of her ears in the movie in such a romantic scene. Why doesn't she suffer from lethal hypothermia while only wearing her nightgown high up in the icy cold night atmosphere? Do Superman's powers rub off on her? Oh, well, I guess you know what I mean when I talk about those 'why' moments in cinema.
Then there's the strange way of dying in Chinese movies. Did you notice that wherever on the actor's/actress's body the death blow is dealt, blood always flows out of the mouth? Now, unless all blood vessels in the body had a connection in the throat or the mouth then perhaps this would be plausible, but with my 'deep' understanding of anatomy during my college years I seriously doubt it. Oh and here's another one -- when the hero in a movie shoots at a car it suddenly explodes, or when a vehicle plummets from high above a cliff, it also explodes instantaneously. Weird! Hmmmm. Reminds me of the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner chase in cartoons -- blip-blip!
All right, what else, hmmmmm -- Oh, and in James Bond films, did you notice that all his leading women just coincidentally happen to be of a different nationality each time, and he always gets to 'do it' with them in the end? Convenient. Then there's the issue of suicide. In most films I've seen, people who jump to their deaths always seem to manage to maintain their poise, with silk or chiffon nightgowns flowing after them. In reality, when someone jumps off a building, regardless of how decided he/she is on killing him/herself, the human instinct of survival will always kick-in at the last moment and a person falling will always flail and lose poise no matter what! This is of course unless rigor mortis has already set in even before the person hits the ground.
Now, unless there is some alternate reality that exists in films, some movies are just 'darn-right' exaggerated and unbelievable. Yeah-yeah, you might say I am such a spoilsport and a killjoy because I find fault in these things when in fact I should be sitting tight and enjoying myself, but hey, sometimes you just can't believe your eyes and then you get that 'duh?' moment. But then again, that's what we watch movies for, right? To try and live our fantasies in an alternate reality that doesn't actually exist? Oh well, I probably am just a frigid, old spoiler. What 'ta heck!
Anyway, to top it all, I suggest you watch Jodie Foster's 'Flight Plan' then notice how the guy pursuing her manages to turn up at her house miles away after a pen was stuck into his left eye; or you might want to watch how a person can survive while his skull is open and his brains are being eaten with a spoon in 'Red Dragon'. Cool - yes - believable? I don't think so... but then again, that's why we watch movies, we want to believe that something unbelievable can actually be possible, well, yeah, everything is possible, but not everything is doable -- in real life, that is!
Be rational; be insane...every once in a while! TTFN!
Hello to my dearest readers, to Lea, Jenny, Am-am, Dot, Verona, James, Sheen, Hellpen, Anne, Mary Dale, Chan,Michelle, Zarthus, Jonald, Mr. Bobot, Vic, Vincent, and Rex, Alex, Arvin, Corz, Jim, Kiara, Malikh, Audrae, Franz, Hendrick, Janice, Jay, Jim, Jonathan, Mark, Marz, Mel, Pres, Nhonoy, Niel, Piper, Rheavil, Joey, Alma, Rodolfo, Ecker, Ryan, Roni, Ian, Narle, Sunny and to Anuj of CMC, I love you all! Byers! Salamat gid sa mga walang-hintong text and reactions nyo! Catch Rational Insanity in TNT's online edition, check us out at www.thenewstoday.info, text me at (0920)9254269, or email me at prague@eudoramail.com. Byers! Mmmmmmmwah!