what can a poor boy do

[wattsu]

Every once in a while, a film comes along that I'm not expecting. This is no small task, considering that much of my social life is planned around movie release schedules. More to the point, however, I love finding movies I wasn't planning on going to see originally and I love it even more when they turn out to be really good.

Case in point: V

Comments

[stevencwatts]

Thanks for the mention, but I think you may be oversimplifying my point. I didn't want (or expect) the movie to hand all of my answers to me. I just thought that it grazed the surface in ways that, while the audience could find depth, I wasn't convinced it was entirely present in the film itself. To me, this had the depth of, say, Matrix Reloaded. A bit, a few interesting questions, but not mind-blowingly so. I would've felt more comfortable if the movie had at least attempted to point out that V might not be a hero, that his actions might not be right, that the ends don't justify the means. I think all of those things you got out of it aren't things the movie presented, but rather things that you inferred from it. Congratulations on giving it more depth than it could give itself

[wattsu]

But surely there has to be something there in the first place for me to infer something more from it. That's the great thing about art - it's inherently subjective. Like I said, everyone is going to come away from this movie feeling something different. You and I did not have the same experience - we can agree on a lot of things, but we came away with different experiences and conclusions. Art means different things to different people, and it's as much a reflection of the beholder as it is a force unto itself

[stevencwatts]

Really? I didn't see a seed. V was a hero. Period. I was never convinced that the movie put forth a genuine effort to explore his character from more than one angle. And given the fact that the entire movie focussed on his character, you would think they would have had plenty of time to slip in a line or two.

Anyway, yes, art is subjective. I'm happy you found depth in it. I'm not arguing that people can't get depth, I'm commenting that the movie had very little of its own to offer. I can look at Duchamp's "Fountain" for hours and get tons of meaning out of it. Tons of art critics, scholars and students do this every day. (Trust me, I minored in Art History

[wattsu]

We can argue about this all night, but ultimately it comes back to the same thing: I took something different away from it than you did. Neither of us is wrong

[wattsu]

But then the question remains, why are we both being so critical of this movie? Is it simply because it was hyped as being so political? Is it the at times uncomfortable parallels that can be drawn to modern political extremism? Or is it simply because deep down, we know that it's challenging our belief structure, or even simply outright saying that it's wrong? It seems a little ridiculous to get so introspective over a movie starring Hugo Weaving in a porcelain mask, and yet here we are.

The bottom line for me is this, and it trumps everything else: the movie made me feel. It made me feel things that not a lot of other movies do. It made me think about certain things more deeply than I normally would. In short - it engaged me on a unique emotional and mental level. Maybe it's just a matter of seeing the movie on the right night at the right time in my life. But I'm willing to forgive what it isn't because of what, to me, it isNow does this mean I'm going to cast aside all that I am to worship a comic book movie as holy writ? Of

[stevencwatts]

But then the question remains, why are we both being so critical of this movie?

Because it took itself so freaking seriously and failed to deliver. I already addressed that question. I don't mind when a movie isn't deep, but it bothers me when it thinks it is. ;)