Escape from reality
By Adrian Finch | Feb. 1, 2010Life has been pretty easy lately. I spent the first week of classes – more formally known as syllabus week – sitting through 10-minute lectures and going back to my apartment to take a nap, and the second week reading Texts From Last Night on my laptop during lectures and falling asleep on my notebooks. But now that we're into the third week of classes, things are starting to get slightly harder. Lectures are getting longer, I have more assignments written into my weekly planner and I actually have reading to do from textbooks that are so heavy that I'm sure could stop gunfire – or break a window at the very least. However, I still have time to occasionally flip through the channels of the UB movie network – a way of passing some time that I've found quite effective, especially now that Jersey Shore is over. And a few days ago, I stumbled upon the movie Julie and Julia. After watching Meryl Streep and Amy Adams grace my TV screen for about the fifth or sixth time, I started to realize why I kept watching this movie instead of the other movies, like Hustle and Flow – but I think it's obvious why no one would want to subject themselves to a movie about a pimp from Memphis. I love love stories, and I love romantic comedies. When I flip on the evening news or glance at the front page of the New York Times, it makes me so sad to see the horrible things that happen outside of my Buffalo bubble. Working for a newspaper especially, I'm forced to come to the realization that bad things happen everyday. I'm not sure if it makes me naïve that I'd like to forget about it and pretend that peace exists and the world is a place of love by channeling my inner John Lennon, but sometimes, I just need a break from reality. When I watch a movie, it's a time to relax my mind and to stop thinking about the awful things. It's a time to take a break from actuality and watch two people find friendship or to watch Amy Adams learn to fall in love with cooking and Julia Child. I guess you could simply say that I like the feel good movies. I like a movie that makes me feel happy, that can give me positive things to think about and can make me smile. Why people would want to subject themselves to horror movies or twisted thrillers about murderers and rapists, I just don't understand. I think that there are already enough negative things to think about on a daily basis – I don't need to pay money to watch it in the theaters. Give me When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail or Beaches any day. I'll pass on the horribleness that was The Strangers. Am I just a scared and pathetic loser when it comes to stepping away from the latest Saw installment? Maybe. Or maybe I just know that sometimes it's nice to watch people be happy and have everything work out for the better – at least for a few hours until I turn on the news again. E-mail: adrian.finch@ubspectrum.com
