There will, of course, be a couple of madmen who will take the cinematic reality at face value, but these are exceptions, what can I say about them. You and I are normal people and somehow we will be able to distinguish reality from fiction. And that's not a fact …
We all love movies. And we all know that cinema is only cinema, that Batmen, Spider-Men and Vampires live only on the screen. That is, there will, of course, be a couple of madmen who will take the cinematic reality at face value, but these are exceptions, what can I say about them. You and I are normal people and somehow we will be able to distinguish reality from fiction.
And that's not a fact …
1. In fact, we can not distinguish reality from fiction
You've probably watched Braveheart. And you probably know that this film is based on real historical events. Mel Gibson's character was actually called William Wallace, and he really lived in Scotland during the time of castles, horses and beautiful ladies. And we, of course, all understand that some details were thought out - the real Wallace could well not have jumped from the balcony into the saddle so beautifully and slowly, as Hollywood demonstrated.
But what are the details? What is true and what is fiction? The evil king, with whom Wallace fights, the murder of his beloved Marron, the affair with Princess Isabella, the dying cry of "Freedom!" - which of all this is history, and which is invented to heighten cinematic drama?
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You hardly have the answers. And what, in essence, is the difference? These are little things that do not affect your life in any way …
Maybe it is, of course, and so, but only after the triumphant procession of the movie "Jaws", for example, shark hunting became so popular that we almost exterminated these fish completely.
Absolutely everyone who watched this film was aware that the story in it was invented, and the characters were just actors. Everyone was aware that there are no such big sharks that can devour a boat. But when a scientist character from the movie said that the death of people can only be stopped by killing a shark, quite adequate people for some reason took this part at face value.
And they went to kill sharks based on what Hollywood told them.
After the premiere of the film "The Best Shooter" (in the USSR and Russia it is better known as Top Gun), the flow of people wishing to enter flight schools increased by 500 percent. When "The Karate Kid" came out, all the children suddenly wanted to master martial arts. And so on …
Of course, if the movie tells us something that goes against our previous ideas about life, we are likely to ignore this information. Or it will take thousands of hours of excellent art to “reforge” us. But nonetheless…
2. Stories are written to control our behavior
This is not just another paranoid conspiracy theory - we mean the very origins of human culture. Think - why are we so happy to watch all these endless superhero movies? How do they "catch" us?
Various variations of stories about extraordinary brave men and strong men have appeared since time immemorial. They passed from mouth to mouth, when there was still no written language. What for?
It's very simple - they had to teach people how to act and what to be.
Thousands of years ago, when our ancestors lived in tribes and hunted wild animals, there was no written history, no educational system that would hammer different correctness into children's heads for years.
And this was a serious problem, because the younger generation had to be taught not only the wisdom of hunting and fishing. Wars broke out between the tribes, which means that there was a regular need for those who were ready to fight and even, if necessary, die for their native tribe.
That is, it was required to convey to the children why they should hate people living on the other side of the river than their tribe is better than all others, and why should they go to fight in the next war, although this is scary and completely reluctant.
In order to put all this wisdom in young heads, the mentors had two options: A) to force the history of the tribe to cram for years, which, by the way, was still not written, or B) to tell a fascinating story.
For example, how a neighboring evil tribe planned to drive all "ours" into slavery, but there was one brave man who fought alone all night, not paying attention to the four enemy arrows sticking out of his mighty chest. And he turned the adversaries into a shameful flight. Of course, after such a story, every little student wanted to be this very miracle hero.
Of course, option B is preferable in all respects. And it doesn't matter what in this story is true and what is exaggeration. The main thing is that she forms a socially useful picture of the world in the younger generation, and convinces him to be who the tribe needs him.
This is not necessarily a bad thing - your tribe may well be better than the one on the other side of the river, and there may well be a crowd of real heroes in your family history. And a fictional story is slipped to you not because they want to cheat, but because this is the only way for the tribe to survive.
If we perceive the "myth" as a lie that must be exposed at all costs, then for our ancestors it was, in essence, a more effective version of the truth. Not very tiresome for the listener, omitting unnecessary details, and easy to remember. And, of course, aerobatics - to squeeze out a tear.
The myths about heroes sacrificing themselves for the victory of good over evil are exactly what allowed and allows civilizations to develop. In the life of society, buildings and roads are hardware, and myths are software.
And while our ancestors listened about their heroes, gathered around the fire, we buy a ticket to the cinema and go to look at Batman, James Bond or Harry Potter. The presentation has changed, but the purpose of these stories is still the same.
3. The story writer always has a hidden plan
Wits Test: What all these characters have in common:
Batman
Spiderman
Superman
Luke Skywalker from Star Wars
Frodo from The Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Well, guess what? That's right, they are all orphans.
Do you think this is an accident? Do you think the author was just tossing a coin? Or maybe this is such a secret button, by clicking on which you can put anything in our brain, bypassing logic?
In fact, all of these stories have amazing power. Every time you leave the theater, you are a slightly different person. Let it be a millimeter different, but every year you manage to view hundreds of hours of such stories. And if you add up all the changes, you will see that these stories, in essence, shape you.
No, there is no conspiracy here (well, or almost none), and yet in every film story there is definitely some kind of super idea.
"Transformers", for example, prove that the battle is beautiful and exciting, that there is a certain eroticism in military equipment, that smashing everything in its path is fun and effective and always goes without consequences. And, most importantly, in order to win, good must be more brutal, domineering and aggressive than evil.
We do not at all believe that Michael Bay (director and producer; approx. Mixstuff.ru) is a secret instrument of some dark forces that are trying to brainwash you. Not at all. At least not any more than the creators of Jaws intended to exterminate sharks.
They all tried to make a box office movie. That's all. But, regardless of the true intentions of the authors of the next Hollywood blockbuster, a certain "message" is always present in it, and it strives to crawl into your consciousness and settle there forever.
That is why, when one side foaming at the mouth argues that “Hollywood is trying to brainwash us,” and the other ironically remarks that “Michael Bey doesn't have enough brains for this,” both are wrong.
The author of "The Lord of the Rings" was repeatedly accused of racism, because he has bad orcs, simply because they are orcs, gnomes are tight-fisted, because gnomes, and Aragon is a hero, because he has such blood. These accusations are both fair and not at the same time. They are fair, because that is how everything in the world is arranged by Tolkien.
No one in the fictional world hesitates to make sweeping generalizations. Frodo's magic sword glows at the approach of certain creatures - orcs, and not some enemies at all. Try to write a story in which a pistol lights up when the Arabs approach, for example …
But, at the same time, the accusations against Tolkien are unfair, because he was not guided by considerations such as: “Let me write something, perhaps, to strengthen the superiority of the white race. And let the elves be the white race! He just wrote as it was written.
There is no conspiracy here, no conspiracies, at least in 99 percent of cases. Usually it is just a group of people working in films, each with their own sick themes, prejudices, superstitions, ignorance and addictions. They can be conscious or unconscious. But they are still transmitted to the viewer, because it is from them that the stories are molded.
Michael Bey has a certain attitude towards women and their role in the world - and after you watch his film, you will at least slightly adjust your own opinion on this issue.
4. You were raised and raised by popular culture
Without hesitation, answer: how many phone calls are you entitled to if you are arrested?
One, right? “I have the right to one phone call,” - almost every arrested person will not fail to tell the police officer who arrested him.
And then the policeman will be happy to explain that this is just an urban legend. This hypothetical arrested man, and so do you - you both believe this phone call because you saw it on TV.
In fact, almost everything we know about the justice system comes from blue screens. Have any of you ever been on a jury? Have you ever attended the meetings, did anyone explain to you how everything should work?
This is why films have done so well in shaping your personality: because you subconsciously believe that most of these fictional stories were not fictional.
Of course, you know that True Lies with Schwarzenegger is just a mediocre action movie, and you know perfectly well that in real life no one could jump off a Washington skyscraper. But you don't know that there are no skyscrapers in Washington at all. Even if the film was fiction, you had no doubts about the part of the skyscraper, simply because there was no reason for it.
Now let's think about how many other aspects of your life you perceive through Hollywood. If you are from the countryside, how do you know what life is like in a city and vice versa? If you've never been to Paris, where do the images come from?
The reality is that the vast deposits of facts that fill your brain vaults have been gleaned from popular culture, and for the most part, you don't remember where that came from. This is called source amnesia. In any case, you will consider a certain fact as true, unless information appears that contradicts it. By the way, this is why Mythbusters are still on the air.
So who cares that gas tanks don't explode when you shoot them? But what if a bunch of your quiz-worthy curiosities aren't accurate?
What do you think this principle does not apply to something important?
When you go on a first date, you have a picture in your brain of how everything should be - how you both should behave, which usually a couple of people do in such cases, which of you should pay, and so on. Where does this picture come from? Did you take a dating course in elementary school? Or did your parents tell you about it? Of course not. You saw all this on TV.
In other words, your world is shaped by fictional stories. Instinctively, you reject the idea because you hate the very idea that someone other than you can make of you who you are.
"Nonsense! You will say. I watch movies and TV shows for fun! It allows me to turn off my brain and relax!"
Right, but why does it give you relaxation? Fiction is great because it allows you to move away from the boring real world and plunge into the one you would rather live in. And this fiction, it essentially defines us, making us who we are - after all, we spend our entire lives trying to make the real world look like fiction. Remember - first there was science fiction - space travel then.
We are still driven by myth.
SVETLANA GOGOL