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Relating to characters in movies

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League_Girl
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21 Dec 2016, 6:16 pm

feral botanist wrote:
I used to always tell my ex-girlfriend if I want real life, I would just live it, not watch it.

I think that the only reason to watch a movie depicting real life is to connect with the characters and experience their life.



I have always watched it because I love drama and because I was interested in crime so there were movies about it and I wanted to learn about real life and learn about right from wrong to avoid getting in trouble with the law. This was mostly with life time movies because I felt they were more realistic than Hollywood.


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21 Dec 2016, 6:17 pm

FandomConnection wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
FandomConnection wrote:
I like sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero movies etc., because the plot is less based on the personality and relationships of the characters, and more on technology, magic, or powers. Most movies about ordinary people going about their drama-filled lives are very boring for me, and difficult to understand.

Then, I think that characters in sci-fi works are some of the most human (like Spock :D) because they don't need to make weird, or unnatural choices, or behave in an exaggerated or petty way for there to be a plot. When there is a fantastic plot, the characters are free to be natural and human. That's what I think, anyway.


But he's not supposed to be a human, but I get what you mean about characters seeming a little more natural and not putting on a big social act all the time.


I was making an allusion to Kirk's statement that Spock's soul was the most human of all that he had encountered, despite Spock being half Vulcan and adopting a 'logical and beneficial' Vulcan lifestyle.
'Of all the souls I've encountered in my travels, his [Spock's] was the most human.'


In that context it makes more sense but don't think I've heard that quote before. I've only seen like two episodes of the original series and the movie based on it they released in 2009. Also I've seen some episodes of the next generation, because my boyfriend found it on t.v, and it caught my interest as well.....so I've had rather limited exposure.


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feral botanist
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21 Dec 2016, 7:02 pm

If there are too many character, I can't keep track of them. I am faceblind, so I generally don't have enough time to learn their voices.



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21 Dec 2016, 10:57 pm

StarTrekker wrote:
I'm more interested in character personalities than I am in plot; if the character seems interesting, quirky, or otherwise unusual to me, I'm likely to enjoy the movie. I don't like films about average people who enjoy average things living average lives though, that's boring for me.

I also don't like movies that are too weird or random, like Alice in Wonderland, What Dreams May Come, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc. because the randomness is too confusing for me to keep track of, and it actually makes me anxious that I don't understand what's going on, as if I'm stuck in that movie's universe, with nothing logical or sensible to keep hold of in order to make sense of what's going on around me.


I completely understand this. I am very much interested in the personalities of the characters, I just don't like it when relationships or personal crises drive the plot. External events are more understandable and interesting for me. I won't really enjoy a film/television show/book unless there is a character that I like (their personality etc.).

I agree that it's unpleasant to watch/read something that makes no sense. It's frightening to realise that the plot has no logical meaning, as if the author/director is no longer taking care of the audience and is just throwing random events in their faces. Besides, I get bored if the plot makes no sense.


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FandomConnection
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21 Dec 2016, 11:01 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
FandomConnection wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
FandomConnection wrote:
I like sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero movies etc., because the plot is less based on the personality and relationships of the characters, and more on technology, magic, or powers. Most movies about ordinary people going about their drama-filled lives are very boring for me, and difficult to understand.

Then, I think that characters in sci-fi works are some of the most human (like Spock :D) because they don't need to make weird, or unnatural choices, or behave in an exaggerated or petty way for there to be a plot. When there is a fantastic plot, the characters are free to be natural and human. That's what I think, anyway.


But he's not supposed to be a human, but I get what you mean about characters seeming a little more natural and not putting on a big social act all the time.


I was making an allusion to Kirk's statement that Spock's soul was the most human of all that he had encountered, despite Spock being half Vulcan and adopting a 'logical and beneficial' Vulcan lifestyle.
'Of all the souls I've encountered in my travels, his [Spock's] was the most human.'


In that context it makes more sense but don't think I've heard that quote before. I've only seen like two episodes of the original series and the movie based on it they released in 2009. Also I've seen some episodes of the next generation, because my boyfriend found it on t.v, and it caught my interest as well.....so I've had rather limited exposure.


Well, I've seen only the latest Star Trek film. No television, no original films. I've had even less exposure than you. But I do enjoy reading about it on the internet. That's where I get most of my knowledge on the topic from. :D


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21 Dec 2016, 11:06 pm

feral botanist wrote:
If there are too many character, I can't keep track of them. I am faceblind, so I generally don't have enough time to learn their voices.


I agree. Have you ever seen an old James Bond film? There are parts where MI6 people seem to have meetings, and all of them are Caucasian men with short, dark hair, who are wearing suits. I got so confused. I didn't even know if James Bond was there.

This is another reason why I like Harry Potter, Star Wars, superhero movies etc. because the characters are usually very distinctive. In X-Men, for example (films from comics) everybody looks very different, dresses in their unique clothing, and has different powers, so they can be recognised easily.


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feral botanist
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21 Dec 2016, 11:57 pm

League_Girl wrote:
feral botanist wrote:
I used to always tell my ex-girlfriend if I want real life, I would just live it, not watch it.

I think that the only reason to watch a movie depicting real life is to connect with the characters and experience their life.



I have always watched it because I love drama and because I was interested in crime so there were movies about it and I wanted to learn about real life and learn about right from wrong to avoid getting in trouble with the law. This was mostly with life time movies because I felt they were more realistic than Hollywood.


I am the opposite :)



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22 Dec 2016, 12:01 am

FandomConnection wrote:
feral botanist wrote:
If there are too many character, I can't keep track of them. I am faceblind, so I generally don't have enough time to learn their voices.


I agree. Have you ever seen an old James Bond film? There are parts where MI6 people seem to have meetings, and all of them are Caucasian men with short, dark hair, who are wearing suits. I got so confused. I didn't even know if James Bond was there.

This is another reason why I like Harry Potter, Star Wars, superhero movies etc. because the characters are usually very distinctive. In X-Men, for example (films from comics) everybody looks very different, dresses in their unique clothing, and has different powers, so they can be recognised easily.



I find that I will ignore what happens in those parts of the movie, but I also do it in real life.

When I am at a meeting, I tend to ignore people if I can not tell then apart, or I avoid co-workers that I can not tell apart.

I have found that the women I am attracted to are often distinctive looking, easy to recognise.



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22 Dec 2016, 12:08 am

I've related to Austin Powers for almost 10 years. Most of that was rebellion against being seen as clueless. I wore horn-rimmed glasses in order to look more intelligent to the people in my life at that time.

I've related to Sid from Flushed Away for 2 and a half years. I was coming to terms to the fact that I'm a slow learner and that I'm not as perfect as I previously thought I was.

I've related to Peahawk from the Pacific Blue Cross commercials as well as Om Nom from Cut the Rope from 2013 up until this present day.

I relate to Sgt. Schultz of Hogan's Heroes. He's pretty much Sid from Flushed Away as a soldier. We're both big, autistic crybabies who have problems with food and weight among other things.


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untilwereturn
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22 Dec 2016, 7:22 am

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Oh god The Truman Show. I thought it was a strange movie and I also found it upsetting because I didn't like how Truman was treated. He was treated like he was different when in fact it was because he was being used to star in a reality TV show that is all fake and everyone else were actors and he was the only one real. I couldn't imagine finding out as an adult that my whole life was pretend and everyone else was all pretend and I would wonder about my real parents and I would feel my life had been stolen and I had lived in a prison my whole life. The only relatable part was him being treated different. I believe he was normal but he was just randomly selected to star on a TV show and I couldn't imagine giving up my own child to have him be raised by actors. But perhaps his birth mom didn't want him so instead of placing him for adoption, she placed him for a TV show.

I only saw this movie the first time because my parents wanted to see it and I knew nothing about this movie. But I remember in the movie they start screwing up and Truman starts to figure it out like why can't he leave town. Every time he tries, something always happens and then he hits the wall when he is rafting and that is basically the end of the Truman Show because they finally let him leave. Just imagine if one wanted to be an actress and it turns out they have been one the whole time.


I can see from that vantage point why you didn't care for the movie. For me, I was less interested in the immediate personal dynamics than I was in the larger philosophical questions it raised: about things like free will, society's attempts to control people, individual autonomy, and so forth.

When he runs into the wall, and the full reality of his situation finally sinks in, was a really profound moment. I remember hearing people laugh nervously in the movie theater at that moment. It really annoyed me that they could be so obtuse as to think that was funny. They clearly didn't get the message; that wasn't meant to be a comedic bit. It was the moment of his awakening to reality and the end of the false life that was all he'd ever known until that point.

In a nutshell, I saw it as a deeply philosophical movie - with some humor thrown in to carry the story line.


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22 Dec 2016, 9:41 pm

I tend to associate myself (not exactly "relate" to) game or TV characters more than movie ones, but I do associate myself with Alex from A Clockwork Orange.


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22 Dec 2016, 9:43 pm

Why Alex?



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23 Dec 2016, 3:25 am

untilwereturn wrote:
Quote:
Oh god The Truman Show. I thought it was a strange movie and I also found it upsetting because I didn't like how Truman was treated. He was treated like he was different when in fact it was because he was being used to star in a reality TV show that is all fake and everyone else were actors and he was the only one real. I couldn't imagine finding out as an adult that my whole life was pretend and everyone else was all pretend and I would wonder about my real parents and I would feel my life had been stolen and I had lived in a prison my whole life. The only relatable part was him being treated different. I believe he was normal but he was just randomly selected to star on a TV show and I couldn't imagine giving up my own child to have him be raised by actors. But perhaps his birth mom didn't want him so instead of placing him for adoption, she placed him for a TV show.

I only saw this movie the first time because my parents wanted to see it and I knew nothing about this movie. But I remember in the movie they start screwing up and Truman starts to figure it out like why can't he leave town. Every time he tries, something always happens and then he hits the wall when he is rafting and that is basically the end of the Truman Show because they finally let him leave. Just imagine if one wanted to be an actress and it turns out they have been one the whole time.


I can see from that vantage point why you didn't care for the movie. For me, I was less interested in the immediate personal dynamics than I was in the larger philosophical questions it raised: about things like free will, society's attempts to control people, individual autonomy, and so forth.

When he runs into the wall, and the full reality of his situation finally sinks in, was a really profound moment. I remember hearing people laugh nervously in the movie theater at that moment. It really annoyed me that they could be so obtuse as to think that was funny. They clearly didn't get the message; that wasn't meant to be a comedic bit. It was the moment of his awakening to reality and the end of the false life that was all he'd ever known until that point.

In a nutshell, I saw it as a deeply philosophical movie - with some humor thrown in to carry the story line.



The Giver (the book) reminded me of that movie because it was like they lived in a dome. The weather was always the same, people were selected jobs and selected children and partners and no one ever left the village. But I wouldn't want to live in that life time either. I believe The Truman Show took place in the future because it showed a scene of him as a baby and it looked like a modern playpen he was in of the 1990's and the camera was right above him and he was looking directly at it.


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23 Dec 2016, 10:48 am

Not a movie character but Hank on Parenthood. Middle aged working-middle class guy, not stereotypically nerdy but more different than he realised due to undiagnosed autism.


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23 Dec 2016, 5:55 pm

untilwereturn wrote:
I remember hearing people laugh nervously in the movie theater at that moment. It really annoyed me that they could be so obtuse as to think that was funny. They clearly didn't get the message; that wasn't meant to be a comedic bit.


Their laughter did not imply that they didn't get the message.