Monday, August 4, 2014

Rebel Without a Cause?

Here I am again at a Roses of Prose movie topic I know nothing about. I’ve never seen Rebel Without a Cause. Looking at the IMDB summary doesn’t make me want to watch it either. Is that bad? It’s some kind of a classic, right? A cinematic must, isn’t it?

Does that make me a “rebel” if I don’t want to watch it?

There have been other movies that I have simply boycotted. Philadelphia with Tom Hanks is at the top of my no-watch list. I’m a huge, HUGE Tom Hanks fan. I’ve seen every single movie he’s been in… except Philadelphia. Won’t watch it. You can’t make me.

Sometimes I refuse to watch a movie because someone has recommended it a million times. I once dated a dude who mentioned The Shawshank Redemption to me every time we saw each other. It drove me nuts.

“Why didn’t you just watch it to get him to stop, Christine?”

Umm… because that would have been giving in. I don’t do “giving in.” Tastes funny. Not a fan.

I did end up watching that movie years later, after said dude was a distant memory (nightmare?), and loved it. Awesome characters, amazing story, but I had to watch it on my own terms.

See? Rebel.

I’ve protested every movie in the Halloween series ever since I was in eighth grade and stupidly watched the first one at a sleepover party. Razor blades in apples? Sheesh. I was scared to eat fruit for months after that. I’d cut fruit up into tiny, bite-sized pieces until I was convinced the supermarket wasn’t plotting to slice my mouth open.

“You’re kind of a handful, Christine.”

Yep. I am.

I won’t watch any movies that have children dying of horrible diseases. I can watch the news if I wanted to see that. No thanks. Don’t really want to watch things with adults suffering from diseases either. Many people have told me to watch Breaking Bad, which I know is a TV show, but I heard something about the main character having cancer and immediately crossed it off my list.

Childish? Maybe. Avoiding being depressed? Definitely.

I’ll pass on movies that include cruelty to animals or hunting. I would have passed on Marley and Me had I known ahead of time how that was going to end. I almost always skip movies “based on actual events” or ones with a completely unknown cast.

“So many rules, Christine.”

Rules keeps things orderly. I like rules.

So amidst all this movie rebellion, what do I like watch?

Tales that end with happily ever after are Number One. Anything with pirates, saving nature, or Harry Connick Jr. Especially Harry Connick Jr. Comedies, romances, non-scary paranormals, and intergalactic adventures are all perfectly enjoyable. Movies including a cappella groups get two thumbs up. I’ve seriously watched Pitch Perfect more times than I can count. Eighties movies with Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Anthony Michael Hall, and the rest of the crew are all on the menu. I could listen to Jake Ryan asking Samantha Baker to make a wish over her birthday cake over and over again. I have listened to him over and over again.

Generally speaking, I love movies that make me feel good at the end. Sometimes army crawling to the conclusion of each day is exhausting. A movie that makes me laugh, fall in love, or escape the real world for a little while is just the prescription to turn a frown upside down.

What makes you rebel against a movie? Which ones do you love? Which ones do you think I’ll love?

Toodles,
Chris


7 comments:

Jannine Gallant said...

I'm with you, Chris. No movies that make me walk out of the theater crying. Why deliberately set out to depress ourselves? I'm a fan of romantic comedies and action adventure flicks where only the bad guys get wasted. Nice post!

Margo Hoornstra said...

You speak for many of us, Chris. I remember crying my eyes out at The sad parts of Dumbo, Lady and the Tramp. Bambi darn near did me in. Still bothers me when people are sad, but if an animal is hurt, I'm outa there!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

I've watched Rebel Without a Cause and thought James Dean acted like a whiny spoiled child. I mean, take off your underoos, but on some man boxers and deal. Life isn't fair...it just is. I love James Bond movies for the play on words and the quips...OK, and 007 in a tux is never a bad sight. I also like movies that make me laugh, but then I usually laugh at the oddest things. I'm the whacko in the theater laughing by herself, because I see things with a different eye, a writer's eye. Often I see a scene and want to write it better or get a story idea from it and plot it out and bamm, the movie's over. What was the movie about? I haven't a clue...I was mentally writing. People don't get that, but other writers do. I mean, tell me I'm not the only nut here!

Christine DePetrillo said...

Vonnie, you are sooo not the only nut here. LOL.

Leah St. James said...

Oh, Chris, I am SO with you. If I know a movie is sad, I take it off my list although I have been suckered in a few times, like Steel Magnolias and Stepmom. I went to Somersby with my sister and we both cried so hard I thought they'd have to call 911 to get us out of there. It was bad. I remember feeling physically ill. I think most fiction writers must have some of the empathy gene, though. How else can we put ourselves into all those characters' heads? Great post. :-)

Betsy Ashton said...

Call me the skunk at the picnic but I love movies that scare me, make me cry, make me think. I don't go to be entertained but to have my assumptions challenged. To that end, I rarely go to a rom-com. Not interested. I don't like slasher movies because most are so badly made. Blame me for marrying a cameraman the first time around. Blame me for hanging with film students at USC and UCLA. Blame me for attending LA County Museum screenings of top films. Call me stinky. I can handle it.

Alicia Dean said...

You do have a lot of rules, Chris. :) I am another skunk at the picnic, except, unlike Betsy, I also like slasher flicks (but only the well made ones :)) I do like romcom. I like movies that make me think and movies that don't make me think. I love sad movies, because they touch me and stay with me. I think it's cathartic to cry over a movie, since it's not your own tragedy. I don't like sci fi movies. But I don't think that makes me a Rebel. Oh yeah, and I did watch Rebel Without a Cause, and I loved it.