Sometimes We Laugh, Sometimes We Cry, Sometimes We Hurt Inside And Don't Understand Why, We're Only Human

--"You Are The Best" (Carole King cover) - Whittni Wright

Apparently, I'm a latecomer to the party that is lonelygirl15, but watching it last night brought to mind one of my biggest beefs with the manner in which we, as a people, conduct ourselves. I happen to think the videos she puts out, disgenuine as they may be, are still comparitively entertaining and well-thought-out in comparison to most of what passes for entertainment these days. I think what the creators are trying to do is original and, though the execution may be a bit dodgy at times, for the most part, I think they have succeeded in garnering interest and attention for whatever future endeavors these episodes may be setting the audience up for. More importantly, I think the "episodes", or what have you, are plainly amusing. I don't look for her to be anything more than that. I'm not out to critique its social ramifications for art in general or how it's yet another example of the media attempting to manipulate the audience.

I think watching the videos are just fun.

It all ties into my philosophy of the Crow, "if it makes you happy, then it can't be that bad." It's why people have guilty pleasures, because there are always going to be examples from the media that I, as an individual, am going to like which 95% of the rest of the world isn't going to like. I don't have to like everything you like and you don't have to like everything I like. Sometimes you have to just learn to dislike each other's opinion without resorting to disliking the other person. People are full of nuances and subtleties springing from how they were raised, what influences they were exposed to, what friends and family members they had, and especially what they have learned from trial and error to provide them the most bliss.

That's why I can say that I really have no shame when it comes to entertainment. I probably listen, watch, and read what qualifies as crap more than any other individual on the planet. I will plumb the depths of obscurity, esotericism, and pure oblivion, and discover nuggets of quality that most people have come to see as rubbish. Yet all of that doesn't bother me. I have come to expect that at least 50% of the things I like not very many others will. I accept that. In fact, I welcome that. I have always strived to make myself happy before all others which engenders a certain self-interest. It's not that I'm trying to stand out; it's merely that I have no interest in fitting in.

For example, when it comes to movies, I possess as my favorites some real inappropriately beloved films in my collection. My favorite is and probably forever will be The Wizard. I'm a sucker for most romantic comedies, especially the so-called chick flicks, and especially the Hugh Grant/Working Title variety. Yet I also call some of the masterpieces, like Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, and Chinatown as some of my personal favorites too. I have been known to laugh harder than I should at films like Jackass and Beerfest, but I also like intelligent films like L.A. Confidential and Memento. I can and probably will again make a double feature out of two disparate movies like Hard Candy and You, Me, and Dupree. Hell, I might even do what I did with Camp Nowhere and go see it five days in a row, at the theaters, paying for each ticket. I'm that reckless and impulsive.

But that's what I mean. I don't mind telling you all that because it's my personal preference as to what constitutes good entertainment and what movies will probably have an emotional impact on me.

Especially in the latter category, one never truly knows what movie shall tug at one's heartstrings. I've seen many sad and emotionally distraught movies. Movies like Schindler's List and Ice Castles have all made me tear up at one time or another. I've been to movies where my date and I have ended up bawling right next to each other because it seemed the whole crowd was crying at the same time. I think the last time that happened was at Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Yet for all the movies I have seen, including classic weepies like Steel Magnolias, Terms of Endearment, and Beaches, none of those movies still absolutely kills me like they did when I first saw it. Only one movie to this day can do that.

That movie is I'll Do Anything (1994) with Nick Nolte and Whittni Wright.

I don't know why I took to this movie like I did. Maybe it's because of the relatable plot of a father who's on the downturn of his career and life having to sacrifice what he wants to make his daughter happy. Maybe it's because the whole movie is just cheesy and sentimental enough to make me blush like a schoolgirl. Or maybe it's because the sappiest moment really does sneak up on you. Whatever it is, when I get to the end of the film, where Nick Nolte's character gives up being with the woman that's a total bitch, yet is attracted to him; gives up on his career as a lead film actor; and gives up all sense of the person he used to be for his daughter, Jeannie, I know the emotions are all going to hit me hard. Sappy as it is, when Jeannie, who had been worrying for a good portion of the film about being able to cry on cue when called upon, is sitting there, unable to do it, unable to cry, I feel her frustration. Then that first tear starts to roll, she begins to well up, her face begins to redden, and then she starts to cry in earnest--all the while her father begins to beam with pride. Then she says her line, but, instead of rushing to the woman who is playing her mom on the television show she is performing on, she rushes to her dad off-stage I cannot help but laugh.

He tells her that he loves her and that he'll never stop loving her. She gets this surprised, then pleased expression on her face. Then she says the line that seals the deal as the most memorable moment from a film ever for me.

"When I had to cry," she whispers right into his ear, "I was thinking of someone taking me away from you."

That's all it takes. That one little scene absolutely kills me every time I see it.

I think that's what all good entertainment is supposed to do, make an impact on the person watching it regardless of what other people around him may saying or how they may be reacting. I'm fairly sure no one else has the same reaction I do to this movie, but it doesn't change the fact I do. I'll Do Anything will always have a special place on my shelf.

I'm not saying Lonelygirl15 will ever occupy the same special place, but it is something to enjoy despite what the masses may think of it. It entertains me and that is all I ever need to know.

Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers