blog@cliffdweller

Tonight, a random series of events led me to the Internet Movie Database to look up The Matrix. Now I'm not going to drone on and on about how I got there, let's just say that I was right, it did get released AFTER 1995. duh.

Anyway, since I was there, I decided to start reading some of the reviews posted by normal folk at the site. You know, supposedly none of them are professionals, they are just joe's and jane's who like movies enough to tell other people why (or why not). I fit into this category, if you haven't checked out the Portland Movie Of The Week website yet, then you don't know. But that site's all me, baby.

It always makes me giggle when people get really wrapped up in film. One person there was going on and on, deconstructing why this scene was not possible or why that concept didn't make any sense. They ended the review on a positive note, because they "didn't want to appear too cynical", with a statement that basically said while the film was too far out of the realm of possibility to even be considered science fiction, it was pretty to look at.

So, I wonder if the person who couldn't get past the gritty stuff in The Matrix had equal problems with Star Wars. If you're not willing to believe that machines could use humans to power themselves, then why would you believe that "these aren't the 'droids you're looking for." How could you believe that a guy with three arms could talk to a guy with three eyes when there's a bus wreck in the classic Twilight Zone? How was it that Dr. Frankenstein actually made the body come to life in Mary Shelley's classic?

If you look at a seminal film like The Matrix and all you can see is that none of it is possible, then you probably never laughed at The Beverly Hillbillies, The Addams Family, Lost in Space, Futurama, Saved by the Bell or even Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.

So basically, I'd say lighten up. If you want to come over for a DVD marathon of The Munsters, give me a call…