Have you ever been so transfixed by a movie that you left your own reality for that hour and a half? Have you ever transcended into a world of fiction that somehow felt like your own? That’s what the true magic of a movie is. Yes, sometimes the cinematography is so breathtaking that it’s a wonder any human could have coordinated such a scene. And yes, sometimes the computer-generated imagery in movies is so lifelike it feels as if they filmed a real dinosaur. Yet, nothing compares to a storyline that can capture you and make you forget that you’re sitting on some plush chair in a theater that reeks of stale butter.
Maybe I’m a little biased; the fact that I’m an aspiring screenwriter probably doesn’t help. But I can count on both hands the amount of times I’ve walked out of a movie theater as a changed person. I’ll never forget the day when the first movie emotionally changed me. I was watching "American Beauty" in my school’s theater, and I had never been so enthralled by a story. As the credits rolled and people began to mill about before the screenwriter came onstage for a Q&A, I couldn’t get up from my seat. My mind and body refused to acknowledge that a world around me actually existed. There was just absolutely no way. Eventually, I was able to move, but only because I had started crying. OK, yes, I am such an emotional, dramatic person. I basically cry at anything that has puppies or small humans, or both. But this time, I promise, my tears actually meant something. Watching this movie had reinforced my passion to become a writer and gave me reason to continue on this path even though I’d be facing hardship and a lot of rejection.
People write movies because of saps like me. They thread together a story from the most remote corners of their imaginations and their deepest memories to affect the viewers; even comedies aim to affect the viewers in a positive way (although it may be on a more superficial level.) While watching "American Beauty," I felt as if Alan Ball was trying to leave his emotional mark on society. Why else would you be a writer if not for the expression and immortality it brings? Writing allows a person to express things that never would have had a chance to be spoken.
Personally, I believe that screenwriters bring their memories to life on the screen. They take pieces of their pasts and make them permanent. They twist, maneuver, exaggerate, glorify, or romanticize the memories until they are almost exploding with meaning. Or, they could leave the memories perfectly intact, allowing the rawness of the moment to wash over the audience with a startling jolt. No matter what screenwriters do, they are ultimately opening themselves and their memories up to the audience’s scrutiny. Through subconscious recognition, a viewer takes what he or she needs from a certain scene, or from the entire movie. Maybe a person needed someone else to emotionally relate to, even a fictional character, or maybe that person just needed a reprieve from his or her daily life. Nevertheless, a movie should have an impact on the viewer. Movies are beautiful little escapes created by people who want to share and affect the world around them. Just don’t forget to come back to reality once and a while.
