We watched Up last night. I wasn't expecting it to be one of the saddest movies I'd ever seen in my entire life, but that's exactly what it was. Sad. Very sad. Tragic, even. More of a tearjerker than many a film that's trying for that designation. I know it gets universally glowing reviews and everybody loves it and nobody else seems to see it as anything but a feel-good family film. I can't help that. It makes me want to cry just sitting here thinking back over it. So I'm not going to look up reviews or post a trailer. I'm just going to note that we've seen it and won't be seeing it again.
2/28/2010: Well, I am coming back to comment on the sexist nature of this film, which has nothing to do with how sad I thought it was. This is a whole different kind of sad. The only female character dies. That can't possibly be a spoiler; I knew that much, and I had only seen the trailer. After that, the characters are male: the old man, the people he deals with in the street, the boy, the explorer, the dogs... It turns out the bird, which the boy had named Kevin, is a mother bird. But the default position is male. Sheesh. It's just so ingrained people don't even notice.
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I read a book more then two decades ago called something like "The Business of Hollywood Cliches." It was very fascinating and dealt with the topic like you discussed here. I forget who wrote it (I think he was a psych doctor) but it delved into both the psychology of the cliches as well as the real-world business aspect of the cliche.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, the "real-world" aspect of a husband losing their wife is that most shows can't afford to have more then one headliner. Also, it allows for a revolving door of romantic interests that can "audition" for a more permanent role if they really strike a chord with the audience. Finally, the instability of being single allows for a greater variety in scripts and more leeway in those scripts.
Again, I'm just brushing the surface because the book goes fairly in depth. Probably a little obsolete now and it dealt mostly with the TV business aspect of cliches but still a very good read. I've never looked at a plot the same way again...