[quote]"What I’m trying to do is express that some people of Persian background find it offensive and have valid reasons. Thus “intellectualizing” the movie without being “assholes”.[/quote]
absolutely. i can see what you mean. it’s valid for them to be upset about the movie. but I think what they are really upset about is the stereotypes BEHIND all that, which sadly many people have. imo it’s not a movie’s duty to be sensitive, expose stereotypes, etc. a filmmaker should be able to do whatever he wants.
[quote=“plunderbunnie”]
@ Kenneth
I’d just like to add without sounding like a jerk (I don’t mean this in any sort of rude way), but it does seem a bit silly to tear down people who are fanatical about reading into films, but be the polar opposite and be fanatical about never reading into them, and simply seeing them as a entertainment. Either way is a bit much. I understand it was a rant (trust me, I’m the Queen of rants) but why can’t everyone just accept that people enjoy things for different reasons that are natural to their personalities?
I understand what you are saying about these pretentious critics, but you seem to have forced yourself in the opposite wall in some sort of movie-lover self defense. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. I know it’s annoying to hear people go on about ridiculous ideas on movies to basically boost their film-geek self esteem, but it doesn’t mean that everyone reading into movies is doing this. I enjoy movies mostly to read into layers of emotion and subtle gestures. That captures my attention more then some straight up action sequence. It’s my NATURAL enjoyment of movies. My perception of what makes a good movie is not altered by what I think people expect me to enjoy. Isn’t that all we should do anyway? If you enjoy pure entertainment, thats great. But please don’t look down on people who honestly enjoy movies as art. There is a lot to be seen in movies, and some people enjoy looking into that. If you don’t, then you don’t. Hopefully all of the stupid pretentious kids straight out of art school can fall into a volcano or something.
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im all for interpretaing movies and thinking about them, it’s not that all movies are soley made for entertainment and even if, they can contain more layers. only problem is when people overanalyse and read stuff into movies that only they they can probably see. The thing is, if you are at university and let’s say you study psychology, you’re gonna see a lot of stuff in movies from a psychological viewpoint, when you are trying to analyse them. and that’s fine, as long as you don’t overdo it and are open do different perceptions. Very often critics and intellectuals use a filmhistorical and political viewpoint, which is fine as long as they don’t start bullshitting like in the examples I have mentioned in my original post.